Copied from Book Browse:
Sing Them Home is a deeply moving portrait of three grown siblings who have lived in the shadow of unresolved grief since their mother’s mysterious disappearance when they were children. Everyone in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, knows the story of Hope Jones, the physician’s wife whose big dreams for their tiny town were lost along with her in the tornado of 1978. For Hope’s three young children, the stability of life with their distant, preoccupied father, and with Viney, their mother’s spitfire best friend, is no match for their mother’s absence. Larken, the eldest, is an art history professor who seeks in food an answer to a less tangible hunger; Gaelan, the only son, is a telegenic weatherman who devotes his life to predicting the unpredictable and whose profession, and all too much more, depend on his sculpted frame and ready smile; and Bonnie, the baby of the family is a self-proclaimed archivist who combs the roadsides for clues to her mother’s legacy, and permission to move on.
When, decades after their mother’s disappearance, they are summoned home after their father’s sudden death, they are forced to revisit the childhood tragedy at the center of their lives. With breathtaking lyricism, wisdom, and humor, Stephanie Kallos explores the consequences of protecting the ones we love.
Sing Them Home is a magnificent tapestry of lives connected and undone by tragedy, lives poised—unbeknownst to the characters themselves—for redemption.
My comments- I thoroughly enjoyed this book and even shed tears at the end. It's a wonderful mother-daughter story and Hope's letter to her children - which they never get to see - sums up so much about what being a mother is all about. Beautifully done - and some quirky moments too - there were lots of chuckles. Highly recommended, especially if you're a Mom!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb ✔✔✔✔
I read this probably about 20 years ago, and have read every novel since written by Wally Lamb. I believe it qwas a very early "Oprah book" and was loaned to me by Janie. I was recommending books to the girl who does my nails - she's in her mid-twenties, and; I mentioned Lamb's name to her at that time. Then when we visited Bracebridge, I saw it on Rynnetta's "give-away shelf", so I brought it home for her. In the meantime, I re-read it - in four days, all 465 pages! Rainy days helped this for sure,but it is a very easy read and so good!
Dolores is thirteen when we meet her, her childhood behind her because of a particularly harmful experience she had. She's beached like a whale in front of her TV, nourished only by junk food and an anxious mother, whose life has not been terribly functional, either. Now at age 27 and 257 pounds, she's ready to give herself another chance.
I guess what I appreciated the most is that the author - a man - was able to so accurately write about a young girl's growing up. And the book is loaded with detail, although very clearly written - you never have to turn back pages to figure out who someone is. There's neighbours in the apartment upstairs, a grandmother who agonizes over her daughter and her grand-daughter, a guidance counsellor who ends up a close friend, a tattoo artist who also ends up a mentor and advisor, spoiled girls at college, bratty girls at work, a psychologist who spends seven years re-working Dolores' childhood - the characters are as colourful as Dolores herself, and few of them are forgettable.
This is a funny, painful, wise, heart-rending story, and I saw so many of young girls I taught at school in Dolores. A very good book for everyone to read, and I'm glad I re-read it.
Dolores is thirteen when we meet her, her childhood behind her because of a particularly harmful experience she had. She's beached like a whale in front of her TV, nourished only by junk food and an anxious mother, whose life has not been terribly functional, either. Now at age 27 and 257 pounds, she's ready to give herself another chance.
I guess what I appreciated the most is that the author - a man - was able to so accurately write about a young girl's growing up. And the book is loaded with detail, although very clearly written - you never have to turn back pages to figure out who someone is. There's neighbours in the apartment upstairs, a grandmother who agonizes over her daughter and her grand-daughter, a guidance counsellor who ends up a close friend, a tattoo artist who also ends up a mentor and advisor, spoiled girls at college, bratty girls at work, a psychologist who spends seven years re-working Dolores' childhood - the characters are as colourful as Dolores herself, and few of them are forgettable.
This is a funny, painful, wise, heart-rending story, and I saw so many of young girls I taught at school in Dolores. A very good book for everyone to read, and I'm glad I re-read it.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachael Joyce ✔✔✔✔✔
FINALLY - a book I could fall into! First off, I must say I tried reading Elizabeth George's new book '"The Edge of Nowhere" but gave up on it, too - it was just plain boring and so predictable.
But this one was marvellous - Harold Fry gets a letter from Queenie, a co-worker from 20 years ago, telling him she is dying of cancer. He writes her a letter and takes it down the road to post it, then somewhow decides he would rather deliver it in person, and not only that, but he would walk to 800 miles to get to the hospital where she is spending her last days.
It's the story of friendship, marriage, love and loss, and how at age 68, Harold finds himself again in the journey. I LOVED this book and I didn't want it to end.
But this one was marvellous - Harold Fry gets a letter from Queenie, a co-worker from 20 years ago, telling him she is dying of cancer. He writes her a letter and takes it down the road to post it, then somewhow decides he would rather deliver it in person, and not only that, but he would walk to 800 miles to get to the hospital where she is spending her last days.
It's the story of friendship, marriage, love and loss, and how at age 68, Harold finds himself again in the journey. I LOVED this book and I didn't want it to end.
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