Book Description
A recipe for happiness: four women, one medieval Italian castle, plenty of wisteria, and solitude as needed.
The women at the center of The Enchanted April are alike only in their dissatisfaction with their everyday lives. They find each other—and the castle of their dreams—through a classified ad in a London newspaper one rainy February afternoon. The ladies expect a pleasant holiday, but they don’t anticipate that the month they spend in Portofino will reintroduce them to their true natures and reacquaint them with joy. Now, if the same transformation can be worked on their husbands and lovers, the enchantment will be complete.
The Enchanted April was a best-seller in both England and the United States, where it was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and set off a craze for tourism to Portofino. More recently, the novel has been the inspiration for a major film and a Broadway play.
Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book
The Family on Beartown Road is Elizabeth Cohen’s true and moving portrait of love and courage.
Elizabeth, a member of the “sandwich generation”—those caught in the middle, simultaneously caring for their children and for their aging parents—is the mother of baby Ava and the daughter of Daddy, and responsible for both. In this story full of everyday triumphs, first steps, and an elder’s confusion, Ava finds each new picture, each new word, each new song, something to learn greedily, joyfully. Daddy is a man in his twilight years, for whom time moves slowly and lessons are not learned but quietly, frustratingly forgotten. Elizabeth, a suddenly single mother with a career and a mortgage and a hamperful of laundry, finds her world spiraling out of control. Faced with mounting disasters, she chooses to confront life head-on, and to see the unique beauty in each and every moment.
Imbued with an unquenchable spirit,
The Family on Beartown Road takes us on a journey through the remarkable landscape that is family.
Customer Reviews:
The Family on Beartown Road.......2004-10-01
The House on Beartown Road tugged at bitter-sweet memories as I identified with the craziness we all go through trying to do all the necessary and out of the ordinary things as a mom, daughter and full time career counselor. The humor, pathos and frenetic moments stood out in the book as universal elements all of us go through when parents become children and out of necessity give us over their life. As Ms. Cohen remarked "the usefulness of being constantly busy gave me little time to think about all the things bothering me," with a new full time job, a house to run with three active children, and a run away mom who came to visit me and never went home again. As she described in her book, life takes a toll on everyone in our immediate families and it takes a long time for life to ebb and flow into any kind of natural order. Sometimes I feel that my mom died cell by cell. Elizabeth Cohen helped me remember what I went through but more importantly, find closure. I thank her for putting into words the impossible things that we go through to cope and make life work.
Beartown.......A Road Worth Traveling.......2004-09-07
I've never been to Beartown Road but thanks to Elizabeth Cohen's vivid portrait of her life there, I've come to know the place. She writes in such a way that I "felt" the seasons change as well as "saw" the changes in Elizabeth and her family. Elizabeth's struggles were portrayed with clarity, warmth, honesty, and poignancy. In describing what life was like on Beartown Road, Elizabeth's sense of humor carried her and this reader through the hassles and triumphs.
I once read a quote that went something like this, "You're never ready for what you have to do. You just do it." That's what Elizabeth did as she undertook the care of her aging, ill, father, Sandy, and the nurturing of her blossoming infant daughter, Ava.
I laughed, I cried, I related. I highly recommend "The Family on Beartown Road."
An Important Book.......2004-05-07
Elizabeth Cohen pulls no punches in this beautifully-written story of the year she served as caregiver to her father, Sanford, who struggled through the late-middle stages of Alzheimer's disease. Suddenly the single mother of a toddler and responsible for Sanford's care, she sets down a record of her daughter's growth, her dad's decline and her own struggle as a caregiver. In this unsentimental, yet lyrical book, Cohen writes about her father's tantrums, having to clean him after he has soiled himself, and her difficulty finding daytime caregivers while she works. She also writes about their deep moments of connection that transcend the logical workings of the mind. As she records this watershed year, she finds both meaning and grace in her role as daughter and caregiver. The strongest point that this book makes is that Alzheimer's disease does not dissolve relationships; it transforms them.
After caring for my father, who had progressive dementia for over four years before his death, I regard this book as a gift and an inspration. A caregiver's job is a lonely one. No matter how much we try to connect with support groups and with other family members, we must shoulder an overwhelming responsibility. Books that detail the stages and symptoms of Alzhiemers and tell caregivers how to cope are important. The Family on Bearstown Road is a guide of another sort that is equally important.
Amazon.com
American Victorian culture is generally characterized by its domestic tranquility, religious piety, and social conformity. No wonder, then, that a love triangle between a seemingly devoted husband and wife and their trusted minister caused a scandal at the time and continues to intrigue scholars today.
In 1876, Theodore Tilton, a well known editor and lecturer, claimed that his wife, Elizabeth, to all appearances the model Christian matron, had confessed to adultery with Henry Ward Beecher, the leading American preacher of the day. Although a jury sided with Elizabeth Tilton, she later undermined efforts to determine what really happened. Frequently compared to the narrative of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the Beecher-Tilton scandal confronted the American public with new dilemmas about religion and intimacy, privacy and publicity, reputation and celebrity.
In his examination of the scandal, Trials of Intimacy: Love and Loss in the Beecher-Tilton Scandal, Richard Wightman Fox does not attempt to reach a retrospective verdict. Instead, he uses the stories that surround the scandal to examine larger truths about morals and passion in one segment of late-19th-century middle-class America. Presenting his narrative in reverse chronological order foregrounds the process of story creation and revision that Wightman Fox considers central to the event. Period illustrations and photographs as well as reproductions of some of the most relevant correspondence presented as evidence in the Beecher-Tilton trial bring the scandal back to life and allow the reader to examine the information first-hand. --Bertina Loeffler Sedlack
Book Description
The nation's leading minister stands accused of adultery. He vehemently denies the charge but confesses to being on "the ragged edge of despair." His alleged lover is a woman of mystical faith, nearly "Catholic" in her piety. Her husband, a famous writer, sues the minister for damages. A six-month trial ends inconclusively, but it holds the nation in thrall. It produces gripping drama, scathing cartoons, and soul-searching editorials. Trials of Intimacy is the story of a scandal that shook American culture to the core in the 1870s because the key players were such vaunted moral leaders. In that respect there has never been another case like it—except The Scarlet Letter, to which it was constantly compared.
Henry Ward Beecher was pastor of Brooklyn's Plymouth Church and for many the "representative man" of mid-nineteenth century America. Elizabeth Tilton was the wife of Beecher's longtime intimate friend Theodore. His accusation of "criminal conversation" between Henry and Elizabeth confronted the American public with entirely new dilemmas about religion and intimacy, privacy and publicity, reputation and celebrity. The scandal spotlighted a series of comic and tragic loves and betrayals among these three figures, with a supporting cast that included Victoria Woodhull, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
To readers at the time, the Beecher-Tilton Scandal was an irresistible mystery. Richard Fox puts his readers into that same reverberating story, while offering it as a timeless tale of love, deception, faith, and the confounding indeterminacy of truth. Trials of Intimacy revises our conception of nineteenth-century morals and passions. And it is an American history richly resonant with present-day dramas.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Read - a History Lesson.......2007-09-10
This is a gem of a book about the Rev Henry Beecher. I suggest readers watch the revealing documentary, AMERICA'S VICTORIA, REMEMBERING VICTORIA WOODHULL and how Woodhull nearly brought Beecher down. This documentary is engaging with interview from Fox, Gloria Steinem and historians. America's Victoria, Remembering Victoria Woodhull (Director's Cut~ Two Disc - Collector's Edition)
Victoria Woodhull - Beecher & Tilton.......2006-05-05
Fascinating and revealing book about one of the most interesting characters of the 19th century. You might explore the documentary on Victoria Woodhull which focuses on Woodhull's relationship with Beecher and her love for Theodore Tilton. Interviews include Gloria Steinem and Professor Fox from Boston University. "America's Victoria, Remembering Victoria Woodhull" produced and directed by Victoria Weston and broadcast on PBS and Canadian Television
Most Authoritative Book on the Scandal.......2000-02-20
Unlike most other books written on the Beecher-Tilton scandal, Trials of Intimacy doesn't assume that Rev. Beecher is guilty of adultery. Fox attempts to get at the truth of the scandal, rather than the myth. He demonstrates the possibility of Beecher's innocence as well as guilt. He skillfully presents not just both sides of the story, but every side of the story. He concludes, rightfully, that we may never know what actually happened.
Trials of Intimacy would make an ideal college text for a study of Victorian social life and mores. This book is a must read for anyone researching the scandal. The bibliography contains an excellent synopsis of the material available.
The only complaint I have to make is that Fox practically brands Victoria Woodhull a liar. He also wrote that Victoria Woodhull was the only person jailed in connection to the scandal. He forgot Victoria Woodhull's soon-to-be ex-husband, Col. James Harvey Blood, and Victoria's sister, Tennie C. Claflin. Both were arrested, along with Victoria Woodhull, approximately eight times in connection with the scandal. I doubt that Victoria, Tennie C., and Colonel Blood (who was married to my great-great-grandmother Isabell Blood) would've gone to jail eight times for something they knew was a lie. If Beecher was innocent, Theodore Tilton put one over on Victoria, Tennie C., Col. Blood, and the American people.
There are more "secrets" to be uncovered about the scandal, which Fox didn't mention--like the rape and the insanity case. His book, though, will put you hot on the trail that Beecher and Tilton tried to cover up 125 years ago. You can decide for yourself who is the arch-fiend in this debacle: Henry Ward Beecher, Theodore Tilton, or the media who covered the story with a vengeance.
A remarkable book.......2000-02-01
This book could be the basis for several studies all arising out of the facts of the then scandalous "affair" which is the subject matter of the book...it could be a sociological study, an historical study, a legal study, a psychological study, or even a study in communications...the author tries valiantly to do all of these things and for the most part succeeds...obviously, the lines of reasonable brevity have to be drawn somewhere....All in all this is a thoroughly fascinating account well described in its many facets. The only criticism I would have of this book is the authors use of a reverse chronology in organizing the material...being used to stories being told "from the beginning", the chosen sequence is a little disconcerting...given the many ramifications of the subject matter, however, I can certainly understand why the author chose to set out the events in the manner in which he did. An excellent study in the strange idiosyncracies of human and social nature!
Insightful, brilliant, and exceptionally well-written.......2000-01-14
Professor Fox does a fantastic job in this deeply introspective work of late nineteenth-century American culture, society, and religion. The Beecher-Tilton episode, now virtually forgotten, deserves retelling. With unusual deftness, Fox treats perpetually relevant questions regarding the nature of love and reworks them in this incredible story. Fox recounts the scandal in a refreshingly new perspective that captures the essence of American social, cultural, and religious life in the 1870s. A high-quality work in the historiography of American cultural history.
Book Description
Animal lovers of every sort will find this a moving, amusing, sometimes disturbing, and finally joyous tribute to our four-legged (and winged) friends.
More than anything else, this is a book about love. Written by the founder of Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a haven for abused farm animals, this book depicts a world in which distinctions between “human” and “animal” are meaningless, a world where care and affection trump years of neglect and abuse. You will hear deeply moving and heartfelt accounts of animals like Dino, an old toothless pony who survived a fire and became the first member of the CAS community, and Cinnamon, a recent addition, who arrived timid and thin, with a bullet hole in her left eye. You will meet Rambo, the sheep who informs the staff when an animal needs assistance; Babe, the 900-pound pig; Paulie, the former cockfighting rooster who eats lunch with the humans and accompanies the director around town on her errands; and dozens of other horses, ponies, cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs, rabbits, and a variety of birds, all larger than life. Side by side with them is a staff of hilarious, irreverent, but always loving humans, for whom every animal life
—even that of an injured frog rushed to the vet for emergency surgery
—has merit. These tales will profoundly—and joyously—change your life.
Customer Reviews:
A must read for young and old.......2007-10-10
I live near the Catskill Animal Sanctuary and know of the great work accomplished at this place of kindness. Thank goodness we have shelters such as this. Kathy Stevens, the author shares such a wealth of information about animals we think of as "just a pig, just a chicken, just a cow" etc. I would like to see it on a list of good summer reading for students. It is the youth that will have to initiate change and I think this book will help them make intelligent choices. Please be assured that this is a book for adults too, and we can make changes also. The pages fly by and at the end - you want more more more.
ONE OF THE BEST I HAVE EVER READ!.......2007-08-24
This book had my emotions running hot and cold. I would smile and laugh at one moment and then be in tears another. The work these people are doing is just beyond words. Thank God there are people out there that have the privilege and means to do what they do. I read this book in one sitting.......I could NOT put it down. If you are an animal lover, please read this. After finishing the book, I was left with a good feeling...that so many of these creatures finally had a good, loving, caring environment. I could almost feel myself in the saddle on the horse and FEEL his joy at once again being allowed to run in the pasture. It was exhilarating!! Read it! You will come away with that good feeling, too.
Inspiring and entertaining!.......2007-08-16
Catskill Animal Sanctuary director Kathy Stevens tells beautiful stories about farm animals rescued from human cruelty and neglect. Without sounding preachy or judgemental, she weaves in information about standard abusive farming practices, how many of us unknowingly support animal cruelty, and how our daily choices can change the world for the better. Stevens lovingly portrays some of the individuals who have found refuge at the sanctuary...they come in all sizes and personalities: sweet, surly, brave, shy, and all amazing. This is an excellent read for anyone who has an affection for animals. It's especially good for people who aren't familiar with animals raised for food.
What about the horse?.......2007-08-06
This book has little to do with horses. It is more of a tale of an animal rescue or shelter. The horse she talks about can be summed up in less than a 10 page chapter. He deserves his own book. Cute stories on the other animals, but if you are looking for a horse specific book, this is not what you want.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.......2007-07-29
It is impossible to read this book without smiling, often laughing aloud and genuinely feeling connected to the stories within. Ms. Stevens intimately shares with us the life changing events that led her in each vocation to reach for higher goals and deeper meanings. This book is about faith, trust, hope, tenacity and heartfelt compassion for those sentient beings around us who so want and need our care. Each vignette is lovely. Lessons learned are etched. A wonderful, well written book. A pure joy.
Book Description
If she can make it there...
When Elizabeth Wakefield wins a summer fellowship to produce her own play in New York City, no one is more surprised than she is. It's an offer Elizabeth can't refuse, even though she and Tom Watts vowed to spend the summer together. So Tom gives up his prestigious summer internship to be with her! Will Elizabeth have to give up something in return--and make a sacrifice she's not yet ready for?
Jessica Wakefield is embarking on a wild, adventurous, and totally butt-kicking journey this summer--to a training camp in Florida for her specialized security agents! Hand-to-hand combat, stunt driving, hot guys in uniform... this place has it all. Will she submerge herself in total excitement? Or will Jessica end up over her head in trouble?
Customer Reviews:
She's going make it after all!.......2005-03-08
Elizabeth writes a play for New York,which is where she and Tom are going on their Summer break.Jessica goes to this Camp to be like her boyfriend,Nick Fox,and meets her match in Sgt.Vanessa T.Pruett. Tom acts like a big shot.He's working for Jenny Tracy[the host of Tease N Tell] Tease n Tell is a Talk Show. Elizabeth and Todd stay with a friend of Alice's from her college sorority. Vanessa gives Jessica a hard time.
One of the best!.......2000-12-30
This book is really catchy. First, Liz wants to do it, then she changes her mind and doesn't do it. Reading books after this, I realize that she made the right choice.
Very good but, focuses too much on Liz...........2000-10-28
Thinking that she was going to have a nice but dull summer Elizabeth's surprised to hear that she has won a scholarship to produce and direct her own play in New York. Overjoyed, she rushes to tell Tom, only to realise that she'll have to sacrifice her summer of spending quality time with him.
Tom realises her dilemma and after chastising himself for pressuring Elizabeth to give up the chance, he decides to sacrifice his own internship to be with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, things don't turn out the way they planned; Elizabeth feels lost in the big city and intimidated by her fellow playwrights (who are pretentious snobs). She also feels that her relationship with Tom is moving way too fast.
Tom, on the other hand, is acting like a BMOC (Big Man In The City) as he keeps reminding Liz that she 'owes' it to him to lose her virginity. His failure to find another internship seems to be preventing him from proving himself as an independent and mature 'man'.
Meanwhile, Jessica deluded with visions of grandeur by the fact that she's enrolling into the FSSA (a program which trains people to be bodyguards, etc) is under the impression that she's going to be the next Lara Croft.
Unfortunately, she seems to have met her match in Sgt. Vanessa T. Pruitt a drill sargeant who seems to think that she IS Lara Croft.
The book definitely has its amusing moments (especially when it focuses on Jessica) but tends to drift mainly between Liz and Tom's trains of thought. This is where it gets slightly tedious, not that I blame Liz for being stressed - I don't think I could handle it if my boyfriend kept pressuring me into something that I wasn't ready for (good for Liz!)
Other than that, it's definitely a well-written book. Can't wait to read the next one: Private Jessica - she rocks!
A brillant start to a SVU summer trilogy.......2000-08-09
The book was very intresting and drew you into the story right away. As soon as I had finished it I wanted to read the next two books. It makes a welcome change from the last two 'Lifeguard' summer trilogys to have this one set in New York where Elizabeth and Tom are on holidays and Elizabeth directs a play she's written. There is also a separate story about Jessica's experiences in a security guard training camp, which I found funny. Get it if you like SVU but are sick of lifeguards!
Wonderful, romantic, but what ever happened to Nick?.......1999-10-03
I think that this book was really great, but what ever happened to Nick? He and Jess are in a wonderful realationship and this book never even mentions his name! Though I love how Jessica stood up for herself. Go Jess! I think that Elizabeth and Tom should have done you know what. Though I admire Elizabeth for being able to control herself and say NO! Wait Tom, just wait. But what the heck with the mysterious illness? Overall, a good book.
Book Description
The intense urbanization and industrialization of America's largest city from the turn of the twentieth century to World War II was accompanied by profound shifts in sexual morality, sexual practices, and gender roles. Comparing prostitution and courtship with a new working-class practice of heterosexual barter called "treating," Elizabeth Clement examines changes in sexual morality and sexual and economic practices.
Women "treated" when they exchanged sexual favors for dinner and an evening's entertainment or, more tangibly, for stockings, shoes, and other material goods. These "charity girls" created for themselves a moral space between prostitution and courtship that preserved both sexual barter and respectability. Although treating, as a clearly articulated language and identity, began to disappear after the 1920s and 1930s, Clement argues that it still had significant, lasting effects on modern sexual norms. She demonstrates how treating shaped courtship and dating practices, the prevalence and meaning of premarital sex, and America's developing commercial sex industry. Even further, her study illuminates the ways in which sexuality and morality interact and contribute to our understanding of the broader social categories of race, gender, and class.
Customer Reviews:
How we came to be a dating nation.......2007-01-12
This is a really in-depth and interesting study into the sexual and moral changes that occured in the United States during the first 50 years of the 20th century. I was taken with the level of scholarship, clear exposition, and insightful connections that the author brings to the whole subject of how gender/sexual roles evolved during this period. Although it is an academic book, it is nonetheless, an enjoyable and informative one.
J. W. Showalter, Ph.D.
Product Description
In this beautiful book, Elizabeth Cohen gives us a true and moving portrait of the love and courage of a family. Elizabeth, a member of the sandwich generation, people caught in the middle of simultaneously caring for their children and for their aging parents, is the mother of Ava and the daughter of Daddy and responsible for both. Hers is the story of a womans struggle to keep her family whole, to raise her child in a house of laughter and love, and to keep her father from hiding the house keys in his slippers. In this story full of everyday triumphs, first steps, and elderly confusion, Ava, a baby, finds each new picture, each new word, each new song something to learn greedily, joyfully. Daddy is a man in his twilight years for whom time moves slowly and lessons are not learned but quietly, frustratingly forgotten. Elizabeth, a suddenly single mother with a career and a mortgage and a hamper of laundry, finds her world spiraling out of control yet full of beauty. Faced with mounting disasters, she chooses to confront life head on. Written in prose imbued with unquenchable spirit, The House on Beartown Road is a journey through the remarkable landscape that is family.
Customer Reviews:
A very readable book.......2007-08-30
The author writes of her father's decent into Alzheimer's Disease (being more
and more child like in his progression of the disease and her young son growing up from a toddler to young boyhood..the opposite ends of the spectrum. A very moving book. I may reread this one.
Memories of past happiness.......2005-07-02
In September 2004's Australian Reader's Digest, the story "The Unlikely Gift" had me in tears. It moved me so much that I searched out and ordered the book it was taken from - "The House on Beartown Road". I had been mourning the
death of a favourite and much loved friend who died from the ravages of a similar brain disease (vascular dementia). Although her body died recently, the soul and the entity that I loved which made her who she was, was taken from me many years ago when the diagnosis was made and the slow but inevitable slide began.
My friend Kath, whom I met in 1980, taught me joy and sharing, she took me into her family as if I was one of her own. As I am of a different background, she taught me to enjoy roast dinners and chocolate ripple cakes. She was a favourite auntie, a surrogate mother and most of all, a best friend. In the later years, I have been unable to be in her presence,
as I couldn't reconcile the angry, violent person as being the same caring friend I had known. She was diagnosed in her 60's which is much too early and didn't allow her to enjoy her twilight years with those she loved and who loved her.
Elizabeth Cohen's book is a beautiful and simply told homage to the reality of family life and in my opinion, a must read.
Welcome to life, and all it brings.......2004-07-30
What a wonderful book. I have noticed that many who review this book are intimately involved in Alzheimers, be they professional or private care-givers. I don't have anyone in my immediate family with Alzheimers, but I read this as a potential gift to a friend who does. I am grateful that I was motivated to read this lovely, loving account of a disease and the way if effects those who are near it. The author and her family serve as reminders that love comes in all forms, and may be asked of you at the most inconvient moments. Don't wait until you have Alzheimers in your family to read this book. So much gentle learning to be done, so much joy to be given, so many miles we go, travellers through life.
Excellent read! You won't want it to end........2004-06-21
Few books have brought me to tears. This one did. The author writes in a matter-of-fact way about the heart-wrenching disease of Alheimer's, its impact to her life, and the lives of those around her. I didn't want the book to end. It is a quick read. Great book.
SUCH FINE WRITING.......2004-05-14
I found "The House on Beartown Road" shelved in our local library (Pound Ridge, NY) under Mental Health/Alzheimer's. I don't know who decides these things, but this wonderful memoir ought to be prominently placed along with other contemporary memoirs. Elizabeth Cohen is a fine writer and she deserves recognition for this generous tribute to her 80-year-old father, Sandy, to her daughter -- one year old Ava, and to new-found neighbors on Beartown Road and to friends in the Binghamton, NY, community. Sandy and Ava of these are at opposite ends of the verbal spectrum, one forgetting language and the other learning. Elizabeth Cohen herself is there in the middle, somehow trying to work full time as a reporter, managing day care for the two people who depend on her, figuring out how to survive the winter in one of the nation's true snow-belts, and keeping her own sanity as a harrassed single mother.My own mother is 97 with Alzheimer's and I have a one-year old granddaughter, so this book is close to the bone in many ways. I tell everybody about it. I use it in the memoir course I teach. I want to keep it to survive as a classic memoir and as a year-long account by an un-self-pitying caregiver. Elinore Standard Pound Ridge, NY
Book Description
New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert dissects the body politic in these incisive-and often hilarious-portraits of the people who make New York City run.
As a reporter for The New York Times and then the The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert has had unparalleled access to the inner workings of the country's most complex and fascinating city. In the acclaimed profiles assembled here, Kolbert talks to politicians and policemen, bureaucrats and radicals, celebrities and demagogues. She follows some on their heady ascent to greatness and others as they fall from grace, all the while questioning how power is attained, and then, just as often, squandered.
Kolbert writes about such classic New York characters as Boss Tweed, Michael Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton, and Rudolph Giuliani. She reveals the machinations of city power in a provocative piece about the Amadou Diallo shooting and takes an unforgettably disgusting look at the work of city restaurant inspectors. And she investigates the influence of several private citizens, including Weather Underground member Kathy Boudin, the always controversial Al Sharpton, and Regis Philbin at the height of his fame.
Written during a defining period in the city's history-one that encompasses the Bloomberg mayoral campaign, the Clinton-Giuliani senatorial race, and September 11th-The Prophet of Love is a witty and eye-opening debut from one of our most fiercely intelligent writers.
Customer Reviews:
Now THIS is reporting.......2004-05-17
It's a pleasure to sink into Kolbert's trenchant, funny prose. Having read most of articles in The New Yorker, I was surprised by how much I'd missed and how much fun it was to savor them on this second read. I'm getting this book for all those poeple on my list who have everything.
Average customer rating:
- Readable, yet unbelievable.
- I had a very hard time getting into this book.
- Totally absorbing, emotionally affecting, subtly written.
- A wonderful story.
- A love story that stirs the soul
|
Every Day
Elizabeth Richards
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H2MV12 |
Book Description
Leigh Adelman's comfortable, busy suburban life is filled with three beautiful children and her devoted husband, Simon. Leigh rarely has time to think about her difficult past, and her first love, Fowler, with whom she had an electric affair--and conceived her eldest child. But one day, Fowler, the man who abandoned her and her baby, the man she has never stopped loving, is back in her life. Leigh agrees to meet him for lunch, and as soon as she sees him, she knows he is dying. Leigh must make a hard choice--to put Fowler behind her, or to help him with his last days, and introduce him to their child. Honest, moving, and utterly authentic, this brilliant first novel is about testing the boundaries of love, and living with the often messy consequences. Performed by Mary Beth Hurt.
Customer Reviews:
Readable, yet unbelievable........1999-08-14
Although I enjoyed reading this book, the plot was a littleunbelievable. How typical would it be for a woman to instantly sleepwith a man who she had not seen in fourteen years, and who had abandoned her and their son? Otherwise, the story was a little on the sad side, and I felt bad for the characters at the end. It was also a quick book to get through.
I had a very hard time getting into this book........1998-02-21
The characters were well defined but not believeable. It did win me over in the end but it was hard getting there. Especially the 9 year old daughter. Her dialogue was not like any other 9 year old I have ever heard.
Totally absorbing, emotionally affecting, subtly written........1998-02-04
This book hit me hard. It is ironic that I must use a cliche to describe the book, since the author never used one, but I laughted and cried. There are little miracles in this book that are understated, so that one's emotions catch one unawares! I heartily recommend this novel to both men and women.
A wonderful story........1997-03-29
I could not put this book down. I loved the writing. The children seemed so real to me. I got mad, I laughed, I cried - it was a great read
A love story that stirs the soul.......1997-02-22
Fourteen years ago, James Foster deserted his teenage live-in lover, Leigh Adelman, and their three month old son Isaac because he could not totally
commit to them while pursuing his dream of film-making. A few years later,
Leigh meets and marries Simon Kaufman. They share the ideal suburban life,
raising three children including James' love child. Leigh has followed
James' career, but is stunned when she suddenly receives a letter from him,
insisting that he see her. When he arrives, James tells Leigh that he is
dying from ALS. Though he failed her and his own son, she decides to provide
him nurturing in his final days.
Leigh's decision throws her family into turmoil. Simon cannot cope with
the live appearance of his "ghostly" competition. He moves out, throwing
their three children into emotional disarray. Leigh has to juggle her love
for two men, helping one die gracefully, and save her family from total
destruction. This sounds like a task so monumental that even the new DC
Supergirl would probably fail to accomplish this.
Elizabeth Richards' debut novel is a superb piece of literature because
the author did not fall into the trap of turning the novel into a soap opera.
Instead, EVERY DAY is a warm, charming tale starring a fabulous woman
struggling with her emotions through self-effacing wit. More works like this
one and Ms. Richards will become an EVERY DAY household name.
Harriet Klausner
----
Book Description
Lush, thrilling, and erotically charged, a triumph of suspense and dazzling imagination, Elizabeth Hand's Mortal Love is an extraordinary work that spans more than a century, uniting genius past and present with strange, tensile strands of inspiration, obsession, and lust.
A tragedy that occurs in a hospital for the insane in Frankfurt, Germany, will have repercussions across decades and eras. Several weeks after the death of a female patient in a terrible fire, the poet Algernon Swinburne follows a mysterious woman through the shadows toward a remarkable event at once enthralling, stimulating, and terrifying beneath the streets of London. Years later, at the start of a new century, a struggling young artist, Radborne Comstock, is introduced to a ravishing beauty who immediately becomes his muse, his desire, and his greatest torment. It is a legacy of pleasure and madness that will be passed down to his grandson, the dilettante actor Valentine Comstock, who is plagued by disturbing and increasingly erotic visions. And in the present day a journalist named Daniel Rowlands is seduced by the bewitching and mercurial Larkin Meade, who holds the key to lost artistic masterpieces, and to secrets too devastating to imagine.
What connects these men -- and others whose grand destinies are to imagine and create -- is one woman. Eternal, unknowable, the very ideal of beauty and desirability, she exists somewhere beyond the boundaries of time, a sensuous dream of flesh and fantasy to inspire or destroy, an immortal lover ... or an angel of death.
Customer Reviews:
a finely wrought page-turner.......2007-04-29
Elizabeth Hand writes exquisite, brilliant, beautiful prose and she writes it about some of the oddest and most twisted characters and situations imaginable. In this work, her use of lovely metaphors and the virtuosity of her technique with color makes for sublime reading. Her take on the role of the muse in artistic creation is original and pretty much mind-blowing. All of this and a great rollicking adventure and love story. If you enjoy the darker works of Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, or the fairy tale collections edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow, you'll enjoy this, but fans of A. S. Byatt, Guy Gavriel Kay, Patricia McKillip, or Robin McKinley will also find something here. I suspect even magic realism fans, those who love Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, and Isabel Allende, would also like Hand. Also recommended are her first novel, Waking the Moon and her recent story collection Saffron and Brimstone.
pretty, layered novel, definitely better for avid readers than casual ones.......2007-02-16
I didn't enjoy Elizabeth Hand's Mortal Love as much as I enjoyed her earlier novel, Waking the Moon, but it was still worth reading.
The narrative skips around a bit from character to character, which gets a little confusing, but the story is compelling and the characters themselves are interesting.
I kept feeling that I was missing some vital information that would help me make sense of the book, and after reading some Amazon reviews, I think that is indeed the case. Di's review sums it up:
"It probably helps to have some knowledge of The Maginogi and other Celtic tales, as well as the poems of Yeats and the writing of Robert Graves. Understanding who Tristan and Isolde were and the Pre-Raphaelites won't hurt. Else, how can one put this convoluted tale in perspective?"
Yeah, I don't really have that much of a classic lit education yet, so I was lost in more than a few spots. And I had no idea that some characters, like Swinburne, were actual historical figures. But I could sense that I was missing stuff, at least, instead of the story just being written badly.
I would really like to go back to this one in about ten years, after I've learned more about the subjects it touches on.
Beautiful, Erudite, Daring.......2007-02-11
This woman is a genius writer, IMHO! Of course, in the case of this novel, I know I'm biased, because she wrote it just for me. Well,at least it feels that way... what she's done so brilliantly is weave in the myth of the Muse, the creative genius that can drive men mad, or, wait, is that woman the Faery Queen? Both, neither? Woven in are the spooky tropes of a gothic thriller,and many of the stars of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, my college Art History heroes. She re-creates the laudenum laden late Vitorian era in such a bold and flawless way she literally transported me there. Beautiful bold writing and a show stopping cameo by non other than Esperanza Wilde herself make this book, to me, amazing.
Exquisite and enchanting.......2006-02-21
I'm not going to beat around the bush. I absolutely devoured Mortal Love. Elizabeth Hand has long been my favorite author, and even when I read work from her that I didn't care for, I could never deny that it was exquisitely written. This novel was no exception.
I'll have to say that at first, it was a little confusing, because each chapter introduced a new protagonist. Technically, there are three, as the synopsis mentioned-- Radborne Comstock, an American in England who will one day be a famous painter (early 1900's); Daniel Rowlands, an American journalist in London (present-day), and Val Comstock, Radborne's grandson, an artist (present-day).
To be fair, it takes a few chapters for the ball to get rolling-- you initially have so many characters thrown at you that it takes supreme concentration to keep them all sorted out-- in addition to the three protagonists, there is a whole host of important supporting characters of which to keep track. Though, to Hand's credit, each of these minor characters is distinct and whole unto himself or herself-- there is not a two-dimensional personality in sight. At any rate, I spent a certain portion of the novel's outset wondering just how and when these storylines would ever come together.
As the novel gained momentum and we learn that Larkin Meade may be one and the same with the Pre-Raphaelite muse, Evienne Upstone, I found that everything is indeed linked. Here, Hand displays her finest gift-- her ability to steep our mundane world in an ethereal magic. While there are elements of the fantastic present always, Mortal Love always straddles the line between fantasy and reality. Never are we told for certain what Larkin actually is, but we get hints-- faerie tales and King Orfeo, the myth of Bloduedd, muse to rock god and painter alike. La Belle Dame Sans Merci. She is a blending of all of these things, improbable, but all the more startlingly beautiful in her inability to be compartmentalized, defined, constrained.
Stealing scenes are characters like Juda Trent, a mysterious androgyne who seems to know much more about Larkin than any mortal should know. In that role, I could picture none other than Tilda Swinton-- they have the same feral beauty, the same devastating intelligence. Balthazar Warnick from Hand's earlier novels, Waking the Moon and Black Light has a brief cameo, and Charlotte "Lit" Moylan gets a brief mention.
The only problem I had with the novel overall was the pacing. The reader experiences all three timelines simultaneously, and this is a disservice to Radborne's tale. Atmospheric and lovely though it may be, the reader knows more than Radborne regarding his mystery woman's identity, and it's as though we're waiting for him to play catch-up. Though his section does introduce strong artistic themes, it does plod a bit in comparison to the other threads. The other pacing issue is that everything wraps up very quickly after the slow work of juggling several storylines. Perhaps due to this sudden conclusion, the novel doesn't quite end seamlessly-- I certainly have lingering questions here and there. but satisfyingly enough. How did Juda come to this world? Why has s/he appointed herself/himself Larkin's watcher? At what point does Radborne go mad, and what was the phantom troupe that passed him on the moor? Are both Learmonts the same person, as well? What exactly is Val's true parentage? How are we to completely buy Val's essential role in the ending given our limited knowledge of him?
However, for the most part, I was satisfied, if a little dazzled by the richness of the writing. The themes are common ones-- the relationship of the artist to art, the relationship of artist to muse, the feverish obsession of unadorned desire, the wish to leave a lasting print behind when we leave this world. However common, they are exquisitely rendered here. I felt as though I were slowly plucking the petals off a cherry blossom as the pages turned, and the imagery was so lush that it was as though I was experiencing the novel with all five of my senses. The period sections were amazingly detailed-- perfectly capturing the allure and decay of the Decadents. There was raw, rich sensuality spilled on every page. This is the hallmark of great writing.
Dazzling and Dreamy.......2005-09-18
If you're reading these words, the chances are excellent that you've read the author's unforgettable "Waking the Moon," and perhaps "Black Light" as well. So, let's get the comparisons out of the way first. No, this isn't another "Waking the Moon" (although Balthazar Warnick turns up in a cameo), but it's brilliant in its own way. Impeccably written, it spans two eras and is told from three different pov's. It's populated with semi-eminent Victorians, both real and imaginary, human and nonhuman, mortal and immortal, as well as a cast of contemporary characters. Most are mad to some extent. Some even realize that they are.
Ms. Hand, master of the lush descriptive passage, is brilliant at creating a sense of place, especially with her descriptions of 19th-century Cornwall and 21st-century London. Maybe you'll feel as if you've dropped in for a visit. She also has a way of making the bizarre seem at least semi-normal (a border collie that apparently would place in a NASCAR race), and she's playfully suspenseful (going Hitchcock one better, she serves up a McGuffin but in the end simply tosses it away). The book's tightly plotted and the obsessed characters seem real, for who among us has not fallen victim to obsessive love at one time or another?
A warning for those few of you who may have stumbled upon this without knowing a thing about "Waking the Moon": Ms. Hand apparently expects her readers to bring something to the table with them. In this case that would be a knowledge of Art History, Victorian life and literature, the pre-Raphaelites, Celtic (and other) mythology, and Jungian pyschology. And a knowledge of British Geography wouldn't hurt either.
I've only one question: does Daniel go home in the car or the motorcycle?
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Books Index
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20th Century
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