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The plot of this novel is meant to remain a secret until you read it - to reveal too much would ruin the experience of reading this powerful novel. What we can say is that Chris Cleave creates two very distinct narrative voices - one is "Little Bee" a 16-year-old refugee in England - the other is Sarah, a successful magazine editor, wife and mother in London. As the novel progresses, we slowly come to discover how these two seemingly disparate individuals are inextricably connected for the rest of their lives. The ending has been divisive among readers but left Nancy with a visual that stills haunts her. Nancy recommends!
This mart and seductive debut is the gothic tale of a lonely, wealthy widower who gets a lot more than he bargained for when he sets out to get a mail-order bride. Full of complex characters and twisted plots, it is also a meditation on despair, love, hate, regret, hope, and redemption. Set mainly in rural Wisconsin in the depths of the winter of 1907, the snowy, austere landscape is as much a feature player as the rest. Think "Wisconsin Death Trip" meets "Rebecca." A sure bet for book discussion too!!
These stories of the seemingly barren wastes of the post-industrialized mid-west will grab hold of you with its fine-tuned prose and stealthy wit. The people Campbell presents here are survivors and they are rich in love, valor, forgiveness and longing. You will feel transformed after reading of their sometimes sad and horrific, but ultimately redemptive plights. This collection is amazing and Stefan loved every story within.
We recommend this debut story collection by the author of The New Yorker knockout story about a family living on the street in Nairobi, "An Ex-mas Feast." We especially admired the writer's subtle, unsensationalistic approach to stories about human connections within extreme situations. Highly recommended.
Grann has written the rare book that succeeds both as a compelling first-person narrative and as fascinating historical tale about one of the last great explorers: Percy Fawcett. From his obsession with a legendary lost city to his disappearance in the Amazon jungle, to the many failed attempts to find him. |
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Updated 8/27/09
LITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave.
A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick
AMERICAN SALVAGE by Bonnie Jo Campbell.
SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM by Uwem Akpan.
LOST CITY OF Z by David Grann,|
Copyright 2006, Unabridged Bookstore |