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The worst thing I've done : a novel
Hegi, Ursula.
Adult Fiction HEGI
From Publishers' Weekly:
The troubles specific to triangular relationships are explored with depth and substance in Hegi's complex and affecting latest. Annie, Jake and Mason-friends practically from the womb-have developed a fraught dynamic sharply affected by competitiveness, attraction and jealousy. The book's opening trauma-Mason's suicide-serves as a springboard for Hegi to delve into the friends' tangled past: Mason and Annie get married the same night Annie's father and very pregnant mother die in a car wreck. The baby, Opal, survives, and the three friends raise her. But festering attractions-Mason to Jake; Jake to Annie-lead Mason to cross a line, Annie to want out of the marriage and Jake to fail to act at a pivotal moment. Woven into the mix is the post-WWII story of Annie's immigrant mother, Lotte, and her friend Mechthild, who came to America from Germany to work as au pairs and pretended to be Dutch to avoid persecution. Though a bumper crop of tragedy weighs heavily on this controlled and articulate novel, Hegi (Sacred Time) is an accomplished storyteller; she inhabits different characters and blends the past with the present to tell a rich story of love, death, loyalty and survival. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
In Hegi's latest, the life of the protagonist, Annie, is framed by two catastrophes. One is the death of her parents on her wedding day. Her mother had been pregnant, and Annie and husband Mason end up raising her orphaned infant sister, who survived the wreck. The other-connected to a romantic triangle involving their childhood friend Jake-is Mason's suicide eight years later. The novel unfolds during the year after Mason's death as Annie and her sister/daughter, Opal, try to heal. As in her best-selling Stones from the River, Hegi addresses familiar themes such self-destruction and parental abandonment. She also offers rich characterizations, especially that of Aunt Stormy, a middle-aged German who wishes coveted possessions away from others, attends peace rallies, hosts an annual emotional cleansing ritual, explores the natural world with relish, and loves with abandon. One of Hegi's most enchanting skills is her ability to re-create setting, here a Long Island coastal community. While this book lacks the rich canvas of Stones from the River, it is a moving exploration of grief. Recommended for all libraries.-Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Hegi, Ursula.
Adult Fiction HEGI
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From Publishers' Weekly:
The troubles specific to triangular relationships are explored with depth and substance in Hegi's complex and affecting latest. Annie, Jake and Mason-friends practically from the womb-have developed a fraught dynamic sharply affected by competitiveness, attraction and jealousy. The book's opening trauma-Mason's suicide-serves as a springboard for Hegi to delve into the friends' tangled past: Mason and Annie get married the same night Annie's father and very pregnant mother die in a car wreck. The baby, Opal, survives, and the three friends raise her. But festering attractions-Mason to Jake; Jake to Annie-lead Mason to cross a line, Annie to want out of the marriage and Jake to fail to act at a pivotal moment. Woven into the mix is the post-WWII story of Annie's immigrant mother, Lotte, and her friend Mechthild, who came to America from Germany to work as au pairs and pretended to be Dutch to avoid persecution. Though a bumper crop of tragedy weighs heavily on this controlled and articulate novel, Hegi (Sacred Time) is an accomplished storyteller; she inhabits different characters and blends the past with the present to tell a rich story of love, death, loyalty and survival. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
In Hegi's latest, the life of the protagonist, Annie, is framed by two catastrophes. One is the death of her parents on her wedding day. Her mother had been pregnant, and Annie and husband Mason end up raising her orphaned infant sister, who survived the wreck. The other-connected to a romantic triangle involving their childhood friend Jake-is Mason's suicide eight years later. The novel unfolds during the year after Mason's death as Annie and her sister/daughter, Opal, try to heal. As in her best-selling Stones from the River, Hegi addresses familiar themes such self-destruction and parental abandonment. She also offers rich characterizations, especially that of Aunt Stormy, a middle-aged German who wishes coveted possessions away from others, attends peace rallies, hosts an annual emotional cleansing ritual, explores the natural world with relish, and loves with abandon. One of Hegi's most enchanting skills is her ability to re-create setting, here a Long Island coastal community. While this book lacks the rich canvas of Stones from the River, it is a moving exploration of grief. Recommended for all libraries.-Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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