Författarbild

Andrea Kleine

Författare till Eden

3 verk 86 medlemmar 7 recensioner

Verk av Andrea Kleine

Eden (2018) 50 exemplar
Calf: A Novel (2015) 35 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Kön
female

Medlemmar

Recensioner

3.5 The author is a performance artist and it shows in her creativity and ability to envision the world of this bizarre, but plausible story, as well as in the main character's profession and mindset. Hope is a thirty-something, NY playwright, hanging on by a thread -- professionally, socially, emotionally. Her mother has recently died of cancer and she receives a letter out of the blue letting her know the man (Larry) who kidnapped her as a pre-teen is up for parole. This sends Hope on a quest to find her half-sister Eden who experienced the trauma with her, though maybe worse since she was older at the time. Hope also returns to the world of her estranged father, who was tangentially responsible for the kidnapping when he neglected to pick them up at the bus station on his custody weekend. A picture of the girls' childhood begins to emerge – selfish father, hippie-dippy mothers and unresolved trauma from the kidnapping incident. The search by camper van takes Hope to a couple communes and ultimately across the country, but her sister clearly does not want to be found and their meeting is a little anti-climactic, though Hope learns a lot about herself. There are metaphors here too: Eden, the innocence that can’t be regained, Hope that searches….One person replies to her query: “I sense this is some sort of quest for you, needing some sort of closure….keep on keeping on. The best thing you have going for you is your name.” Hope realizes: I hated that kind of resolution: everything is not all right in the end. In the end, your bruises become scars and they make you who you are.” (206) and “I thought …about how I was addicted to continuing. It was what we did. It was how we lived. Make one decision and then another. Make one mark, then another. Write one word. Write another.” (261) Steps toward healing.… (mer)
 
Flaggad
CarrieWuj | 2 andra recensioner | Oct 24, 2020 |
This book is so dark. The writing was great and I appreciated what I think the author was going for, just not sure whether it totally worked for me. Looking forward to future books by this author.
 
Flaggad
snakes6 | 3 andra recensioner | Aug 25, 2020 |
I could not put this book down! Excellent writing, time period well captured.
 
Flaggad
viviennestrauss | 3 andra recensioner | Jan 16, 2020 |
You can also find this review on my blog.

cw: transphobia, kidnapping, underage drinking, drug use
disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration. All of the opinions presented below are my own.

I requested this from NetGalley mostly on a whim and ended up being pleasantly surprised. What I liked most about it was probably that it followed the aftermath of the sisters’ kidnapping rather than focusing on the kidnapping itself. It was more of a study on how trauma impacts individuals as they age, as well as the role that relationships with others play in our lives.

“I own the ground, but not the water,” she said. “Isn’t that something?”

The main character is a queer woman (I believe she’s a lesbian, but never drops a definitive ID) and it’s nice that it’s just sort of a fact rather than a plot point. My one issue was the way she referred to another character: as “maybe trans” and later as another character’s “girlfriend/boyfriend.” It didn’t really feel like a respectful way to portray them and rubbed me the wrong way, although I’m a cis woman and can’t speak fully to the representation.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
samesfoley | 2 andra recensioner | Dec 26, 2018 |

Priser

Statistik

Verk
3
Medlemmar
86
Popularitet
#213,013
Betyg
3.9
Recensioner
7
ISBN
9

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