Acts of Love: A Novel [Paperback]

Emily Listfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2008

From the acclaimed author of Waiting to Surface comes a chilling drama of suspense and passion. In a suburb near Albany, New York, Ted and Ann Waring are waiting for divorce papers. Ted is hoping for reconciliation, but when he returns from a hunting trip with the couple's two adolescent daughters, he loses his temper one last time, shooting and killing Ann in their living room. He claims it was an accident, but his thirteen-year-old daughter, Julia -- the only witness -- is sure it was murder. The younger girl, Ali, doesn't know which way to turn. And when Julia testifies against her father, she sets into motion a struggle that pits family, friends, and townspeople against one another. As the many layers of truth unfold, in the courtroom and in the lives of these compelling characters, Emily Listfield's lean and subtle prose reveals the ways in which the emotions and evasions of the past reverberate uncontrollably into the present.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Listfield's ( It Was Gonna Be Like Paris ) searing fourth novel, the author leaves her familiar urban settings for rural upstate New York, where a family's troubles explode in murder. Ted Waring shoots his wife, Ann, in the midst of a bitter argument witnessed by their daughters Julia, 13, and Ali, 11. Ted claims the death was accidental, but Julia insists she saw her father aim the gun. In search of the truth, the narrative follows Ted's ensuing murder trial while examining the couple's marriage through nicely integrated flashbacks. Although Ann emerges as the most sympathetic member of a cast of damaged, floundering characters, it is Ted, who exhibits several hateful characteristics as he fights for his freedom and his family, who occupies the center of the book. A sordid twist involving Ann's younger sister decides Ted's fate, but the question of his innocence disappears in a tangle of complicated, often ugly relationships. Listfield's prose is clear and fluid as she tells this grim, edgy tale in which homicide is not always the worst crime committed in the name of love.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

After nearly a year of an uneasy separation, Ted Waring is hoping to persuade Ann not to sign the divorce papers. Dropping off his two daughters to the family home after a hunting trip, Ted loses his temper when he hears Ann has been dating another man. The gun he is holding accidentally discharges, killing Ann. Or was it an accident? Julia, the troubled older daughter, insists that Ted deliberately killed her mother. Both Ted and Julia try to persuade the younger daughter, Ali, to corroborate their different versions of what really happened. Using a technique of alternating flashbacks with accounts of Ted's arrest and trial, Listfield (Slightly Like Strange, LJ 11/15/88) gradually fleshes out each character, so that words like guilt and innocence are not so easy to assign. Tightly written and suspenseful, this is appropriate for public libraries.
Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416558748
• ISBN-13: 978-1416558743
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,857,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Depressing, September 14, 2008

By 

Loves to Read "ldydy26" (Northbrook, Il United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Acts of Love: A Novel (Paperback)

This is book is an easy read but disturbing and depressing I cannot recommend it. There is only one character in the entire book that I like. The rest of the characters have all done things that are horrible. Almost every character has an emotional or genetic problem. I think that the author would have been better off choosing one or two characters for you to root for.

By the end of Ted's trial, I just didn't care what happened to him, Julia his daughter or Sandy his sister-in law. I found them to be terrible lying characters. Even Ann the character that is shot has done things in her past that were dishonest.

I think that there are better books out there about dysfunctional families.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Redeeming, But Not My Favorite, September 8, 2009

By 

Katherine "Apparently I'm a Shopaholic" (Massachusetts/ Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acts of Love: A Novel (Paperback)

"Acts of Love" opens with a short introduction to the characters: Julia & Ali (daughters), Ted (husband), Sandy (sister) and Ann (main character). Almost as soon as you've met these people, their world is thrown into upheaval after Ted returns from a weekend trip with his daugthers, gets into a fight with his wife, Ann, and she ends up shot in the head and dead.

Her eldest daughter, Julia, is 13 and is standing between 3 feet to 1.5 feet from Ted when the gun is fired. She claims Ted aimed and shot his wife while Ted claims that Julia jumped on him- to stop their arguing- causing the gun to misfire.

This story is filled with back stories and also present tense court hearings.
We are given a back story about Ann & Sandy's relationship with their parents and thier ideas of what marriage is supposed to feel like. Ann believes it to be about passion and love and the giving of oneself to another. Sandy believes that you should always keep yourself separate from someone else, to keep yourself whole on your own.

We learn how Ann & Ted met, what their relationship is like. We learn about the girls and their feelings toward their parents' separation a year prior to the "accident". We learn about many deep, dark secrets.

I liked the idea of the story. The delivery was a bit... wanting. I didn't care for the characters. Even the ones that I was rooting for in the beginning, I ended up not caring for in the end. Every single person was hiding something. I lost myself within the pages, trying to uncover who was telling the truth.

There isn't much showing of remorse. The only struggle is within Sandy, and it's almost non-related to the entire dramatic event itself.

There were chunks of the book that should have been left out completely. And as stated in a few other reviews, there was no one that I ended up LIKING by the end of the book. It's tough to love a book if you don't like any of the characters.

It was a good effort, and wasn't COMPLETELY bad. If you can struggle through it, it actually has a few redeeming qualities- hence the 3 star review.

2.0 out of 5 stars A Family in Trouble., January 27, 2009

By 

Diane "dianemax" (Newfoundland, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acts of Love: A Novel (Paperback)

Most of the characters in this book have very few redeeming qualities. They are definitely a family in crisis. Ted Waring is the husband of Ann and the father of two girls, Julia and Ali. They have recently separated but Ted wants to come back to the home and start again with Ann. She, however, is beginning to move on with her life. In the midst of an argument a gun is fired and Ted is accused of murdering his wife, though he says it was an accident. Their daughter, Julia, however disagrees and says that her father did this on purpose.

The case goes to court and throughout the story each member of the family has their own say on how things were in the family and what probably happened.

I have to say that I did not particularly like any of the characters in this book. Everyone seemed to be keeping their own secrets and deceiving others in the process.

Not a great book in my opinion.