Adelaide Piper [Paperback]

Beth Webb Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2006

Adelaide Piper, small-town Gen-X debutante and renegade poetess, calls her own tune. But Piper's tunes lead her and those closest to her to dangerous places. Tragedy and heartbreak mean a return to the very ground that she once cursed, though with a deeper appreciation for that Southern heritage, however infirm it may be.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Debutante Adelaide Piper grows up in the small industrial community of Williamstown, S.C., with dreams of attending a faraway prestigious college and honing her poetry skills. She soon arrives at Nathaniel Buxton University, an elite liberal arts school in the mountains of Virginia, only to discover it to be more about fraternity parties and fashion than learning. When a hazing incident goes awry, one promising life is snuffed out and another ruined. Then, a casual date turns ugly, and Adelaide loses her moorings. Her parents aren't helpful: Dad is obsessed with an Amway-type pyramid scheme; her mother with her failing marriage and two difficult younger daughters. There's more fodder for tragedy—perhaps too much—as one of Adelaide's best friends grapples with an eating disorder and another grieves an abortion. As she discovers religious faith—in a conversion scene that is expected, but nicely done— Adelaide begins to recover the core of who she is. Hart's faith-based debut is intelligent and promising. (June 13)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Adelaide Piper, precocious and overconfident, leaves her little South Carolina town for a fancy liberal-arts school. She seems to be taking the place by storm when she is date-raped. Of course, this being Christian fiction, Adelaide is a virgin and a bit of a prude, too, but, anyhow, all her world comes crashing down. Her grades fall, and she fights depression. She tries on feminist politics but remains troubled. Maybe there is no cure, unless that boring little town she thought she escaped has some merit after all. Hart, with humor and a nice southern accent, has written a fine follow-up to her highly praised first novel, Grace at Low Tide (2005). John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson; Ex-Library edition (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159554027X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595540270
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,033,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Beth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her first novel, Grace at Low Tide, was one of three finalists for the 2006 Christy Awards in the general/contemporary/fiction category. Her second novel, Adelaide Piper, was selected for Books-a-Million's book club and for their national book of the month for December, 2006. Both titles were included in the "Top 10 Christian Novels of 2006" by Booklist, the American Library Association's review journal. Hart's third novel, The Wedding Machine, became an ECPA best-seller in July of 2008.
Beth Webb lectures on a variety of topics and has taught creative writing on the college and high school level where she received two national awards from Scholastic, Inc. She lives with her husband, composer Edward Hart, and their children in Charleston, South Carolina where she teaches English and Creative Writing at Ashley Hall.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beth Webb Hart's latest novel Adelaide Piper enjoyable and inspirational, January 1, 2007

By 

Derek S. Chiarenza (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adelaide Piper (Paperback)

This is the second novel by this talented new voice in Christian fiction and like her first, "Grace at Low Tide" it is both a well written and accurate portrayal of a young girl's life in The South as well as an inspirational story of conversion and enlightenment. Hart has a true talent for character development and setting that engages the reader in the life of her protagoninst, the college bound Adelaide Piper. After her high school graduation, Adelaide desperately seeks to flee the small mill town she grew up in and pursue the cultural and educational opportunities that she believes await her at prestigious Nathanial Buxton University. All does not go as planned however and after several dramatic and life altering events Adelaide is forced to reconsider what is important in life and where her true fulfillment may be found. This is a delightful story that delivers an important message in a way that is not preachy or heavy handed. This is a great read for anyone who enjoys southern fiction and a must read for young people questioning their way in the world.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adelaide Piper - An Inspiration!, July 12, 2006

By 

Rachel Barrett-Trangmar "RLBT" (British citizen in Charleston SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adelaide Piper (Paperback)

Adelaide Piper is a very inspiring book, well written, & researched by authoress Beth Webb Hart. Most graduates would be able to relate to Adelaide's life experiences, her expectations & illusions, when trying to discover her raison d'être.

As we all know, this path of discovery is full of challenges & confrontations, which are often disappointing & confusing, especially during one's maturing years as an undergraduate. Such experiences & mistakes, however, will hopefully build & strengthen one's character, as was seen by Adelaide's unfolding realisations.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars quality character study, July 16, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adelaide Piper (Paperback)

In Williamstown, South Carolina Adelaide Piper has always wanted to attend a prestigious college to develop her poetry skills. Thus when she is accepted by the elite liberal arts Nathaniel Buxton University, she is euphoric. However her elation turns sour as she is disappointed to find the Virginia university is a party school.

Still Adelaide makes the best of a bad situation even after a student dies in a hazing incident. She goes out on a date, but that turns nasty as the boy demands she put out for him. Adelaide feels alone as her father is preoccupied with making a zillion dollars through a pyramid like scheme and her mother struggles with raising her two other wilder daughters without any paternal help. Her two best friends also struggle with life's curveballs. Adelaide turns to religion as she tries to better understand why life seems so cruel.

Though too much is piled on as Adelaide, must be the Job-magnet with so many ugly things happening to her family and friends, her return to religion is deftly handled and realistic as she serves as the focus of this fine story line. Her family members and her two friends face personal crisis that isolate Adelaide further and the university is a disappointment as she selected it to learn. Beth Webb Hart writes a top quality character study in which the heroine's finds spiritual salvation and solace in God.

Harriet Klausner