The Awakening [Paperback]

Donna Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

The celebrated author of The Alchemist leaves the world of ancient Egypt with this chilling, modern ghost story of an unraveling family.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Turning out novels on a near annual basis, this rising star of fantasy suspense abandons ancient Egypt (The Alchemist) for a satisfying, old-fashioned ghost story with a touch of violence and mayhem. Mary is an amnesiac who wakes up in a sanitarium with no sense of her past other than the dim memory of an incident that took the lives of her physician husband and daughter. Her psychotherapist at the sanitarium convinces her that her family isn't literally dead, and she moves into what she thinks is her lakeside house near Chapel Hill, N.C., hoping that its occupants-a frustrated writer and his rebellious teenage daughter, both spending the summer there-are her family. It gradually becomes clear that Mary is a ghost. The daughter, Elsie, sees her but can't speak to her. The father, Paul, encounters the ghost and actually converses with her. When his wife, Penny, a prominent surgeon, joins her family at the summer house, she has terrifying dreams of blood splattered about the kitchen. As Mary struggles to communicate with the house's isolated, unhappy occupants, they themselves fail to communicate with one another-Paul is miserable over his flagging career; Penny, preoccupied with her work, barely has time for the family; and Elsie is bitterly estranged from both of them. The author slowly reveals the ties between Mary's family and the one she has adopted, and Paul, Penny and Elsie begin to draw together as they research their mysterious visitor. This is a well-told tale with a shocking final revelation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Coming out of a coma-like state, Mary finds herself disoriented, almost without memories, and in the care of someone she thinks is a doctor in an institution. Desperately seeking answers, she knows she must remember her past in order to make a final transformation, for eventually she acknowledges that she is a ghost. In accepting her own destiny, she helps the family living in her old home face adultery, divorce, and the troubles of a distraught teenager denying her best friend's suicide. The novel begins with Mary and alternates her story with the plot concerning Paul and Penny Mason's failing marriage and their daughter, Elsie. Eventually the plots merge as the Masons begin seeing, experiencing, and talking to the woman. The climax occurs in a natural manner and quickly resolves all difficulties in a gripping final scene. Boyd's complex characters are rich in detail and individual traits. Elsie first appears to be stereotypically drawn, but she takes on her own uniqueness and awakens to the truth about herself and her friend's death. Mary must acknowledge her own death as well as the fate of her family before she can find peace. Paul and Penny reconcile. All the "awakenings" are interwoven, as lives inevitably are. For those who enjoy ghost stories with depth, this is a good choice.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345462351
• ISBN-13: 978-0345462350
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,400,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Awakening, April 14, 2004

By 

Jeni_Lyn (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Awakening (Paperback)

This was an excellent ghost story! Usually with any ghost/mystery book, you can guess the ending mid way through the book, but not this one! Mrs. Boyd keeps us guessing until the end! The story is about The Mason's, a family recently moved into their lake home in Mercy, North Carolina, and struggling with family crisis, and Mary, a ghost of a woman who has been dead for seventy years and doesn't realize she is the ghost. Mary seems to be connected to this family in some way, after all, she has waited seventy years to return home, and that connection is the real mystery behind the ghost story! I highly recommend this book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Eerie Tale Of Ghosts & Parallel Worlds, January 13, 2005

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Awakening (Paperback)

If you have ever longed to read a good old-fashioned ghost story, a chilling tale of the supernatural, Donna Boyd's "The Awakening" should fit the bill perfectly. If you prefer the metaphysical over the mundane, the author also raises some intriguing questions about the nature of death and freewill.

Paul Mason, a successful writer of children's books, and an English professor at a college in North Carolina, is fired for having an affair with a student. His wife, Penny, a surgeon, is now the only breadwinner in the family. She is devastated by her husband's infidelity. Their thirteen year-old daughter, Elise, is very troubled and recovering from a trauma she experienced a year ago. Withdrawn and depressed, Elise has been pulled out of public school and her father is homeschooling her. The family leaves their home in town and moves to their lake house, hoping to rebuild the marriage and their former close, loving relationship. After a brief time at the lake, Elise becomes more introspective and appears to hear voices and strange noises. Penny begins to have vivid, violent reoccurring nightmares. Paul meets and converses with an unknown woman, who seems very much at home on their property. There are indeed bizarre goings-on at the Mason house. However, Paul, Penny and Elise are estranged from each other and not communicating well. But it is only through pooling their knowledge that they will be able to unravel the mystery - and there's not too much time left!

At almost the same time the Masons move to the lake, a woman awakens from a long coma. She is disoriented and remembers nothing about herself, her life or her family. Someone, a psychiatrist or doctor, works with her but tells her that only she can unlock her memory - if she wants to remember. She slowly determines that her husband and daughter are dead, in an accident. Her only wish is to return home. Finally, when she remembers her name, she is allowed to go home.

Donna Boyd has written an eerie tale about worlds which exist on parallel planes. Those with pressing needs may pass from one to another. This is a simply written, engrossing novel where the telling of the tale is all important. I enjoyed it...and was scared at times - the test of a good ghost story!
JANA

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tightly knit tale, December 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Awakening (Hardcover)

This story slowly spins a tale of a family in crisis alongside a woman in crisis. It gains momentum and draws you in. The characters, the house, and the countryside are beautifully and painstakingly described. The story is very complex, yet the book is remarkably short. I was shocked how quickly I read this.