Brown Eyes Blue: A Novel [Hardcover]

Carolyn Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2003

This story of three generations of independent-minded women will resonate with mothers and daughters of all ages.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Meyer, a children's and YA author, makes a charming adult debut with this novel about a woman who leaves a stale job and reluctant suitor to go back to her home town and live in close proximity to a mother she never really understood. Dorcas Buchanan returns to Juniata, Pa., when a friend informs her that Dorcas's mother, Lavinia, has recently been displaying some eyebrow-raising art at a local show. The octogenarian has been showing her Amish-inspired paintings for years, but she's recently taken to showing erotic nudes, which has shaken up sleepy Juniata society. Upon her arrival, Dorcas finds Lavinia slightly older, decidedly tight-lipped about her change in subject matter, but certainly not slipping into senility, as Dorcas had feared. While home, Dorcas renews old relationships and impulsively decides to buy an old mansion and open a bed and breakfast. She is caught up in remodeling the inn and getting her business off the ground when her own daughter, Sasha, arrives on her doorstep, pregnant and with her lesbian "co-parent" in tow. Little do these women guess how much they have in common-shared passions, losses and secrets that lead them to question the choices they have made in their lives. Meyer weaves the story of three generations of women who, with their distinctive voices, will endear themselves to readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Meyer, author of many young adult titles, shapes her first adult offering around three very interesting women who take turns narrating. Daughter Dorcas' return home is prompted by a call from a friend who tells her about the scandal caused by her mom's latest art exhibit. Instead of the pastoral Amish scenes for which she is known, Lavinia's latest show consists of brilliantly executed, graphic nudes. Dorcas, too, feels reckless and buys an old mansion to convert into an inn, and in the process remakes her own life. Then granddaughter Sasha shows up pregnant and with a lesbian partner. Dorcas and Lavinia harbor secrets from their pasts (although Lavinia alludes to hers in several of her paintings), but neither is paralyzed by her earlier mistakes. The charming Pennsylvania setting and Meyer's strong characters could readily accommodate a saga-sized tome, but alas, the author brings things to the sort of rapid conclusion young adult novels feature, thus leaving the mature reader wishing for more. Danise Hoover
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bridgeworks; 1 edition (February 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882593685
• ISBN-13: 978-1882593682
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,697,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My first book, MISS PATCH'S LEARN-TO-SEW BOOK, published more than forty years ago, was intended to teach young girls how to knot thread, make a neat stitch, and sew simple items. The main character of my next book, CLEOPATRA CONFESSES, coming in June 2011, is a far cry from the roundish, gray-haired lady with a needle in her hand and spectacles on her nose. Since the thrill of seeing that first book in print, I've written over fifty more books, non-fiction and novels (most recently, historical fiction). In the process I've learned more about writing and a lot about history, a subject that was not my favorite when I was a young student but has become my passion--a passion I love to share with readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Read, April 26, 2003

By 

L. Lovett "book maven" (Apopka, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brown Eyes Blue: A Novel (Hardcover)

At last, thanks to Carolyn Meyer and her remarkable first adult novel Brown Eyes Blue, we have a poignant, pithy story, rife with recognizable relationships among women spanning three generations, where the heroines are not all under forty with violet eyes. In fact, arguably my favorite character is Lavinia, an artist in her eighties who is scandalizing both family and community in her sleepy Pennsylvania town by her switch from painting bucolic country scenes to bringing naked men to life in full frontal view.

My five children grew up reading Meyer's award winning books for pre-teens and teens (she's written forty nine of them), and I read them through the years to keep pace with my kids developing knowledge of powerful women in the pantheon of world history. Meyer's many works on famous queens contributed to my daughters' belief that they could be anything they wanted to be and tweaked their imaginations as they donned regal garb to present plays in the garage and relegated their two brothers to playing their courtiers and jesters.

Now at last, Meyer has brought her vivid characterizations to life in a novel for me. In Brown Eyes Blue, through Lavinia, Dorcas, and Sasha, Meyer presents the difficult, often daunting, three generational family sandwich so many of us have lived through or are living. Dorcas, in her mid-fifties and struggling with her own dramatic change of life issues of career and romance, is caught off balance between an outspoken and hypercritical elderly mother who is showing signs of senility and a needy, twenty-something daughter whom Dorcas thought was safely launched into adulthood but who arrives back on mom's doorstep, seemingly the same troubled teenager who left home several years before.

As with her children's books, Meyer's novel is spare with overblown description that bogs you down but rich with metaphor and realistic dialogue that takes you there.

As someone who was once a Sasha, who has very recently played the role of Dorcas and who one day can only hope to be as colorful and entertaining as Lavinia, I feel highly qualified to recommend Brown Eyes Blue to other avid readers of fiction. It's a wonderful read and one can only hope that Carolyn Meyer is at work on her sequel.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Book Club Choice, March 31, 2003

By 

CT (Castle Rock, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brown Eyes Blue: A Novel (Hardcover)

Brown Eyes Blue is a wonderful book about the relationships that women have....with other women, with men, and with themselves. It made me think about the choices I have made in life, my expectations regarding romance and the times I have sold myself short. The characters are wonderful! This is the perfect book for a book club to read and discuss. I strongly recommend it.