A second novel by the author of Vindication presents the story of a young woman coming of age in 1950s America as she searches for a worthwhile cause and ultimately learns that she must find her own way. 25,000 first printing.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Green, muses Zoe McLaren, the conflicted, engaging protagonist of Sherwood's beautifully articulated coming-of-age novel, "is the color of growth, newness, innocence." It also stands for naivete and jealousy, says Greylen Cloud, who claims he's a Native American and becomes her husband on the night Zoe graduates from high school in Pacific Grove, Calif. Almost immediately, Zoe realizes that she has chosen Grey as an escape from her strict father and alcoholic mother and the highly hypocritical Mormon community in which they live. This is the 1950s, and Zoe yearns to be hip, a beatnik; in reality, she's a gawky bookworm whose every daring sexual adventure only further reveals her unworldliness. Grey and Zoe run away to San Francisco and then Big Sur, where they live in a tent, poor and dirty, and where Grey is constantly stoned on marijuana and peyote. Grey is a bully with a violent streak, blatantly unfaithful, a congenital liar; he abandons pregnant Zoe to run off with another woman. By the age of 19, Zoe has been arrested twice, is the mother of adorable Nadja, has worked as an exotic dancer and at other dead-end jobs. She is finally acquiring a sense of self when Grey returns?and brings tragedy. Sherwood, who painted a mesmerizing picture of 18th-century England in her first, highly praised novel, Vindication, is equally adept at evoking the California scene of the 1950s, from bomb alerts and uptight nuclear families to Beats, astrology and alternate lifestyles. Zoe's voice is tart, ironic and funny; always out of step in both the Mormon and the Beat cultures, she is a spirited survivor who undervalues her intelligence and potential until she finally survives the unthinkable. Though she is again portraying a young woman at odds with her times, Sherwood proves that she is no one-book, one-voice author; Zoe's story will strike a resonant chord with many a woman for whom the '50s were a pivotal time.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Sherwood's first novel, Vindication (LJ 3/15/93), was a finalist for the National Book Award-clearly a tough act to follow. But she's trying anyway with this story of a rebellious young woman who doesn't fit into the 1950s.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A whirlwind of emotions.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Green (Hardcover)
The main character, Zoe Mclaren, is a tortured soul who is
lost among the perils and joys of her life. The ideas she
chooses to believe in make her very different from the
people of her time. In that way she is much like the author,
who touches upon many matters of importance that have
existed throughout our time. In her novel, Frances Sherwood
guides us through the most awakening and self-gratifying
pieces of literature I have ever read.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
