266 of 282 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top Ten Things That are Great About "I'd Know You Anywhere", August 5, 2010
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Other reviewers have synopsized the story beautifully, and I won't add to that. Cliff Notes version: Eliza Benedict was abducted when she was 15 years old. She is now an adult leading a good life, with a loving husband and two kids with strong interesting personalities. The main trauma that remains is the question: why did her abductor let her live, when he had killed all his other victims? Then Eliza receives a letter from her abductor - Walter Bowman. He saw her in a magazine article and said he would know her anywhere. He is on death row and wants to to talk to her.
It's an excellent book, and I recommend it highly. Why?
10. Laura Lippman is a skillful writer, an artist who draws characters until you can almost hear them speak. Each of her standalone novels introduces us to people we would never know until we meet them on her pages.
9. What would it be like to be a kidnap victim? While I'd prefer to never know this on a personal level, the insights are intriguing and haunting.
8. The kids' characters, while incidental to the story, ring so true: a snippy haughty teenager who, while she could be stereotypical, is not and a younger son who could be a stereotypical cuddle-muffin but is not.
7. An interesting look/discussion of the death penalty. Is it right? Wrong? Want to change your opinion? Want to reinforce your opinion? Here are some thoughts.
6. The pacing. Lippman sucks you in. I rarely say, "I couldn't put it down." This time, well... I couldn't put it down. I ate and slept with the book until I finished. (If anyone wants to borrow it, I apologize for the food stains.)
5. The story. The victim of a kidnapper/spree killer is begged to meet with her kidnapper on death row. There's a story to suck you right in.
4. The characters you meet along the way: the mother of the last victim, Walter's bitter ex-teacher advocate who, while she claims to not be obsessed with him, is surely obsessed in some ways, a shoddy journalist/novelist... Then there's Eliza herself, who has re-invented herself... or has she? There are many to hold your interest.
3. Sensuous descriptions. By sensuous I don't mean romanticized. I mean you will feel them.
2. There's always a clever twist. A moment you didn't anticipate.
1. The fact that Lippman has another novel up her sleeve which will surely explore some new arena that hasn't been touched on before.
I look forward to it.
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69 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
THE CONTOURS OF LIFE, September 1, 2010
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For me I'd Know You Anywhere proved to be a frustrating read. On one hand I literally marveled at Laura Lippman's ability to craft a complex study of intimacy, guilt, confusion, memory, temptation, sibling rivalry and a mother's natural urge to protect her children.
The desperation and terror experienced by the young victims in this story coupled with the psychological games and manipulative ploys employed by several of the central characters were intricately woven into this amazing narrative allowing the reader a voyeuristic look into the dark recesses of some pretty obsessive and, at times, malicious minds. Also, the exploration of relationships - in particular, the almost symbiotic relationship between captive and captor as well as the love/hate relationship exhibited by siblings are related with perceptive insight and sensitivity.
And yet, for all that, there is a certain hollowness to the story. What began as a compelling chronicle resonating with tremendous potential ultimately loses its voice and becomes a mere echo of what it could have been. The "big question" was never really answered but was presented as more of a "what do you think" challenge for the reader to ponder, as was the issue of capital punishment. I don't mind using my grey matter, but when a talented author has built up my expectations, I am greedy enough to expect them to deliver the goods.
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53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sleeping With Open Windows, August 5, 2010
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Laura Lippmann is one of those extraordinary writers that rarely disappoints.
She digs deep for her characters, and we come to know them very well. She does
not skimp on her words, and she is able to find a way for her characters to wind
their way into our minds and often our hearts.
Eliza Benedict has a wonderful life. Two very independent children, a husband
with a profession that keeps them well taken care of, and allows Eliza to stay
home. They are just back from England and are settling into a town in Virginia.
Eliza has found summer groups and camps to keep her children busy, and she is
now trying to forget the English terms to become once again ingrained into the
US culture. At least, her children remind her each day of words she seems to
mix. And, then, the teenage years she has been trying to forget come crashing
back into her life. She receives a letter from a man who kept her hostage for
six weeks one summer, a summer she wants to forget.
Walter Bowman, has written a letter to her. He is on death row, convicted for
killing another young woman after he had let her go. He recognized Eliza from a
picture of her and her husband in the paper. He wants to see her, he says and
ends by saying 'Id Know You Anywhere.' What could he want? Eliza does not want
anyone to dredge up her story for her children's sake, but she realizes that
Bowman is a dangerous man and if ignored will only go further. Eliza and her
husband stand firm, but she finally realizes she has no option but to see this
man. And, truthfully, she has always wanted to know why he let her go. He has killed
a young woman, and Eliza suspects he has killed more than one. She thinks
Bowman is a serial killer, the worst kind of human. Can she bear to go deep and
remember those terrible weeks? How will she ever tell her children? As she talks
with Bowman, she finally understands he wants to go further than she is willing.
Can she go back there? ELiza faces the world of the unknown and the places she prefers not
to go. Bowman is a monster, and he deserves to die. Can she dredge up those years,
and if she does, would she ever be able to sleep with the windows open?
Can she get past her fear?
This is a tremendously fascinating and harrowing novel. It brings us to our
baser fears, and we wonder how would we deal? This may be one of Laura
Lippman's best novels. It is based on a real story, but names and situations
have been changed. The mystery belongs to us, could we go there?
Highly Recommended. prisrob 8-01-10
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