Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason [Hardcover]

Joyce Atkinson (Author), Kristine Atkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2006

In Journal, Kristine Atkinson and Joyce Atkinson conjure the voyeuristic appeal of finding a stranger's diary, then becoming transfixed with the secrets contained within. These pages belong to artist, wife, and mother Amy Zoe Mason, whose riveting storytelling relies equally on visual and verbal clues.

Using an old book as her canvas, Amy layers words, collages, newspaper clippings, and emails into a personal narrative that at first feels familiar, until the sense of alarm begins to build. Readers will find themselves scouring the pages for missed hints and important evidence , compelled to interpret the signs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This tantalizing "found" journal of a troubled young wife and mother combines the diary of Amy Mason, correspondence, clippings from newspaper accounts and remnants of the 19th-century novel Amy used instead of a blank notebook to frame the story of her disintegrating marriage. Amy's husband, Robert, moves to Boston to head a new cardiology institute, but Amy and her two small children remain behind in Houston, planning to follow later. As the relocation process drags on, Robert throws himself into his new responsibilities and Amy fights a deepening depression. She finds a new friend in her Houston real estate agent, Vanessa Garamond, but the beautiful Vanessa provokes Amy's suspicions with an unannounced trip to Boston. Sisters Kristine and Joyce Atkinson only hint at the occurrence of a crime, and readers will have to draw their own conclusions from the open-ended assemblage of visual and textual clues. Traditional mystery readers may want a more definitive story, but amateur scrapbookers will find inspiration in this collage.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Sisters, Kristine Atkinson and Joyce Atkinson are mild-mannered artists who have a mind for murder. They live in Houston, Texas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743290380
• ISBN-13: 978-0743290388
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #950,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure inside!, September 14, 2006

By 

Katie C. Nelson "Katie the Scrapbook Lady" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason (Hardcover)

I just finished this book for the second time last night. It is unlike any other book I have ever read - or seen. Yes, you have to "see" this book because it is a work of art! It is presented as an altered book journal created by Amy Zoe Mason and you can see from that little note on the cover that things don't turn out too well for Amy in the end.

The first time through the book I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. Then I had to read it again to look for all the clues I might have missed and just to enjoy the artwork. It truly is like reading through someone's scrapbook/journal. In fact I really had to remind myself after that it was just a work of fiction, because I really felt like I had read someone's diary! - LOL!

It was fun to read something like this just for myself. It also made me want to alter a book! I've always felt funny about doing that because books are so special to me, but it would be fun to find an old book and give it new life with my own art.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every page a work of art, August 5, 2006

By 

Ellen Momsen (Coos Bay, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason (Hardcover)

This book is unlike any I have read before. It is the journal of Amy Mason, a very gifted artist and mother. She keeps her diary on an old book, so you are sometimes able to read the background story. It's amazing! The story in the old book somehow seems to parallel Amys story. I still have to explore this! I have spent hours looking at each page. Amy was such a gifted artist - she has taken journaling/scrapbooking to a whole new level. I know that this is supposed to be fiction, but Amy seems so real, I'm not sure...I feel like I know her, and wish I could help. It is so interesting to see how her relationship with her husband changes, and to see how her depression affects her art. I haven't been able to get Amy off my mind. There are no easy answers or conclusions at the end of this book, just like in real life.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting idea... but don't expect too much..., February 3, 2007

By 

Buffy Bennett "Book Lover" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason (Hardcover)

As a work of art, this book succeeds. It is beautiful to look at. As a mystery, it is far from complex, but it did hold my interest for the hour or so I spent on it. I did study the pages looking for hidden "clues", but didn't really see any that weren't completely obvious. I like the idea of creating intrigue around the case of this "real" woman, but it's obviously not true. The myspace link is also pretty clever. This book reminds me of the "Blair Witch Project" in its artificial documentary style. Pick it up and enjoy it for what it is. Might be a nice coffee table book or something to place in a guest bedroom for relatives with trouble sleeping. It's fun. It's pretty. That's about it...