Sometimes love can speak louder than words ...Paul Iverson's life is stable, orderly and dull - until he meets Lexy and her Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, Lorelei. From their first date, Lexy sweeps him off his feet and brings him passion, adventure and love. But one afternoon, Lexy climbs the apple tree in their backyard and falls to her death. Heartbroken, Paul cannot believe it was an accident and sets out to uncover the truth, with the help of the only creature who saw what happened, Lorelei. What follows is both comic and deeply touching as Paul tries to divine Lorelei's secret. And in his attempts to teach her to communicate, Paul revisits his often tempestuous romance with Lexy, learning things about his wife that he could never have imagined. "Lorelei's Secret" is a spellbinding novel that will win the heart of every reader with its story of unending love, loss and the lengths that people will go to when driven by grief and hope.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
'Inventive and gripping ... Parkhurst handles the quest formula with originality and humour' -- Literary Review 'If you like a tear-jerker with a twist you'll adore this. In the vein of Maggie O'Farrell's After You'd Gone, it deals with the loss of a loved one' - Glamour 'One of those rare novels ... that intrigues, pulls on the heartstrings and confuses you all at once' -- Time Out 'A shimmering fictional portrait of love and loss' -- Scotsman 'Prepare to have your heart smashed into melancholy pieces' -- Elle 20030801 'Mesmerising and unusual ... The book is beautifully written and, alongside thriller-like elements, packs a powerful emotional punch' -- Good Housekeeping 20030801 'An extraordinarily moving novel, poised halfway between a lament and a mystery ... A novel to be read in one sitting, LORELEI'S SECRET is one of this summer's "must read" books' -- Big Issue (in the North) 20030801 'Captivatingly strange ... perilously adorable' -- New York Times 20030620 'Wonderfully inventive and slyly funny' -- Alexei Sayle, Telegraph Book of the Year 20030620 'A heartbreaking exploration of memory and language, grief and redemption' -- Esquire 20030701 'This tightly woven tale has all the right stuff: romance, suspense, fantasy, and an ending that does not disappoint.' -- Red magazine (US) 20030601 'Part love story, part psychological thriller and a thumping good read' -- Livewire 20030801 'A quirky and endearing love triangle' -- Marie Claire (US) 20030701 'Carolyn Parkhurst writes as well about talking dogs and square eggs as she does about the limits of language and the intractable mysteries of the self. 'Lorelei's Secret' is a strange, beautiful and very moving novel that asks us to look, in equal measure, at the puzzle that is grief and the puzzle that is love.' -- Elizabeth Graver, author of 'The Honey Thief' and 20030701 'Carolyn Parkhurst's 'Lorelei's Secret' --so luminous, heartbreaking, comic, and daring--is an astonishing debut. Parkhurst writes of love and loss, and, above all, of what we can and cannot know of one another, with power and deeply earned grace.' -- Richard McCann, author of 'Ghost Letters' 20030701 'Shimmers with idiosyncratic intrigue ... a humanistic parable of the heart's confusions.' -- Entertainment Weekly 20030613 'The most unique and imaginative book I have read in recent times. Parkhurst is a wonderful writer and her story is daring, tender and full of surprises as well as wisdom and insight. I simply could not put it down.' -- John Searles, author of 'Boy Still Missing'; Senio 20030613 'Every once in a while a book comes along that knocks you for six. Lorelei's Secret is just such a novel. It made me laugh and cry and most importantly, avidly read until the last page' -- ABTA 20030801 'This is the kind of book you stay up all night to finish' -- Image 20030801 'Carolyn Parkhurst's startling, achingly compelling first novel ... Part mystery, part thriller and all love story, this is a painfully evocative work, and Parkhurst is that rare thing - a "promising new talent" who turns out to be exactly that' -- Sunday Business Post 20030801 'a charming, tender study in grief' -- Marian Keyes, The Week 20030801
About the Author
Carolyn Parkhurst's fiction has appeared in 'The North American Review', The Minnesota Review', 'Hawai'i Review' and 'The Crescent Review'. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and their son.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An achingly sad and beautiful story of one man's love and loss,
This review is from: Lorelei's Secret (Paperback)
When I first heard of this novel, I couldn't imagine being able to suspend my disbelief to the extent that I could tolerate the far-fetched concept: a grief-stricken widower decides to teach his dog, the only witness to his wife's death, to talk. But to my pleasant surprise, this was nothing like the outlandish tale I was dreading. Rather, in author Parkhurst's skillful hands, the decision of the main character, Paul--who happens to be a linguist--to teach his dog, Lorelei, to talk, seems not only plausible but completely understandable. Parkhurst shines in her ability to describe the pain and confusion that results from the sudden loss of a loved one as well as the one survivor's seemingly irrational efforts to make sense of a death that appears to be senseless.
In searching for answers to his wife Lexy's death, Paul reconstructs their relationship, bringing the reader along with him to their first date (which lasted a week), their marriage, and their life together; this reminiscence, not Paul's work with Lorelei, forms the bulk of the story. Slowly, a more complete picture of Lexy begins to emerge, yet the exact reasons for her death do not become clear until the very end of the novel. I found myself to be genuinely surprised by the details which Paul uncovers, and although I have never experienced a similar loss myself, I empathized with Paul more and more as the book wore on. Twice in the final pages I found myself sobbing: when Paul finally figures out Lexy's last clue, and when he describes their relationship in the very last paragraph. Like life itself, this novel is both sad and beautiful, and I highly recommend it. Note: This book is also published under the title The Dogs of Babel.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Read!,
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This review is from: LORELEI'S SECRET (Hardcover)
I love this book! I'm on my second copy now. It's got love and mystery, art and books, and a secret society, as well as humor and grief. I highly recommend it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Parkhurst amazing,
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This review is from: Lorelei's Secret (Paperback)
Carolyn Parkhurst is an astonishing writer. She handles complexity with ease and sorrow with grace. This is the British version of Dogs of Babel, so don't get it thinking you're getting another book. But Oh, what a read! You will be haunted by this one for years.
And looking at dogs wth a new eye. And searching for those masks. Parkhurst creates amazingly complex realities and envelops you in them.
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