Peripheral Vision [Paperback]

Patricia Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2007

A novel connecting disperate women at different times in their lives, and in history. Sylvia, a brilliant and successful eye surgeon is nevertheless amazed to find herself pregnant, despite taking no precautions. Iris, a timid young woman in love with a man from a different social stratum. And Ruby, a 1950's housewife who receives poison pen letters, which she believes she thoroughly deserves. Linking these women is a fascinating thread that weaves their lives together. Peripheral Vision is a powerful new novel about love and the lack of it; about loss, mothering, sight and insight, from this prize-winning author. Patricia Ferguson's last novel, It So Happens, was listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Now read on.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The aftermath of a child's injury leaves a trail of love, loss and mystery around generations of women in British author—and former nurse—Ferguson's finely wrought American debut. After an accident in 1953 threatens a young boy named George with blindness, his mother, Ruby, becomes the target of an anonymous, vicious letter-writer and begins to lose her grip on reality. Meanwhile a young nurse and a medical student meet while sitting over George's hospital bed and begin an all-consuming romance. Their happy courtship worries working-class nurse Iris when she enters her boyfriend Rob's posh and unwelcoming world. Forty years later, Sylvia, a talented London eye surgeon reads the crumbling old hospital notes detailing George's surgery and must confront her lack of inner vision when it comes to her new child, her family and a life-long friendship. Ferguson does a beautiful job of drawing together the pieces—the relationship between our physical and moral ailments, and injuries with our inner pain and suffering—and her nonlinear storytelling builds a sense of foreboding, mystery and pathos as the fates of all these characters' interlocking lives are revealed. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Omaha World-Herald

“…erudite reading… [that gives] a sense of breathlessness for the reader anxious to know the next piece of a character's story…a fine undertaking for the reader.”


 Vogue

“... Fiction finds suspense in twisting tales of love and legacy. ... Patricia Ferguson's deftly plotted Peripheral Vision revolves around three women- a fifties-era housewife traumatized by her son's damaged eye, a shy working-class nurse involved with a wealthy medical student, and a contemporary eye surgeon blind to her own misperceptions- who struggle to bring their lives into focus.”

 
Library Journal

“Ferguson makes excellent use of flashback and alternating…illustrating the subtle yet telling influences people can have on one another in even the most innocent of interactions…Fans of literary fiction will appreciate the novel's wit and quietly apt observations on the human condition.”


ForeWord Magazine

“Crisp dialogue, trenchant observations, and crystalline details that coalesce into an indelible whole…Readers looking for a ‘sure thing’ would be wise to cast their sights on this emerging British novelist.”


The New York Times Book Review

A deepening of the story. . . . Pemper argues that the 'crucial accomplishment' was not the list itself but 'the multifarious acts of resistance that, like tiny stones being placed into a mosaic one by one, had made the whole process possible'…Pemper devotes most of his carefully written book to the numerous small initiatives that, in his telling, played a part in the rescue effort." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Solidus (January 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904529291
• ISBN-13: 978-1904529293
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,937,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars See it through, December 11, 2008

By 

Julie Hedlund (Lafayette, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peripheral Vision (Hardcover)

This book is much like a flower. As a shoot, it's pleasant enough. As it buds and then begins to bloom, however, it becomes much more complex and beautiful. All of the characters are interesting, and their lives intersect in a multitude of ways that do not become fully clear until the very end, which adds suspense to the literary pleasure.

My one complaint about the book is that it seemed to rush to its conclusions at the end, whereas it grew on you slowly, slowly in the beginning. It seemed to me that the author suddenly felt like she was coming up on her page limit and decided to wrap everything up in a bit of a hurry.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perceptive book, March 1, 2009

By 

Linda Donaldson (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peripheral Vision (Hardcover)

This book is about self-delusion and finding clear vision. It is non-linear in time and thought. I found it helpful to just let go and let the author move me back and forth in time and space and between characters. It is all tied together at the end, but I urge the reader NOT to skip to the end to find out exactly how. Unlike her characters (at least at first), Ferguson is very perceptive about human nature and desire. The reader watches as these interesting and varied people learn to understand themselves -- or, in some cases, don't. I highly recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit slow, but worth it, January 14, 2009

By 

Faith Junaid - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peripheral Vision (Hardcover)

Peripheral Vision starts out slowly. Ferguson's style tends to be more telling than showing, or perhaps it's simply more narrative than action. By chapter four I was confused. I didn't see any connection to the characters from one chapter to the next. I persevered, but it was slow going. Despite that, her characters became compelling to me. Although Sylvia is the main character, according to the back cover blurb, I found Iris and Ruby to be more compelling. The only thing that kept me reading was wondering how all these characters were connected. About two thirds of the way through there was a hint of connections. By this time the characters had also managed to become "real" to me and continuing was easy. By the time I finished this book I had to agree with the back blurb: "Peripheral Vision is a funny and clever novel about love and the lack of it; about motherhood, sight, and insight; and about the different ways we experience and transcend suffering."

One of the really great things about this novel is that I could not guess what was going to happen next. Nothing was predictable. At the same time, nothing that happened seemed wrong or forced. It all seemed natural. The story wrapped things up at the end, but not in a tidy little box. I like stories with a beginning, middle and end, but I don't like formulaic or 'pat' endings. I also don't care for stories that leave me wondering as much at the end as I did at the beginning. Peripheral Vision manages to find that middle ground.