The Problem With Murmur Lee [Hardcover]

Connie May Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2005

The bestselling author of Before Women Had Wings spins a wild new tale about the strong bonds among a group of friends that loses its quirkiest member, Murmur Lee. Exploring new literary territory while keeping to her native Floridian roots, Fowler is here at her most original and entertaining.

As a new year dawns over the island of Iris Haven, Murmur Lee Harp and her lover, Billy, go for a romantic sail without a care in the world. The evening comes to an abrupt halt when Murmur Lee discovers that she has drowned—but by whose hand?—in the Iris Haven river.

Grief-stricken and haunted by the mysteries surrounding her death, Murmur Lee’s circle of friends sets out to discover what really happened to her, and in the process they learn as much about her failings and triumphs as their own. After years of self-exile in the North, Charlee Mudd returns to set her best friend’s affairs in order, only to confront her own ghosts. Edith Piaf, a former marine whose sex change at the age of sixty-two Murmur Lee supported unquestioningly, must find the confidence to carry on without the encouragement of her friend. Lonely widower Dr. Zachary Klein plummets into the depths of depression at the loss of the second woman he has ever loved. As for Murmur Lee—who lived her entire life on an island named by her great-great grandfather in honor of the Greek goddess who receives the souls of dying women—in death she experiences her own journey as she is plunged into her familial past and discovers the truth about who she really is.

With poignancy and humor Fowler weaves the voices of Murmur and her friends into a compelling narrative. Part family saga, part murder mystery, The Problem with Murmur Lee is Fowler’s most rewarding and engrossing work yet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This elegiac novel, chronicling the life and death of idiosyncratic Murmur Lee Harp, showcases Fowler's easy, loose-limbed prose and sympathetic eye for human fallibility. Murmur Lee, 35, owns a popular local rundown bar in a North Florida backwater called Iris Haven and is skilled in the use of potions and spells. After her only child dies and her husband runs away, she finally finds the man she thinks may be the love of her life, then mysteriously drowns in a local river. Fowler (Before Women Had Wings) beautifully crafts the story of this woman's life through the eyes of her motley bunch of friends and through the spirit of Murmur Lee as she looks back at her past life. After Murmur Lee's death, Charleston Rowena Mudd, Murmur's childhood friend and a "Self Loathing Southerner," finds herself back home in Iris Haven, having dropped out of Harvard Divinity School. Also in town is Billy Speare, Murmur's last love, a writer who believes he's on the verge of bestsellerdom; Lucinda Smith, an angry, chain-smoking yoga teacher; Dr. Zachary Klein, who's mourning his wife, dead of breast cancer; and former marine turned transsexual Edith Piaf, mesmerized by the singer of the same name. Somehow, Fowler makes the disparate viewpoints and characters work, and the singular life of Murmur Lee Harp engagingly unfolds, as does the mystery behind her early death.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–At first glance, this novel appears to fuse elements from Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (Little, Brown, 2002) and Rebecca Wells's Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (HarperCollins, 1996). As it opens, Murmur Lee, a free-spirited young woman who enjoys life with a circle of eccentric friends on a coastal island in Florida, is chronicling her death by drowning. Subsequent chapters are told through her eyes and those of various friends, including her best friend, who returns from Boston to settle her affairs; a 62-year-old ex-marine who has had a sex-change operation; a doctor who has yearned for Murmur since losing his wife to breast cancer; an angry, young, self-proclaimed Mennonite whose penchant for profanity does little to hide her vulnerability; and Murmur's novel-writing boyfriend from up north whom the rest of the group suspect of having had a hand in her death. In her afterlife, Murmur is given glimpses into the past that allow her to understand her relationships with her zealously religious mother, distant father, and ex-husband. Despite a central theme that involves the ways that Murmur Lee and her friends try to come to terms with her death, the book is not morbid; rather, Fowler's sharp wit and insight enable her to touch on the intertwined topics of life, death, faith, friendship, and love with grace and aplomb. Students will appreciate the extent to which the author takes her characters on separate and rocky journeys, and the power of leaving their ultimate destinations purposefully vague. Highly readable and thought-provoking.–Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1St Edition edition (January 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385499817
• ISBN-13: 978-0385499811
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,856,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Connie May Fowler is an award-winning novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter. Grand Central Publishing will publish her most recent novel, How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, April 2, 2010. She is the author of six other books: five critically acclaimed novels and one memoir. Her novels include Sugar Cage, River of Hidden Dreams, The Problem with Murmur Lee, Remembering Blue--recipient of the Chautauqua South Literary Award--and Before Women had Wings--recipient of the 1996 Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Francis Buck Award from the League of American Pen Women. Three of her novels have been Dublin International Literary Award nominees. Ms. Fowler adapted Before Women had Wings for Oprah Winfrey. The result was an Emmy-winning film starring Ms. Winfrey and Ellen Barkin. In 2002 she published When Katie Wakes, a memoir that explores her descent and escape from an abusive relationship. Her work has been translated into 18 languages and is published worldwide. Her essays have been published in the New York Times, London Times, International Herald Tribune, Japan Times, Slate, Oxford American, Best Life, and elsewhere. For two years she wrote "Savoring Florida," a culinary and culture column for FORUM, a publication of the Florida Humanities Council. In 2007, Ms. Fowler performed in New York City at The Player's Club with actresses Kathleen Chalfont, Penny Fuller and others in an adaptation based on The Other Woman, an anthology that contains her essay "The Uterine Blues." In 2003, Ms. Fowler performed in The Vagina Monologues alongside Jane Fonda and Rosie Perez in a production that raised over $100,000 for charity. She is currently working on her next project, a novel titled Euphrates in Paradise. In addition to writing, Ms. Fowler has held numerous jobs including bartender, food caterer, nurse, television producer, TV show host, antique peddler, and construction worker. From 1997-2003 she directed the Connie May Fowler Women Wings Foundation, an organization dedicated to aiding women and children in need. From 2003-2007 she served as the Irving Bacheller Professor of Creative Writing at Rollins College and directed their award-winning visiting author series Winter With the Writers. Ms. Fowler travels the country, speaking on topics such as writing, self-employment in the arts, literacy, domestic violence, child abuse, environmental issues, and popular culture. She teaches writing workshops and seminars globally and is the founder of Below Sea Level: Full Immersion Workshops for Serious Writers. She is a Florida native.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ~I'm certainly going to miss the characters~, April 24, 2005

By 

*Q* "rusty spurs" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Problem With Murmur Lee (Hardcover)

Just finished reading this wonderful book. I have never read any of Connie May Fowler's books before this one and I can safely say I am hooked. I even bought a copy for my Mom for Mother's Day!

Reading her words are like sailing along a lazy river. Thoughts and images floating through your brain effortlessly. When I got to the end of this wonderful book, I thought "Wow".....I've found a new Author to explore.

All I can add now is.....I'm really going to miss the characters, especially Murmur Lee.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical, Enchanting, Life-Affirming Story, March 30, 2005

By 

Marion "[e-mail]" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Problem With Murmur Lee (Hardcover)

I ate this book up with a spoon, it was just soooo good. After reading the last page (and wiping away my smeared makeup from crying my eyes out), I turned to the front of the book and started over. It's that kind of book. I wanted to buy a hundred copies and give them to everyone I know!!! (I don't ever recall feeling quite this way about a book.) Thank you, Angie, for telling me about this story!!!!!!!!!!!!! I owe you for this one.

I have never in my life read such lyrical, soul-stirring, beautiful, original, exquisite, emotion-filled writing. I wanted to BE Murmur Lee, lover of life, nature, and nurturer of all kinds of people. She was a survivor, lover and friend of the highest order...we should all aspire to imitate the depth of her soul.

Ms. Fowler, you are truly a word magician and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing this book. It renewed my sagging faith in life. The words just sparkle on the page and fill your heart with wonder and awe at the miracle of life and living.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connie May Fowler's, January 11, 2005

By 

Laura van den Berg (Winter Park, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Problem With Murmur Lee (Hardcover)

Connie May Fowler's latest novel is brilliant and devastating-a celebration of all the elements that make our world simultaneously heart breaking and joyous. The novel explores Southern culture, both the external features and the deeply ingrained qualities that one cannot completely abandon, no matter how hard they try. "The Problem With Murmur Lee" offers a multifaceted examination of an extraordinary woman's life, in addition to the lives of the people who loved her. Throughout the novel, Fowler's prose remains lyrical and evocative, as the story of Murmur Lee Harp unfolds with all the beauty, pain, and complexity that characterizes a fully realized life.