Set Me Free [Hardcover]

Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2007

Elliot Barrow is a man of ideals. The founder of Ponderosa Academy, a school for Native Americans, he is a paragon of virtue. But when he is critically injured in a horrific fire, his family, colleagues, and friends begin to unravel the devastating catastrophe at the heart of his life.

SET ME FREE is full of those who love Elliot: Amelia, his sixteen-year-old daughter, who has never imagined the violent, tragic truth behind the legacy of her dead mother; Helen, Elliot?s first wife, visiting the academy to direct a production of The Tempest; and Cal, Elliot?s closest friend and bitterest rival. Then there is the matter of Willa Llewelyn, hurtling across the country in a wheezing Volvo. She has never heard of Ponderosa Academy or Elliot Barrow. But she is vital to the great, beguiling mystery haunting Amelia, Helen, and Cal.

In its frank depictions of friendship, fatherhood, race, class, love, and devastation, SET ME FREE is moving, incisive, and above all, wise.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Secrets are unveiled and histories explored in Beverly-Whittemore's sophomore novel that follows the small mélange of family and friends surrounding Elliott Barrow, the idealist founder of a school for Native American children. The book's frequently narrated by Cal Fleecing, a Native American who returned to his Oregon reservation after failing to complete his Harvard graduate coursework 17 years earlier. He meets Elliot on the reservation and helps him set up Ponderosa Academy, Elliot's dream school, in Stolen, Ore. But off the record, and to the reader, Cal's jealous of Elliot's charisma and annoyed at his optimism, feelings somewhat shared by Elliot's 17-year-old daughter, Amelia, returned home from a Portland conservatory, and Elliot's first wife, Helen Bernstein, a New York City theater director recruited by Elliot to direct a student production of The Tempest. In a separate plot set seven months ahead of Helen's arrival in Stolen, 17-year-old Willa Llewlyn is being driven across country from Connecticut by her father, Nat, to meet Elliot for reasons Nat'sreluctant to make clear. Though the hidden connections between characters aren't exactly surprising, the allusions to Shakespeare and shifts in time and perspective make for an intriguing read. (Mar.)
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About the Author

Miranda Beverly-Whittemore is the author of The Effects of Light (Warner, 2/05). She most recently worked for the 92nd Street Y's Poets and Writer's program and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (March 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446533319
• ISBN-13: 978-0446533317
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,739,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A captivating read - you can almost smell the high desert pines!, April 3, 2007

By 

K. Whitehead (Oregon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Set Me Free (Hardcover)

The story probes the heart of relationships (familial, romantic, friendships) - how we connect with others, how we hold on to ideas of people long after they have proved us wrong (or right), how we deceive people, even those we care deeply about and for.

A wonderful mixture of the past and the present. Different narrations and points of view keep the story captivating until the very end. Difficult to set down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Thought Provoking, April 22, 2007

By 

Nomi M. Prins (New York) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Set Me Free (Hardcover)

In Set Me Free, Miranda Beverly-Whittemore has created a novel that brilliantly delves into the intangible elements that make up the human identity: background, culture, race, economic conditions, stature, nature vs. nurture. The soul-searching questions that each character asks of themselves as their lives combine in the page-turning plot, are both personal and general to us all. Their secrets, that Whittemore deftly unveils as the story moves towards its tragic and enlightening climax, are as much about self-preservation as self-awareness.

The main protagonist, Elliot, has as much to prove to himself, given his on-the-surface life of opportunity as Cal, a man struggling against his perceived binds of heritage. Helen, the woman ultimately linked deeply to both, finally finds out who she really is, by leaving all she thought she was behind. And, by the time the story ends, the teenage girls, Amelia and Willa, gain more personal clarity at a younger age than the generation before them.

In all, Set Me Free, is a beautifully written, sensitive and provocative book, full of insights into the human condition and what makes us tick.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars home run, April 18, 2007

By 

I. Ohana - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Set Me Free (Hardcover)

Set Me Free is an engaging read about the facts and fictions that make up each character's identity and family. It is an absolute must read for Shakespeare fans. With its creative use of an old story to structure the telling of a new one, it would be a fun book to discuss in a class or book club. After the first few pages, I just couldn't put it down.