She Was (P.S.) and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
$3.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
She Was: A Novel
 
 
Start reading She Was (P.S.) on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

She Was: A Novel [Hardcover]

Janis Hallowell (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover --  
Paperback, Bargain Price $5.60  

Book Description

April 22, 2008

Doreen Woods lives an ordinary life. She is a respected dentist, her son has just graduated from high school, and her husband teaches fifth grade. The one flaw is that her brother, Adam, has MS. Even that isn't all that extraordinary. . . . Then, out of nowhere, Janey Marks shows up, bringing the past with her.

In 1971 Doreen was young, idealistic Lucy Johansson. Adam was back from Vietnam, damaged and bitter. Caught up in the anti-war movement Lucy committed a crime that changed everything for both of them.

She Was spans America, coast to coast, over four decades, to give us the story of one young woman who, like many of her generation, tried to change the world and how, thirty-four years later, in a world that still needs changing, she must pay the consequences.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Disjointed and anticlimactic, Hallowell's (The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn) take on the far-reaching consequences of Vietnam-era protests gone bad addresses big issues but doesn't quite deliver. Doreen Woods, a successful Colorado dentist, wife and mother, isn't who she seems. Thirty years earlier, she was Lucy Johansson, a Berkeley student and antiwar radical who went underground (with her older brother, Adam) after a bomb she planted at Columbia University as part of a political group called Fishbone fatally detonated. As Doreen, she keeps her past a secret from her husband, Miles, and teenaged son, Ian, until she's confronted by Janey Marks, an old Fishbone friend with a grudge: Janey's husband, Jack, is in jail for explosives possession and Janey is determined to trade Doreen to the FBI for Jack's release. As Doreen struggles with the decision to come clean or run again, Adam is slowly consumed by multiple sclerosis and is frequently awash in flashbacks to his tour in Vietnam. But for all the anxiety, paranoia and violence, the reading experience is oddly flat. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Hallowell’s text... is razor sharp.... And few writers could match her depiction of Adam’s battle with multiple sclerosis....SHE WAS sustains a steady level of suspense for such a character-driven piece.” (Sunday Denver Post on SHE WAS )

“[S]pellbinding...evokes pathos without being sentimental...It’s a story set in the turbulent, emotional times of the Vietnam war. The beliefs of sons and daughters are set against the values of their own parents as American living rooms became increasingly hostile places. [P]owerful...harrowing.” (Kash's Book Corner on SHE WAS )

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow; 1St Edition edition (April 22, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061243256
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061243257
  • Product Dimensions: 17 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,972,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a second gem from Janis Hallowell, April 25, 2008
By 
This review is from: She Was: A Novel (Hardcover)
A writer of extraordinary range, Janis Hallowell has followed up her lovely and mystical first novel - The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn - with She Was, a tale of personal politics that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Doreen Woods leads the most apolitical life imaginable on a quiet street in Denver . She's married to the gentlest husband imaginable, has a perfectly nice son, and is a DENTIST, of all things. But it is a fabricated life, and the week in which Doreen's carefully constructed existence gets upended is the setting for She Was. Along the way, we visit wartime Viet Nam through the eyes of Doreen's ex-marine brother, and get a tour of the changes in our political landscape since the sixties. Back then, war was opposed vocally, dramatically, and sometimes violently. Now, as She Was subtly points out, an equally senseless war is being met with a great silence. In a sense, Doreen's quiet life is a metaphor for the lives of most left-leaning members of the middle class - politically, we've gone underground. Anyway, it's a great, fast, rollicking read. Janis Hallowell has delivered a second gem.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The reality of war, August 31, 2008
By 
This review is from: She Was: A Novel (Hardcover)
A well written book about the wars that we fight on a national, international and personal front. Seen through the lens of a protester whose actions led to the violence and death that she wanted to end, I did not come away from it feeling that the choices she made were held up to be applauded. War, be it in Vietnam, Iraq or in the streets of the USA, is never what what people think it will be and nobody comes through it unscathed. Having been actively involved in student protests during this time, it was easy for me to connect with not only Doreen, but with the complexity of issues and personalities presented in the book. (this is not to say that you "had to have been there" to appreciate the novel) I agree with another reviewer that the author's attempts to hit every social issue from immigration to gender discrimination was a tad overdone, but it did not detract from overall story.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, April 26, 2008
This review is from: She Was: A Novel (Hardcover)
This new novel by Janis Hallowell hauntingly redefines the concept of "broken family." A 60s radical goes underground, reinvents herself, and tries to live a normal if completely fraudulent life. Then a former co-conspirator finds her, and all hell breaks loose. Hallowell's true gift as a writer lies in her ability to create a character who can make you mad as hell but still garner your sympathy. We all make mistakes and do dumb things, but how many of us have to pay for the rest of our lives? Doreen's comfortable life is a house of cards just waiting to fall. And it's not just Doreen who'll feel the blow -- Hallowell's scenes showing Doreen with her husband and son are heartbreaking.

Of course, SHE WAS will really appeal to you if you happened to grow up during the sixties/seventies. (Got a high school reunion coming up?) But even if you didn't, SHE WAS stands by itself as a riveting and provocative read.

(Of course, now I'm anxious to go back and read Hallowell's first novel, THE ANNUNCIATION OF FRANCESCA DUNN - another treat, as I see from other reviews.)

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews






Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
taking new patients
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Kansas City, Bird Dog, Lucy Johansson, Tom Poole, Louis Nilon, Doreen Woods, Wilmia Nilon, Paula Stein, Janey Marks, East Hall, Costa Rica, Raymond Rhodes, Social Security, Amanda Buchwald, Viet Cong, Henry Baker, Patricia Wolfer, Marvin Leach, Bob Pettibone, Jane Marks, San Francisco, Kent State, Louise Hardy, Iraq War
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject