Customer Reviews

Ship Sooner: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

SHIP SOONER delivers! Here is a book full of heart; Mary Sullivan
draws you into the super-charged world of Ship, her life amplified by her amazing-- and amazingly well-rendered-- hearing. Ship knows all the secrets in her family and town; scenes of her most intimate spying carry a powerful erotic charge. Sullivan excells in scenes of primal power: Ship's hair catching fire at her birthday; Ship licking clean the body of the baby she rescues. I loved this magical and moving tale; Mary Sullivan is a spellbinder.

Everyone in a small Massachusetts town has secrets and they are all building up and beginning to make quite a racket in Ship's head.

When Ship was only two years old her father left, leaving her mother to take care of Ship and her older sister Helen. Her mom has a hard time talking about why he left.

Helen is going through teen angst and acting out all the time. Her mother's best friend Trudy is battling health problems and the fact that she's in love with the town priest.

Ship is stunned to have found out secrets about her sister while spying on her. And just when things are getting too disturbing for Ship to handle, her best friend Brian disappears. Ship's world begins to crumble all around her.

For a girl who can hear the flick of a lighter or the batting of an eye lash without being in the same room, suddenly she feels like she cannot hear enough. There are too many questions that need answering now. Ship Sooner sets out on a journey to find the truth and makes shocking discoveries on the way.

This is a heartwarming and heart wrenching story. Mary Sullivan will captivate readers with her lyrical prose and meticulous style. The residents of Herrington, Massachusetts that Sullivan has created are eccentric and well developed.

This book takes its ingenious premise--a young girl is endowed/cursed with extraordinary hearing--and, instead of sensationalistically exploiting it, handles it with lyrical restraint: the result is a story that offers a perfect metaphor for growing up and into this world. People give Ship, as Sheila Sooner is called, a wide berth, because she hears things--everything. But the senses that help all of us engage with other people also disturb other people; every one of us struggles to find a place in the world, and one of the tricky parts is that we change this world that we're trying to fit into. Ship's story is all of ours. This book is a great page-turner. I think it would make a good movie too--if some director were interested in doing things with *sound*--perhaps cinema's last great under-used territory.

Mary Sullivan's "Ship Sooner" reads like the incredible journey. Ship is a young adolescent that has been blessed with exceptional hearing. Her hearing is so acute that she can hear what is whispered within houses and hear the sound of rain falling. As a result, she is bombarded with information that is often inexplicable. She regards information in the adult world with a naive innocence. The supporting characters are well-drawn in Mary Sullivan's amazing prose. Ship's mother Theresa is a wonderful earth mother who raises two daughters including Ship's extremely attractive older sister Helen. Trudy who is a friend of the family that battles cardiac problems is also a great character.

Subplot complications arise as Ship's best friend Brian hides a family secret. His attraction for Ship's older sister results in his being sent away to military school. Helen's indiscretions lead Ship to find a mysterious stranger in the woods. This is the part of the tale that I found most frustrating. It is clear to the reader that Ship's newfound stranger needs to be taken to a hospital for medical attention, yet she spends the last third of the book trying to avoid any adult assistance. In most of the major events of Ship's life, she internalizes the information without communicating to her single mother who is preoccupied with the business of baking pies and helping Trudy in her health struggles. Because of this, we have a youngster that seems to be emotionally at sea with no anchor of a friend or family member to confide in or rely on. She wonders about her father who she cannot recall and never finds that leaves an open unresolved feeling to the story's conclusion. Sullivan's excellent prose lifts the story to reveal the universality and perplexities of youth. Enjoy!

This is a really nice book, beautifully told. The sort of strange idea (a girl with superhuman hearing) is made very realistic, surprisingly realsitic. The writing is good without being showy. I recommend this book for book groups and general readers. I loved the ending.

I could not put this book down once I picked it up! It is a story of a bright innocent child who is uplifting and sweet. I was immediately intrigued by this child and wanted to follow on her journey of betrayal, discovery, and ultimately unconditional family love. This is a story not only of an exceptional character but of relationships within families and neighborhoods- how things change, twist, and turn yet home is most important. The discoveries that the main character Ship makes in her world bring back the true rawness of life. The book will not only remind you of adolescence but also question your current views of neighbors and choices. I would definately recommend reading this book!

Mary Sullivian captures the true image of what somebody who is different can feel. This girl, Ship Sooner, can hear more than what she should and this curses her in a way that any girl could be cursed. Mary Sullivian leads you into Ship's life full of tragedies and unexpected happenings. She allows you to feel what Ship feels in her descriptive manner of writting, by telling only the truth of what can be. This book will pull you in and won't let you out till the very end. It is deftly written by the hand of an author who can only write the very best.

Every few years I have the good fortune to read a truly remarkable book. Mary Sullivan's most recent novel, "Ship Sooner," fits the bill. This novel is an exceedingly well crafted example of deft storytelling. The refreshingly original idea behind the tale -- a girl possesses remarkable powers of hearing -- is subtly and evocatively developed, holding the reader's interest until the very last page. "Ship Sooner" is a tremendous book that will stand the test of time, not only for its great story line and original underlying idea but also for its intriguing exploration of relationships between people from the angle of an "ordinary" person with an extraordinary power of perception.

What an incredible job the author has done to keep the reader riveted to the end. The quirky cast of characters are a pleasure to meet as we move through their extraordinarily interesting lives. The writing is moving and engaging ... a fine second novel from a gifted pen.

Ship Sooner, a young teenage girl, with the overbearing power of hearing. This 'gift' is overbearing, as the entire town knows she has the capability to hear things beyond that of any other human. Ship hears the snow fall, the leaves fall, the sigh of a friend behind a wall... even the secrets of others, that sometimes get her caught in the middle.

Ship Sooner's best friend, Brian, and herself are inseperable. Sooner aslo has an older sister, Helen, who has a mind of her own.

One day Ship's life takes a turn when her best friend, Brian, dissappers unannounced, the day after christmas. Ship fears this is her fault, and turns inward to herself, while trying to find Brian. One day, Ship hears something, in the woods, near her house. Ship hears distant cries. She follows the cries and what she discovers is more than something in the woods.

This story is about a young girl who has a gift that sets her apart from everyone else, until one day she realizes that the difference is not negative, but something that helps her figure out exactly who she is; her characther strength. The underlying pull of the book is hope, courage, love, understanding and strength. An interesting way to get to the root of the cause. Where the story is not one of complete strength, the underlying story is of great value that will leave one pondering for just a little while longer...

3.5 out of 5