Now available in a Grove paperback edition, The Shrine at Altamira by John L'Heureux has the simple shape and powerful impact of Greek tragedy. When Maria Corazon Alvarez meets Russell Whitaker at a school dance, she sees his blue eyes and solid American name as a ticket out of the ghetto into a better life. They dance, they touch, they tumble into a love so strong and elemental it should last forever. But gradually the balance shifts; he loves her more, she loves him less. When their son is born, Maria gives him all her love and Russell is pushed aside. Wild, obsessed, Russell runs mad and his desperate love becomes a fire that consumes them all.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
L'Heureux hits the bull's-eye with this compelling take on the fine line between cruelty and obsessive love, the story of a man's mutilation of his young son.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Russell Whitaker, a college dropout who lives with his alcoholic father, and Maria Alvarez, a high-school senior who lives with her embarrassingly ethnic mother, meet at a dance and fall in love. When they decide to marry, both are motivated by the same secret agenda: escaping their parents' influence. After the birth of his son, Russell realizes that Maria loves the baby more than she loves him. Soon he is drinking the way his father did and plotting ways to get even. L'Heureux, author of A Woman Run Mad (Viking, 1988), has been criticized in the past for sensationalism and emotional excess. In The Shrine at Altamira , loosely based on a nationally publicized case of child abuse, he manages to turn a horror story of almost tabloid proportions into a tightly structured fable of free will and determinism. Recommended.
- Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly Incredible,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Shrine at Altamira (Hardcover)
I usually don't read fiction of this sort, but was overwhelmed when I was finished. In what I found to be a relatively short novel, L'Heureux manages to lead us through these three peoples lives, showing us not the hardships of what a loving, caring family goes through, but what can happen when that love becomes misguided and hateful. Yet, for all the traumatic experiences these people experience, they are the ones who are most just in their absolution, not those who live happily ever after. The atrocity of the actions and feelings the main characters inflict and endure make the outcome that much stronger. What could easily have been another Danielle Steele heartwarmer had the storyline been a bit tamer has become one of the greatest testaments to the power of love, and the destructive power that love carries with it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A NOVEL THAT I COULD NOT PUT DOWN FOR A SECOND!,
By
This review is from: The Shrine at Altamira (Paperback)
John l`heureux one of my faverite authors has once again created another spellbinding novel. A harrowing horrifying novel dealing with the darker side of love and it`s tragic effect on young people. This novel is beyond words its simply a must read for any John L`Heureux Fan.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
there are no words,
By NancyBL "tigerinvienna" (Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Shrine at Altamira (Paperback)
I can only say that this author's talent is beyond description... Well done and unforgettable.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In a cypress grove just beyond Point Reyes there is a shrine where for centuries survivors of shipwreck, fire and earthquake have given thanks for their escape from death and, to commemorate their moment of salvation, have offered some token: a piece of driftwood that bore them to shore, the charred blanket that put the fire out, the fallen tile, the shattered glass, sometimes the riven stone itself. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ana Luisa, Russell Whitaker, San Jose, Great America, Happy Birthday, Virgen Santisima, Halloween Hop, Uncle Emory, Emory Whitaker, Old Pro, Point Reyes, San Francisco, Virgin Mary New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In a cypress grove just beyond Point Reyes there is a shrine where for centuries survivors of shipwreck, fire and earthquake have given thanks for their escape from death and, to commemorate their moment of salvation, have offered some token: a piece of driftwood that bore them to shore, the charred blanket that put the fire out, the fallen tile, the shattered glass, sometimes the riven stone itself. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ana Luisa, Russell Whitaker, San Jose, Great America, Happy Birthday, Virgen Santisima, Halloween Hop, Uncle Emory, Emory Whitaker, Old Pro, Point Reyes, San Francisco, Virgin Mary New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 4
books:
1
book
cites this book:
- One Day (a Sequel to 'Three Weeks') by Anonymous on page 87
- Handmaid of Desire by John L' Heureux in Front Matter
- Great Expectations (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens on page 208
- Great Expectations (New Oxford Illustrated Dickens) by Charles Dickens on page 208
- An Honorable Profession: A Novel by John L'Heureux in Back Cover
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