Sleeping Beauties [Hardcover]

Susanna Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 4, 1995

Like her much-acclaimed previous novels, Susanna Moore's Sleeping Beauties is set in Hawaii, whose shimmering beauty and melancholy traditions are both seductive and dangerously hard to leave. Or so they prove for Clio, who marries a well-known Hollywood actor--providing her with the promise of escape from the entanglements of island life.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While Moore's previous books dealing with the offspring of dysfunctional Hawaiian families ( My Old Sweetheart ; The Whiteness of Bones ) have earned well-deserved praise, this third novel is the best yet, more complex and self-assured, richer in plot and character and written in tensile but sensuous prose. Several themes from the earlier books reappear here: the loss of Hawaiian culture; the oppressive effects of sexual inequality; the burden of responsibility. Clio Lynott is torn between her responsibility to the spirits of her ancient Hawaiian family and her desire to leave the isolation of her beautiful island home to "swim in the current" of modern life. The epitome of a courageous, resourceful "island girl," Clio has managed to survive her upbringing by a coldhearted mother, a truly evil stepmother and a callous, uncaring father. At 13 she runs away to her Aunt Emma, who determines to make Clio the repository of the family myths and legends. Clio is both fearless--because she is naive about the powerlessness of women in masculine society--and fearful, because she is haunted by the legacies of the women in her family. When she impulsively marries an American movie star, she is unequipped to cope with a decadent society and her husband's brutality. Moore's account of Clio's coming of age is both unsparing and lyrical, as she fuses the worlds of appearance and reality in an intensely imagined narrative. 35,000 first printing.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Once again Moore explores the old families of Hawaii through the eyes of their young women. The protagonist, aptly named Clio, is burdened by history; she feels the weight of ancient tradition, the responsibilities of being an "island girl," and the tensions within her splintered family. Often a runaway, she flees into marriage with a film star who attracts her partly because he lives only for the moment. Their violent breakup propels her back to the islands, where she unexpectedly finds love and the strength to reconcile past, present, and future within an independent spiritual and sexual identity. Characters from earlier novels ( My Old Sweetheart, Houghton, 1982; The Whiteness of Bone , LJ 1/89) make cameo appearances in Clio's story, which unfolds in spare, revealing dialog and evocative description. This is prose to be savored.
- Starr E. Smith, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (July 4, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051715319X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517153192
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,378,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The third book in Moore's Hawaiian trilogy maintains her hig, August 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sleeping Beauties (Paperback)

Using the same characters that appear in the first two books of her Hawaiian trilogy (My Old Sweetheart and The Whiteness of Bones), Moore continues to explore the dilemma of tradition and culture --- and what one is to do with these precious things. Her love of nature is manifest, as in her earlier books, but her attempt to discover what it means to be a woman is moving and heart-breaking. Whereas The Whiteness of Bones seems to be a milder, dress-rehearsal for her later novel, In the Cut, this book is concerned with the importance of cultural history --- it can't be an accident that the heroine's name is Clio, who is also the muse of history. It's also very sexy --- Clio marries a movie star and tries to escape her heritage by running off to Hollywood. I don't understand why this book is never mentioned when Moore's work is under its (sometimes controversial) discussion...