Sleeping Beauties [Paperback]

Susanna Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 1994

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Moore's impressive third novel portrays a Hawaiian "island girl" who flees her ancestral home to marry a Hollywood movie star.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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 the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (October 4, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067975539X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679755395
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,387,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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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...