These Dreams: A Novel [Paperback]

Barbara Chepaitis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2003

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD ONLY A YEAR TO LIVE?

When a stranger poses this question in a supermarket checkout line, Cricket Thompson is jolted out of her everyday life to face a startling revelation: She has a loving husband and two wonderful teenage daughters and feels profoundly and utterly alone. The tides of change are slowly pulling her toward something new and barely recognizable: another man. But before she can even contemplate this internal shift, an act of deadly violence erupts at the local shopping mall, causing Cricket's whole world to come crashing down. Through the prism of this surreal crisis, Cricket's life is irrevocably altered...and without her knowledge or consent, she is plunged into the kind of cataclysmic event that by its very nature breeds transformation. An exploration of the solace of dreams and the fragility of being wide awake, These Dreams is an astoundingly powerful and heart-wrenching novel that no reader will soon forget.

Look for Barbara Chepaitis's wonderful new novel, Something Unpredictable -- coming soon in hardcover from Atria Books.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Heartfelt and moving, though undermined by competing themes and unrealistic plot twists, this ambitious novel charts the unraveling of an ordinary middle-class family in the wake of tragedy. After a long day at work, high school secretary Cricket Thompson stops at the local supermarket near her home in upstate New York. While standing in line, Cricket ruminates on her near perfect life with two healthy teenage daughters and an uncomplaining husband: "She needed nothing, and if she wanted more, it was just because she sometimes forgot how much she had." Unfortunately everything is about to change. The very next day, an unknown gunman goes on a rampage at the local shopping mall, killing 11 teens and seriously wounding many more, including Cricket's younger daughter, Grace, leaving her in a coma and near death. Her frightened husband is unable to give Cricket the emotional support she craves, and her elder daughter, Janis, withdraws into herself. Meanwhile, Pass the uncommonly handsome man who runs the local bird sanctuary where Cricket volunteers makes it clear that he's in love with her. Not surprisingly, as Cricket's world falls apart, she turns to Pass for solace. Though the novel takes some awkward turns and goes on longer than it should, Chepaitis endows her characters with genuinely human warmth, and her challenging contemporary themes make the story more interesting than the average romance.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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

Review

Publishers Weekly Heartfelt and moving.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (March 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743437519
• ISBN-13: 978-0743437516
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,295,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars These Dreams, April 22, 2008

By 

Megan E. Hourihan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: These Dreams: A Novel (Paperback)

I took a class taught by Barbara Chepaitis, as an assignment we were asked to buy one of her books and read it. Afterwards our assignment was to publicize her book in someway. I wrote a good review for her novel, These Dreams. Now after the class is over I would like to retract my submission on how much I enjoyed this book, because I certainly did not.

The novel was a predictable, slow moving story of a woman who tries to 'find her true self', this same story has been written so many times already that it was of no interest to me. The characters were not well rounded and cricket, the main character had a rather annoying story of self discovery. She tries to piece together the story by traveling through the characters dreams which take up about a quarter of the book and don't piece much together, just remind you of how drawn out this novel is.

I am willing to bet that most of these other 5-star comments are made by other kids from my class who were forced with write this and print out a copy to give to professor. I would not recommend buying this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a powerful book, September 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: These Dreams (Hardcover)

As a mother whose child died through violence rather similar to what happened to Grace, I was fascinated and amazed at how the author understood and was able to put into words so many of the emotions and feelings and truths. It was so good that she could describe all that and also write about the strength and growth that pain requires. This book has understanding and hope and a whole lot of wisdom.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book!, May 28, 2002

By 

Anna (WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: These Dreams (Hardcover)

I absolutely loved this book. It gives the reader a realistic look at how tragedy can affect a person. How "normal" people can just fall apart. Not one person can positively identify how they would react when put into a tragic situation. This book makes you realize that. You feel empathy and sympathy and disgust and pitty and love and truth and understanding and pride and humility all at once with this book.