Sensual and poignant, Velocity is the tale of Ellie, a young woman shattered by the sudden death of her mother, who enters into a raw and obsessive affair in an attempt to escape her and her father's grief.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This "compelling, erotic" debut novel tells of a few weeks in the life of 25-year-old Ellie Lowell, who has come home to North Carolina after her mother's sudden death. "An accomplished writer, McCloy is not afraid to handle a difficult subject," praised PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Love, and the pain of its loss, are at the heart of this exceptional first novel. When her mother dies in a car accident, 25-year-old Ellie Lowell leaves her lover and work in New York to spend the summer with her father in her North Carolina hometown. But Ellie and Tom Lowell, never close, offer each other little comfort; he's a cop who works overtime for distraction, she's a waitress who finds no balm for her grief at work. Vulnerable, she's drawn to and soon obsessed with a half-Cherokee drug-dealing biker; she finds herself risking reputation and relationships as she drowns her sorrow in sex. McCloy draws these characters beautifully in clean, spare prose, which is alternately deeply sensual and achingly moving. A striking literary debut. Literary Guild Alternate. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1988 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
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a novel for anyone who has ever been obsessed with anyone,
By
This review is from: Velocity (Paperback)
The simplest plots can be the most fascinating: small town girl [Ellie] returns to her North Carolina town to deal with family tragedy after several years on her own in the big city. Out of place with her family and former friends and feeling distant from the life she left behind in New York, she consciously and with premeditation begins an affair with a typical Harley-riding bad boy. The character of Jesse is a little cliche-ed, but it is Ellie who is the heart and soul of the story. Her thoughts, actions, and justifications for the choices she makes keep the reader in the moment, moving along with the story. Though Ellie's affair is initially the focal point of the story, a second, more careful reading will reveal other themes--above all loss, grief, and recovery. Ellie's relationships with her father, her boyfriend back in New York, and a co-worker are all very complete and real, in contrast with her relationship with Jesse. She keeps these various parts of her life compatrmentalized, separated from one another. When they inevitably collide, Ellie must face up to the choices she's made. Throughout, she is a likable and sympathetic character. McCloy very accurately portrays the human need to separate oneself from the place where one came from, only to find comfort in returning to that place, however painful. What could have been simply a novel of erotic obsession is given depth by exploring the circumstances that lead to that obsession. The erotic scenes themselves are given credence by Ellie's emotional need. If you liked McCloy's second novel, Some Girls, then don't miss this one. The prose is infused with the same sense of urgency that sets McCloy apart from other writers.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read it!,
By Maria Öberg (Stockholm , Sweden) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Velocity (Hardcover)
If you've ever been obssesed with anyone, without knowing it or against your own better knowing read this and recognize yourself. This book is about love, sex, death and despair. Not allways is love easy and logical, and Mc Cloy shows us this side of love in her brilliant book. Read it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic read,
By talia (South Africa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Velocity (Hardcover)
This is the second time round that I'm reading this book and so far I'm loving it. For any of us who have ever been so "in lust" with anyone, we can really understand how Ellie feels and what she's going through with her obsession with Jesse.Ms. McCloy has given us characters that are real and feel real - sometimes I have to put the book down just to register that I have felt like Ellie does too, once in my life. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read, one that draws you in with its purity, yet engulfs you with the heady feeling of pure lust! Read it, it's a good one!
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