Visions [Paperback]

Heather Conrad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2000

In 1978, Bernadette is a young radical. With her husband, a militant unionist, she takes over a California cannery. In 1997, Bernadette is alone in France having divorced her husband and left behind the politics that consumed her for twenty years. Looking up an old friend in Paris, Bernadette becomes involved in a spiral of events that lead her to Lourdes, France and the discovery of the secret unpublished diaries of St. Bernadette. When her old friend suddenly arrives in Lourdes, Bernadette doesn't know whom to trust. Is she under surveillance? Or is her own mind deceiving her?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Heather Conrad is the author of the novels, NEWS and Visions, as well as short stories and essays in a variety of publications. She has an M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (July 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595098398
• ISBN-13: 978-0595098392
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,231,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Conflict Amid Timeless Yearnings, November 26, 2000

By 

Gemma Grott (Martinez, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions (Paperback)

Modern Conflict Amid Timeless Yearnings -- I felt readily included in the novel's main character's world and her adventures to seek the mystery of St. Bernadette. I loved it for its well written intelligent, conversation and reflections, as the characters grappled with modern conflicts amid timeless yearnings. It was a wonderful page turner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Challenging and Unique Novel, November 21, 2000

By 

"artrogers" (Burlingame, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions (Paperback)

While staying as passionately political as in her first novel, N.E.W.S., Conrad now explores issues of the spirit. Perhaps the main character, Bernadette, reflects Conrad's own personal growth as she tries to come to terms with the recognition that life is more than politics and economic struggle. As important as meals, more important than Marx, people must have faith in order to survive. This is a challenging and unique novel that keep me anxiously turning the pages, hoping that Bernadette would find peace and the vision would be saved. (November, 2000)

5.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Bernadette's Visions, December 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Visions (Paperback)

This professional quality novel covers alot of territory without overwriting or over-reaching. Religon, politics, sex, mystery and friendship converge in the life of realisitically drawn middle-aged woman. Thankfully, Conrad eschews the tired theme of a woman this age experiencing a rebirth- in this novel, the revelations are the sum total of the character's experiences, rather than a repudiation of them. The setting, appropriately, is Lourdes, a catholic shrine that grew around the supernatural visions a young girl named Bernadette claimed to have experienced. Conrad's Bernadette visits Lourdes cynically, but finds it hard to separate reality from imagination in the charged atomosphere teeming with sick and wounded believers and mysterious catholic priests.

Conrad builds her character and plot thoughtfully and intelligently, and the action rarely lags. A quick read, but a substantial one.