The Windmill [Hardcover]

Stephanie Gertler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2004

From the author of Jimmy’s Girl—a writer who “hits the emotional bull’s-eye dead center” (Baton Rouge Advocate)—comes a new novel that will remind us all that sometimes you don’t know how much you have until it’s gone.

Known for her gift for reaching straight to the heart, Stephanie Gertler now tells the story of a couple whose seemingly perfect life is toppled in an instant and saved through their bold leap of faith.

Olivia and Carl appear to have the perfect life: a son and a daughter, weekends on Cape Cod, and satisfying work as professors at Belvedere College in the picturesque town of Willow, Massachusetts. Until, one day, the seemingly stable, dependable Carl disappears without a trace— leaving behind only a cryptic note. Alone and terrified, Olivia cannot help but relive the long-buried pain she felt when she lost her first husband. While Carl travels back to his childhood hometown to confront the demons he has always hidden from his wife, Olivia takes a journey of her own as she tries to make peace with the memories that have always haunted her. Told with graceful skill and unflinching honesty, The Windmill is a story of the secrets we are entitled to keep in a marriage and those we must share—marking a splendid new level of achievement in this much- admired author.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Past misfortunes threaten to swamp a marriage in this weepy novel by Gertler (The Puzzle Bark Tree, etc.). When 58-year-old physics professor Carl Larkin disappears, leaving only a brief note ("I will explain. I promise. I'll call by Monday"), his 50-year-old wife, Olivia, a drama professor, plunges into the past, brooding over the death of her first husband, Noah, who was shot and killed in a holdup. Unable to bear her memories alone, she leaves the Massachusetts college town where she lives to stay with her parents on Cape Cod. Things aren't exactly cheery there, either, with her mother, Margaret, heroically caring for her Alzheimer's-afflicted father. But Margaret prods Olivia out of her gloomy introspection, forcing her to acknowledge that she's never let go of her feelings for Noah. Meanwhile, the missing Carl travels back to his North Carolina hometown, confronting the tragic past that made him flee his family at the age of 17. Gertler's evocation of Olivia's first, lost love is warm and poignant, but Carl's story is less convincing, and the couple's ultimate reunion comes out of nowhere. Though it's a pleasant enough read, this sentimental tale is hollow at the center.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Alternating their voices, a married couple confronts their painful pasts to secure their future together. One chilly November morning Olivia discovers Carl never went to work, and except for a cryptic note, she doesn't know where he is. Carl's disappearance revives her hidden grief for the loss of her first husband, Noah. Seeking solace, Olivia returns to her childhood home, where her frail and resolute mother demands Olivia face her past. The process leads to a secret Olivia's mother had long kept from her own family. Carl's cautious return to his southern hometown to see his mother reopens a long-forgotten murder case and reacquaints him with a long-lost love. Once reunited, Carl and Olivia must decide how much of their undisclosed pasts to part with. Both gripping and melodramatic, the story moves rapidly as the characters make valiant attempts to handle the copious exposed secrets in their lives. Readers may wish for more depth to the characters but nevertheless will enjoy the alluring plot and find topics for discussion in a book group. Kaite Mediatore
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (November 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525948007
• ISBN-13: 978-0525948001
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,408,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying, well written tale, December 6, 2004

By 

Laurel Johnson (Kansas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Windmill (Hardcover)

One pre-release review described The Windmill as a weepy tale that was hollow at the center. I respectfully but emphatically disagree. The story was touching, yes, but there was nothing hollow about it. The characters were so appealing that by book's end I felt like they were dear, long-time friends. Locations near the blustery Atlantic are beautifully detailed by the author. And Ms. Gertler's writing syle is adept, skillfully evoking a sense of place and time. She has the gift of taking readers into her character's hearts and minds, revealing nuances that might otherwise be missed.

The brilliant but distracted Professor Carl Larkin has always been reliable and predictable. When he leaves for work one morning and simply disappears, no one in his life can explain or understand such action. His wife of more than twenty years, Olivia, is frightened and confused. This is not the first time in her life a husband left and failed to return. She's never recovered from losing her first husband, Noah, in a robbery gone bad. In fact, her heart has never healed from that loss. Carl Larkin had tenderly courted Olivia when she was a young widow. Their marriage and life seemed stable. They'd raised two children together. Yet Olivia had lost her faith and bitterly given up on hope with the death of her first husband. At the time of Carl's disappearance, much remained unspoken between them despite their years together. Noah's memories had been too painful to examine so remain compartmentalized.

Carl has wrestled with his secret demons for forty one years. No one has ever really known him. He's never shared his past with anyone, not even Olivia. Facing down that past is long overdue. Confronting secret truths takes Carl back to his southern roots where he reacquaints himself with his mother and first love, abandoned at age seventeen. His brief phone calls home to Olivia provide more questions than answers. Both fear their marriage will not survive the truths they need to share.

The story is told in an interesting way, from first Olivia's and then Carl's point of view. This technique added depth and dimension to the plot as it unfolds. Carl wonders if he can retrieve the lifetime he lost at a young age. While absent from Olivia, he tries to put his life back together in an effort to be whole again. And Olivia finally heals a heart that has been faltering for twenty five years. Both learn the heartbreak that comes of holding onto and letting go of the past. But will their revelations bind them closer together or tear them apart?

This is a satisfying and well written tale of love, loss, family, and the trials that strengthen us as humans if we let them. Gertler fans will not be disappointed in this latest book. Her characters are real, the emotions honest. Readers not familiar with her work should consider adding The Windmill to their reading list.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top 10 Book, December 2, 2004

By 

Annie "bookwishes4" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Windmill (Hardcover)

After hearing a few of my book friends mention Stephanie Gertler, I thought I would give The Windmill a shot and I am so happy that I did.

From the outside looking in, it would have seemed that Carl and Olivia had the perfect marriage. They had a nice home, two children that they loved dearly, and good careers at the local college but something vital was always missing between them.

One day, a student of Carls came into his office and asked if he could change a lab day because he wanted to go home to North Carolina to visit a woman that was very close to the family that had suddenly taken ill. A few days later after recognizing the name of the town and woman who was ill, Carl left Olivia a cryptic note and took off and headed to his home town in North Carolina. It was time to meet up with his past and make peace with a secret he has been holding inside since he was a teenager.

While he was gone, Olivia took the time to deal with her own past. Her first husband Noah was murdered and she was never able to deal with his death and move on the way she should have to allow Carl into her heart. With her mothers help Olivia takes a step back in time to remember and grieve for Noah, but then allow herself to love Carl the way she should.

The Windmill is a beautifully written story about dealing with the loss of a loved one and then being able to open your heart and find love again. It is also about dealing with the past and the lies that we tell to cover it up.

This book is going down as a Top 10 read for 2004. I just loved it and am looking forward to catching up on more books by Stepahanie Gertler.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice read but nothing spectacular, December 30, 2004

By 

mamareadssomuch "mamareadssomuch" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Windmill (Hardcover)

I was hoping THE WINDMILL was going to be as good as the author's last book: DRIFTING (which I really loved!) but it wasn't. THE WINDMILL is a novel about a couple whose marriage is filled with secrets and through revealing them and healing, do they get past the distance between them all these years.

Olivia was a likeable character and certainly Noah, her first husband, was a favored one as well. Noah had lots of spunk and life to him but sadly his life is cut short. She grieves long, of course, and then marries Carl, who has secrets as well. The two drift through life and years later Carl just disappears one day.

The novel is fast moving and well written but I guess I was wanting more. When the story ended, I felt satisfied but just not enough to give it 5 stars. I'll read more of this author's books but this isn't one of my favorites. Some of the plot seemed too forced and familiar with other novels. The connection of the windmill was alittle corny and I normally don't mind corny!