Awake (Hardcover)

by Elizabeth Graver (Author) "A long road leads to it..." (more)
Key Phrases: soccer camp, crafts room, window film, Camp Luna, Skin Festival, New York

Editorial Reviews

Review
"A beautifully constructed tribute to self-sacrificing parenting that segues into a clear-eyed anatomy of the inevitable destructive power of infidelity." -- Library Journal, starred review

"Gracefully written and emotionally rich...Graver’s lyrical portrait of a thoughtful woman in crisis will resonate with many readers." -- Publishers Weekly

"Graver's sublimely honest first-person narrative powerfully imparts Anna's confusion with empathic sensitivity." -- Booklist

A marvelous read—a sharp, moving, sexy story of one mother's attempt to recapture the young woman she once was. -- Stewart O’Nan, author of The Night Country

Tackling the thorniest mysteries of love, Elizabeth Graver has written a novel of moral gravity as well as emotional suspense. -- Julia Glass, author of Three Junes

[Elizabeth Graver] writes with eloquence and heart-rending precision about the darkest moments of parenting and the brightest. -- Carolyn Parkhurst, author of The Dogs of Babel

Review

Elizabeth Graver has an astonishing ability to imagine her way deep inside her characters, illuminating complex lives and situations. This is a passionate, deeply engaging novel.” —Andrea Barrett

"Graver's sublimely honest first-person narrative powerfully imparts Anna's confusion with empathic sensitivity." —Booklist

“A beautifully constructed tribute to self-sacrificing parenting that segues into a clear-eyed anatomy of the inevitable destructive power of infidelity.”
—starred Library Journal

"Gracefully written and emotionally rich...Graver’s lyrical portrait of a thoughtful woman in crisis will resonate with many readers." —Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (April 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805065393
• ISBN-13: 978-0805065398
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #105,745 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful, Moving Novel, May 2, 2004

By A Customer

I read this novel in one sitting and was totally amazed by Elizabeth Graver's ability to capture the inner life of her narrator. The book starts out looking like it's going to be about raising a child with a serious illness, but it turns out to be about the mother--how much she both loves her family and yearns for parts of her old, pre-mother self; how she struggles with questions of identity and motherhood and love and marriage. The book is set at a camp where all activities take place at night (the sick son can't be in the dark), and the imagery is gorgeous. I've read Graver's other two novels and loved those, too, but I this one feels like her most mature and ambitious. And it's a GREAT read.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Graver's best book yet, May 19, 2004

By A Customer

A big fan of Elizabeth Graver's, I've read everything she's written that I've been able to get my hands on. While I've enjoyed all of her work, AWAKE shows the way in which Graver keeps getting better. A story about a woman struggling to find happiness and wholeness of self in midlife, AWAKE beautifully captures the inner workings of the protagonist, Anna's, mind. But it's not just Anna that the reader gets to know, as Graver also brings to life Anna's family members (Ian, her husband, and her two boys), as well as friends and lovers from the past and present. The story kept me reading (you want to know where Anna's "awakening" will lead her), but so too did the prose itself. The sentences are REMARKABLE - so dense and flawlessly written, I found myself going back over some of them just to savor the words. Get this book! You won't regret it.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awake,the story of an awakening, October 23, 2004

By	K. Hemmer "kathehemmer2" (Syracuse, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the story of Anna, and her husband Ian,who had a
"normal life" with their oldest son Adam.But a few years pass
and they have a second son,Max,handicapped by a condition
called XP,due to a recessive gene,from each parent.Max cannot
be exposed to daylight.He may also, as he grows develop
cancerous tumors and die young.
Confronted with these problems,the structure of the family
seems to be coming apart.Anna,the mother,has put away her
talents to homeschool Max.
The emotions concerning her son,his condition,her thoughts,
are causing her to unravel.What she goes through is so deeply
overwhelming,only another mother or father of a handicapped
child can understand.It is called grief!
Anna is desperate to connect with someone,due to isolation.
When she approaches a best friend,a doctor who just gave
birth to one month old twins,there is no understanding.
This problem is so big and chronic,people don't want to hear
about it.
The previous year,the family had attended a special camp
for XP children and their families.At the camp,Anna comes
alive,there are others,just like Max,and she is becoming
attracted to the owner,leader(a widower)who has a daughter
with the XP gene.
It is hard to tear yourself from this book to read what
comes next?The writing is superb and the story must unfold.