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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
How do we forgive the unforgivable? First-time novelist Ward explores this question with a delicate blend of compassion, humor and realism. Three women whose lives converge during a stifling Texas summer have followed completely different paths in their 29 years. The horrendous childhood of death row inmate Karen Lowens led her to prostitution, drug abuse and finally murder. She now longs to find peace before her scheduled execution in the Gatestown, Tex., prison. She resists friendship, as "any connection, any tiny strand, will bind her to this world" from which she so wants to be freed. Franny Wren, Karen's prison doctor, is just as afraid to befriend Karen, knowing that she can't save her. She is fragile, having recently run out on her fiance and her life in New York City after the death of one of her cancer patients, a young girl, left her guilt-ridden and emotionally drained. Franny has returned to her childhood home in Gatestown, where she was raised by an uncle after her parents were killed by a drunk driver. Meanwhile, in Austin, Celia Mills, the only first-person narrator of the three, is the widow of Karen's final victim. She has been sleepwalking through life since the murder, and her stabs at joining the living are touching and funny ("Although my mother disagrees, I have moved forward with my life. For example, I've bought a new bikini"). Ward's celebration of human resilience never becomes preachy, sentimental or politically heavy-handed. Her spare but psychologically rich portraits are utterly convincing.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Ward's impressive debut novel is a powerhouse of melancholic emotions channeled through the jagged lives of her intricate cast of female characters. Karen Lowen is on death row for the murder of numerous men, all of whom (with the exception of one) she claims to have killed in self-defense. The innocent man who crossed Karen's path on that tragic night has left behind a grieving widow named Celia, who cannot find purpose in a life that is empty of her beloved Henry. Then there is Dr. Franny Wren, a consummate professional dedicated to preserving life--now stoically treating women destined to die behind bars. While Celia and Franny grapple with the weight of their hidden desires and lifelong regrets, Karen faces the cold reality of death row and the inevitable sentence that looms before her. Ward deftly creates a route by which all three women irrevocably touch each other's lives, their sorrow reaching through the darkness like searching fingers on the hand of destiny. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
How do we forgive the unforgivable? First-time novelist Ward explores this question with a delicate blend of compassion, humor and realism. Three women whose lives converge during a stifling Texas summer have followed completely different paths in their 29 years. The horrendous childhood of death row inmate Karen Lowens led her to prostitution, drug abuse and finally murder. She now longs to find peace before her scheduled execution in the Gatestown, Tex., prison. She resists friendship, as "any connection, any tiny strand, will bind her to this world" from which she so wants to be freed. Franny Wren, Karen's prison doctor, is just as afraid to befriend Karen, knowing that she can't save her. She is fragile, having recently run out on her fiance and her life in New York City after the death of one of her cancer patients, a young girl, left her guilt-ridden and emotionally drained. Franny has returned to her childhood home in Gatestown, where she was raised by an uncle after her parents were killed by a drunk driver. Meanwhile, in Austin, Celia Mills, the only first-person narrator of the three, is the widow of Karen's final victim. She has been sleepwalking through life since the murder, and her stabs at joining the living are touching and funny ("Although my mother disagrees, I have moved forward with my life. For example, I've bought a new bikini"). Ward's celebration of human resilience never becomes preachy, sentimental or politically heavy-handed. Her spare but psychologically rich portraits are utterly convincing.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Ward's impressive debut novel is a powerhouse of melancholic emotions channeled through the jagged lives of her intricate cast of female characters. Karen Lowen is on death row for the murder of numerous men, all of whom (with the exception of one) she claims to have killed in self-defense. The innocent man who crossed Karen's path on that tragic night has left behind a grieving widow named Celia, who cannot find purpose in a life that is empty of her beloved Henry. Then there is Dr. Franny Wren, a consummate professional dedicated to preserving life--now stoically treating women destined to die behind bars. While Celia and Franny grapple with the weight of their hidden desires and lifelong regrets, Karen faces the cold reality of death row and the inevitable sentence that looms before her. Ward deftly creates a route by which all three women irrevocably touch each other's lives, their sorrow reaching through the darkness like searching fingers on the hand of destiny. Elsa Gaztambide
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
On Wednesday, they begin to get ready for the Satan Killer, who is due to arrive after lunch. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sleep toward heaven, morphine machine, funeral man Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Jack, Death Row, Karen Lowens, Satan Killer, Medical Center, New York, Mountain View Unit, Gatestown Motor Inn, Warden Gaddon, Franny Wren, Hairdresser of Death, Highway Honey, Rick Underwood, Celia Mills, Andy's Home, Janice Gaddon, Last Chance Saloon, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Black Widow, Geraldine Flat, Henry Mills, Sheriff Donald, Spurs Gas Mart, Tiffany Brooks, Baby Doll New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
On Wednesday, they begin to get ready for the Satan Killer, who is due to arrive after lunch. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sleep toward heaven, morphine machine, funeral man Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Jack, Death Row, Karen Lowens, Satan Killer, Medical Center, New York, Mountain View Unit, Gatestown Motor Inn, Warden Gaddon, Franny Wren, Hairdresser of Death, Highway Honey, Rick Underwood, Celia Mills, Andy's Home, Janice Gaddon, Last Chance Saloon, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Black Widow, Geraldine Flat, Henry Mills, Sheriff Donald, Spurs Gas Mart, Tiffany Brooks, Baby Doll New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 10
books:
See all 10 books this book cites
2
books
cite this book:
- Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night: Stories by Thisbe Nissen in Front Matter
- Ice Cream (Ready Readers) by Leslie Ellen on page 229
- Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling in Front Matter
- Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner in Front Matter
- The Good People of New York by Thisbe Nissen in Front Matter
See all 10 books this book cites
- The May Queen: Women on Life, Love, Work, and Pulling It All Together in Your 30s by Andrea N. Richesin in Back Matter
- Housekeeping vs. the Dirt by Nick Hornby on page 49
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