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The Blue Place

4.1 out of 5 stars (149)
3.9 on Goodreads
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$7.25
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Book is in good condition and may include underlining highlighting and minimal wear. The book can also include "From the library of" labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys, dvds, etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime!
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Book details

  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  4. Publication date
    June 1, 1999
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0380790882
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0380790883
  8. See all details
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Book overview

Review

"A hero as sexy and iconic as television's Xena. . .At once appalling and awe-inspiring, Aud is a bracing amaigam of fire and ice, of the New South and the Old World. She's a stirring inductee into the sisterhood of lady law. Or lawless, as the case may be." -- Village Voice

"A suspense novel. . .a character study. . .a love story. . .told in lush and potent prose." -- The Seattle Times

"Griffith has a fine way with character and a sure talent." -- Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Nicola Griffith (nicolagriffith.com) is a native of Leeds, England. At eighteen she moved to Hull, where she taught women's self-defense--to groups as diverse as the Equal Opportunities Training Unit and the Union of Catholic Mothers--and was the lead singer/songwriter for the band, Janes Plane. She is the author of Ammonite, Slow River, The Blue Place, Stay, Always, and And Now We Are Going to Have a Party (a multi-media memoir).  Her awards include the Nebula, Tiptree, World Fantasy, and Lambda Literary Award (6 times).  She lives in Seattle with her partner, writer Kelley Eskridge.

From The Washington Post

"It's hard to over praise the taut plotting and broad intelligence of this thriller. . .Smart narrative moves. . .tartly modulated prose that moves fluidly. . .Griffith seems destined to add to her laurels with this swank turn on the detective genre."

About the author

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Nicola Griffith
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Nicola Griffith is a native of Yorkshire, England, now a dual US/UK citizen. Author of nine novels (Ammonite, Slow River, The Blue Place, Stay, Always, Hild, So Lucky, Spear and Menewood) and a multi-media memoir (And Now We Are Going to Have a Party: Liner notes to a writer's early life). Co-editor of the Bending the Landscape series of original queer f/sf/h stories. Essayist. Teacher. Blogger. Founder and co-host of #criplit. Winner of two (2) Washington State Book Award, the Societyof Authors' ADCI Literary Prize, the Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Prize, the Nebula, Tiptree, World Fantasy Awards, and six (6) Lambda Literary Awards. She holds a PhD from Anglia Ruskin University, is a wheelchair martial artist, married to writer Kelley Eskridge, and lives in Seattle.

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Frequently bought together

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
149 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the characters interesting, fantastic, and three-dimensional. They describe the plot as thoughtful, with an excellent balance of plot twists and riveting action sequences. Readers praise the writing quality as wonderful, masterful, and vivid. They also mention the pacing is interesting and empowering.

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Character developmentPlotWriting qualityPacing
Character developmentPlotWriting qualityPacing
11Customers mention
11Positive
0Negative

Customers find the characters interesting, fantastic, and three-dimensional. They also say the book is a thoughtful thriller with a fascinating hero.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...If you want a great read with a fantastic female lead character, The Blue Place is the book for you." Read more

"...The characters are three dimensional and there is an actual multi layered story that is interesting,..." Read more

"...tale about drug cartels and corruption, told by a strong, beautiful female protagonist kicking ass and taking names (pardon the cliché)...." Read more

"...a well-paced crime novel with riveting action sequences and a complex lead character as messed up as she is righteous...." Read more

9Customers mention
7Positive
2Negative

Customers find the plot thoughtful, with an excellent balance of plot twists and character development. They also describe the story as multi-layered and interesting. Readers mention the book has depth and detail.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...are three dimensional and there is an actual multi layered story that is interesting,..." Read more

"...It is a dangerous love story seamlessly integrated into a thrilling drama...." Read more

"...The story covers all the bases, including murder, drugs, betrayal, nasty villains, gunplay, international intrigue, a beautiful love interest and a..." Read more

"...In my opinion, it is neither. The plot is simplistic. The characters are flat with little real depth, only cartoonish depth...." Read more

7Customers mention
7Positive
0Negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book. They mention it's wonderful, masterful, and vivid.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...It is far better written than 90% of the lesbian fiction we settle for and bores me to tears...." Read more

"...These books by Ms Griffith are not clunkers. They are wonderfully written...." Read more

"I really loved this book. The writing is so vivid that the characters and scenes live in your mind...." Read more

"...Descriptive, I felt like I was sitting in the gardens, walking through the countryside. Suspense mixed with tenderness." Read more

3Customers mention
3Positive
0Negative

Customers find the book's pacing interesting. They say it's an empowering book.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

"...The main character, Aud, was fascinating, strong and sexy. Because I enjoyed the book so much, I bought more books by Nicola Griffith...." Read more

"...this book wasn't written with the depth 'Always' was but still it was interesting, particularly how the main character Aud discussed her Norwegian..." Read more

"This is a wonderfully empowering book." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Fantastic Female Lead Character
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2010
I have read The Blue Place several times and will probably read it several times more. The main character, Aud, was fascinating, strong and sexy. Because I enjoyed the book so much, I bought more books by Nicola Griffith. I've enjoyed them all - but truly loved The Blue... See more
I have read The Blue Place several times and will probably read it several times more. The main character, Aud, was fascinating, strong and sexy. Because I enjoyed the book so much, I bought more books by Nicola Griffith. I've enjoyed them all - but truly loved The Blue Place and Aud. I would be thrilled to see this book made into a movie and I know loads of other women who would love to see the same. If you want a great read with a fantastic female lead character, The Blue Place is the book for you.
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AGC
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
NOT the Typical Cookie Cutter Lesbian Novel
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2016
Not a typical cookie-cutter lesbian fiction romance novel. It actually has depth and detail (sometimes a little too much detail.) The main character isn't all that likable in the beginning but she quickly grows on you. It is far better written than 90% of the lesbian... See more
Not a typical cookie-cutter lesbian fiction romance novel. It actually has depth and detail (sometimes a little too much detail.) The main character isn't all that likable in the beginning but she quickly grows on you. It is far better written than 90% of the lesbian fiction we settle for and bores me to tears. The characters are three dimensional and there is an actual multi layered story that is interesting, (not just girl meets girl, girl hates girl, girl likes girl, girls have sex. That story line has been used ad nausea.)
I thought about it for hours afterward, and days later I still think it's one of the best written lesbian books I've read. I will admit that it doesn't have the ending I was hoping for, but Griffith is not a typical American author.
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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Masterful use of descriptive language
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2017
I will never forget this book. Words truly mean the world to me and Nicola Griffith captures places, people, feelings and even weather with such rich imagery that I marveled while I read the Blue Place. I found myself reading lines and whole paragraphs again and again to... See more
I will never forget this book. Words truly mean the world to me and Nicola Griffith captures places, people, feelings and even weather with such rich imagery that I marveled while I read the Blue Place. I found myself reading lines and whole paragraphs again and again to get the flavor of the images pressed into my memory. I loved Aud. So much so that I feel I have lost a friend as the book came to a close and I admit to being devestated that the author didn't give me the ending that I wanted. I had hopes that there would be a whole series of books featuring this protaganist over the intervening 20 years since this book was published, but I will have to settle for just 3. I know that I will be revisiting this story many times in my library.
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Natalie E. Ramm
3.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Dangerous love story
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2012
The Blue Place is a suspenseful tale about drug cartels and corruption, told by a strong, beautiful female protagonist kicking ass and taking names (pardon the cliché). I haven't read a suspense novel in years (circa 1998 when I devoured every Nancy Drew and Mary Higgins... See more
The Blue Place is a suspenseful tale about drug cartels and corruption, told by a strong, beautiful female protagonist kicking ass and taking names (pardon the cliché). I haven't read a suspense novel in years (circa 1998 when I devoured every Nancy Drew and Mary Higgins Clark book I could get my hands on). Now, I tend to go for the dramatic, overly literary books and suspenseful TV like Criminal Minds.

This was a great book to break up my usual reading habits. It is a dangerous love story seamlessly integrated into a thrilling drama. When I say dangerous I mean that there are literally bullets flying, but the love story itself is dangerous in defying "the norm."
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G. Uhl
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
lesbian story that never uses the word lesbian
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2014
If you don't already know you will want to read 1.) the blue place, 2.) stay and then 3.) always in that order. It's all one continuous story. The main character is gay but I don't think the author ever uses the words gay or lesbian in any of her books. It's... See more
If you don't already know you will want to read 1.) the blue place, 2.) stay and then 3.) always in that order. It's all one continuous story.

The main character is gay but I don't think the author ever uses the words gay or lesbian in any of her books. It's just like a matter of fact that this woman loves that woman. No labels and no one ever questions. It's awfully refreshing.

The main character is Norwegian. These books were written back when Nordic Noir wasn't even a thing. Ahead of the curve.

Anyway - they are sort of crime thrillers, but much more than that. As a reader of all things lesbian I can tell you I read LOTS of clunkers. These books by Ms Griffith are not clunkers. They are wonderfully written. I highly recommend her entire body of work to even the snottiest feminist English degree Professor types. You're going to love this.
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J. Jamakaya
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Tense, Thoughtful Thriller
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2013
"The Blue Place" is a well-paced crime novel with riveting action sequences and a complex lead character as messed up as she is righteous. It's the first in a series of three books featuring the noble but short-fused lesbian PI, Aud Torvingen. It's my favorite of the three... See more
"The Blue Place" is a well-paced crime novel with riveting action sequences and a complex lead character as messed up as she is righteous. It's the first in a series of three books featuring the noble but short-fused lesbian PI, Aud Torvingen. It's my favorite of the three books and has an excellent balance of plot twists and character development. The story covers all the bases, including murder, drugs, betrayal, nasty villains, gunplay, international intrigue, a beautiful love interest and a flawed hero, and it also has a surprisingly emotional core. Aud's derring-do is a bit over the top at times but so is that of James Bond and most male action heroes, so I was OK with that. I had read Nicola Griffith's previous works in sci-fi and speculative fiction (Ammonite and Slow River - both multiple award winners) so it was a kick to see how well she did with the crime/detective genre. When you finish this, you will want to see if and how Aud moves on with her life in the sequels Stay and Always. They are all good but I thought this was the best.
3 people found this helpful
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Freja
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Vivid and exciting
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014
I really loved this book. The writing is so vivid that the characters and scenes live in your mind. The tension she creates in the telling of the story is just excruciating, while her descriptions of the settings is exquisite. Such a good read..
2 people found this helpful
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Kim U
1.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Not sci fi and not what I was expecting...
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2000
Clearly, I missed something in reading this book that othersfound. I came at this book from the wrong angle and even though I tried to go with the flow and enjoy it for what it is, I really disliked the entire book. I bought this book solely because I had read Slow... See more
Clearly, I missed something in reading this book that othersfound. I came at this book from the wrong angle and even though I tried to go with the flow and enjoy it for what it is, I really disliked the entire book. I bought this book solely because I had read Slow River and enjoyed it a great deal. What I didn't notice when I bought The Blue Place is that unlike Slow River, there is not a single bit of anything sci fi in this book. I think it's great that Nicola Griffith is expanding her range. I have no issues with authors writing outside of their normal genre. My problem is that it was not clearly displayed in any way here ....... that this is a general fiction or lesbian fiction book as opposed to sci fi. Yes, if you carefully read the reviews and comments, you'll understand that. However, this is not clear without careful examination.
As a result, I spent the first 50 pages waiting for something "sci fi"-ish to happen and the rest of the book regretting my purchase. Before anyone rants at me... yes, I did try to have an open mind. Yes, I did try to enjoy the book based on my final understanding of it as a lesbian fiction book. Yes, I do enjoy reading books that are not sci fi and I have read and enjoyed feminist books. No, I am not a lesbian, but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy a well written book about lesbians.
Whatever your politics or orientation might be, I am confused on how anyone can call this a great or even a good book. I am doubly confused by people who call this book a great feminist book. In my opinion, it is neither. The plot is simplistic. The characters are flat with little real depth, only cartoonish depth. The murders and other general violence that occur in the book are needlessly gruesome and overdone. The action is boring. Potentially interesting plot lines are dropped all over the place and ignored. In reality, this book isn't about the action, it isn't about a plot, it's just about a relationship between two women. I agree with an earlier reviewer who characterized this as a romance novel, because that is what it really is. Like many romance novels, the level of writing just isn't very good. And that is what I'm basing my review on.
16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Terrible. Downloaded on Kindle Fire HD..says "tap to play" then nothing happens, waste of money!
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Excellent read. Fantastic characters that stay with you each ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2014
Excellent read. Fantastic characters that stay with you each time you stop reading. Just discovered Nicola Griffith books and read this after reading Slow River (another excellent read). I really did feel like I'd been to Atlanta and Norway. I was glad to discover 2 sequels...See more
Excellent read. Fantastic characters that stay with you each time you stop reading. Just discovered Nicola Griffith books and read this after reading Slow River (another excellent read). I really did feel like I'd been to Atlanta and Norway. I was glad to discover 2 sequels to this book but unfortunately Stay (No 2 in trio) not available in Kindle format very frustrating.

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Ann Fairweather
4.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Great character and endearing story.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2019
This is a novel I enjoyed very much mostly because of its great central character, Aud. She’s fantastic. Strong, smart, sharp, athletic, beautiful and lethal too if needed...so I was quite hooked from the start thanks to her. The down side is the contrived plot around that...See more
This is a novel I enjoyed very much mostly because of its great central character, Aud. She’s fantastic. Strong, smart, sharp, athletic, beautiful and lethal too if needed...so I was quite hooked from the start thanks to her. The down side is the contrived plot around that fake painting and explosion in a house. That really did not grab me as a storyline but Griffith is nimble enough to make it palatable. It takes some time for the romance between the two women to develop and the novel neatly improves when they both go on that journey to Norway. No more plodding from that point! In a way the itch is that the good bits are slow to start and are over too quickly. I wish Griffith had been more merciful with her characters...no spoiler but the ending is harsh. Crime books usually tend to have more positive conclusion...Now I feel compulsed to read ‘Stay’, the following volume to find out what happens to Aud next!

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5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2017
Great

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Julie
3.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Nicola Griffith has written better things. Finer things
Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2017
Nicola Griffith has written better things. Finer things. Less predictable things. But if I come across the next few books in the series, I'll probably give them a go.

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manuellahornerlocko
5.0 out of 5 starsVerified Purchase
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2015
i love this book

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