- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Grove Press (Aug 30 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0802117791
- ISBN-13: 978-0802117793
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 658 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #535,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
"The dead, Margaret thought. They can be so loud." So muses the protagonist of this dreamy, powerful tale of familial warring, secrets and redemption. When elderly Margaret Hughes discovers that she has a malignant brain tumor, she refuses treatment and decides to take a nice young tenant into her huge, lonely Seattle mansion for company. What she gets is Wanda Schultz, a tough-as-nails stage manager who is secretly seeking the man who left her and prone to inexplicable weeping breakdowns. Wanda, ignorant of Margaret's illness, is intrigued by the museum-like house and its eccentric owner—so when Margaret unexpectedly invites her to a drink-champagne-and-break-the-priceless-antique-china party for two, she's delighted. But a dark history lurks; the houseful of gorgeous antique porcelain comes from Margaret's father's WWII pilfering of European Jewish homes. Meanwhile, Wanda's father, who deserted her years ago, is on the road trying to heal, and Margaret's mother's ghost is haunting the Seattle mansion, lounging about in expensive peignoirs and criticizing her only daughter. Wrestling to keep the dead and the ghosts of their pasts at bay, the two women slowly build an extraordinary friendship, and when Wanda discovers a talent for mosaics, the past begins to quiet. Though it takes a while to get started, this haunting and memorable debut is reminiscent of early Atwood, peopled by lovably imperfect and eccentric characters.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Well-crafted plotting and crackling wit make this debut novel by Seattle author Kallos a delight to read and a memory to savor. The compelling story highlights the losses and disjointedness of life and the many paths back to healing for those who seek the way. Margaret Hughes lives alone in a Seattle mansion, divorced from her husband after the death of their son. She talks to her father's priceless antique porcelain collection and spends her days dusting. Wanda Schultz, abandoned as a child by her parents, cannot accept the rejection of her lover, Peter, whose solitary postcard brings her across the country in search of him. When cancer sends Margaret a wake-up call, she opens her home and her heart: first to Wanda and then to a flood of other new "family" members as she learns to interact with people and eventually to atone for a past crime she only gradually understands. But the clever plot and luminous characters are not all that place this novel at the head of the class. Ghostly characters only Margaret sees and heaps of broken porcelain provide powerful metaphors for the sins of the past and the need for personal sacrifice. Book groups will enjoy discussing the layers of meaning, the stylistic nuances, and the powerful message of hope secreted in these pages. Jennifer Baker
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
When Margaret Hughes found out she had a brain tumor, she stared at the black-and-white images illuminated on the screen behind her physician's desk-"slices," he called them. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
When Margaret Hughes found out she had a brain tumor, she stared at the black-and-white images illuminated on the screen behind her physician's desk-"slices," he called them. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, my.,
By
This review is from: Broken for You (Hardcover)
'Wonderful vision...if not masterfully executed.'I love début novels. Usually they crackle with energy. Often fearless. Audacious. This one is no different. Having just come from Kallos' sophomore effort 'Sing Them Home', I was curious to see where she'd begun as a novelist. The progression is clear, the talent evident in this first effort. There is a lot here. Some very sumptuous treats. Much as I might want to attenuate my criticisms, I can't in terms of scope, and how much of it was successfully translated to the page. Kallos had a lot she wanted to deal with, and she did very, very well. Normally, when I see that a writer's gotten muddled, or I sense she hasn't quite been able to deliver as I've suspected she'd aspired to, I point the finger at the editor. (Much more of a factor than I believe many people understand.) However, in this case, I don't believe that more editorial guidance would necessarily have gotten the author to a better result. I suspect that this novel is a good representation of the writer's talent and of her vision. As I was reading it, I could imagine a lot being done differently. But in this novel, Kallos is a fine writer, but not a gifted one, and certainly not a memorable one. I'd imagine that the writer she is now would have blown this result out of the water; it might have been a magical piece of fiction. As it is, Kallos did a great job, and 'Broken' is an engaging and entertaining read. (If I could ask her one question, it would be 'So; how much of an influence on your writing *was* 'Fall On Your Knees', anyway...?'
4.0 out of 5 stars
A defined knot of words,
By bathroom sink "sinky" (bathroom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Broken for You (Paperback)
This book is an amazing combination of suspense, comedy and romance. The first half of this novel was superb; it was exciting and funny and the characters were so engaging I felt that I was living in with them. Kallos described everything incredibly thoroughly and the novel, although filled with extensive and deep-rooted metaphors, never once got confusing. At part two of the book commenced however, I found it much more difficult to follow. Situations that were relatively simple before became complicated with the introduction of new and very similar characters. The second half of the novel became more of a soap opera than the original story had warranted it would. It was like a plethora of nearly parallel lines that appeared in the beginning became a jumble of squiggles and following one single one was immensely difficult. By the end of the story, however, you could clearly see that how these lines intersecting was not a jumble, but a well-formed knot, although not all ends seemed to be tied up by the conclusion.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful and rare find,
By
This review is from: Broken for You (Paperback)
Having read "Secret life of Bees" and loving it, then seeing a comment by Sue Monk Kidd on the cover of "Broken for you" was all the urging I needed to pick up this book and take it home. A funny, endearing book, and a most enjoyable read. Akin to "Secret Life of Bees" and "Rusholme Road" in it's relationships of older/younger women.
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