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Broken for You (Hardcover)

by Stephanie Kallos (Author) "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..." (more)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Grove Press (Aug 30 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802117791
ISBN-13: 978-0802117793
Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.4 x 3.4 cm
Shipping Weight: 640 g

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #376,937 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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.

From AudioFile

Fate, redemption, and hope are the forces at work in BROKEN FOR YOU. A lonely, elderly Seattle woman living in her stately, old mansion with only ghosts and antiques for company initiates a complicated chain of events when she decides to take in a boarder. This is just the beginning of what grows to be an ad hoc family. The expanding collection of characters offers Anna Fields fertile ground for narrating this offbeat but engaging story. She gives a nuanced reading (and some singing, too) that showcases her versatility with accents and complex characterizations. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

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

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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4 star:		(2)
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4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh, my., Mar 12 2009

By	Schmadrian - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

'Wonderful vision...if not masterfully executed.'

I love d�but 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...?'

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4.0 out of 5 stars A defined knot of words, Jun 4 2007

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.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful and rare find, Feb 19 2007

By	Lorraine Saunders "Pipsqueek" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars When are they going to make this book into a movie!
This book is fantastic! I hope they make it into a movie and have Shirley Maclaine cast as Margaret! It would be a great movie!

Published on May 16 2006 by Kay

5.0 out of 5 stars Women, community, and the definition of home
Stephanie Kallos has given the world a treasure in Broken for You. Not since I read Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer have I been so moved by the way women can compose and... Read more

Published on Oct 17 2005 by Deb in Ohio