- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Harperone; 1st printing edition (April 10 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060652861
- ISBN-13: 978-0060652869
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.9 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #479,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Red hair acts as a red flag in this haunting domestic drama, signaling an end to secrecy in the far-flung Xanthakos family. When flame-haired college student Raffi Xanthakos demands to know if professor Camilla Dickinson is really her grandmother, Camilla guides Raffi along the branches of a family tree afflicted with a peculiar blight. Raffi's father is Artaxias, aka Taxi, a famous soap-opera star who behaves imperiously toward his wife and daughter. How is Taxi actually related to Camilla, and to his sister, Frankie? L'Engle, the venerated author of more than 40 novels for children and adults (Certain Women), delves into the past to present a compassionate portrait of Camilla and her husband, Mac Xanthakos, as a young couple beset on every side by inherited troubles. Mac is an Episcopalian priest; Camilla is an astronomer. This marriage of religion and science grows and flourishes with special help from Mac's wise mother, Olivia. An ill-timed accident claims the life of Camilla's own mother, and she and Mac find themselves obliged to raise the damaged child, Taxi, alongside Frankie. As Camilla gradually tells Raffi what she knows, and as Raffi does some snooping of her own to find her paternal grandfather, sifting through generations of half-told truths and desperate silences, both emerge from their journeys purged of weights that have burdened their hearts. If L'Engle's dialogue is sometimes board-stiff, lending this work the psychological depth of a YA novel for grown-ups, she still demonstrates a sure touch with her theme of redemption, rescuing all her characters from their separate sorrows so they can forgive and be forgiven.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Best known for her children's books, notably the classic A Wrinkle in Time (1962), L'Engle has also produced adult novels, including A Severed Wasp (LJ 2/1/83). Her newest is a family drama centered around astronomy professor Camilla Dickinson. In smoothly blended present and flashback story lines, we learn all about the skeletons in the family closet. When 18-year-old granddaughter Raffi asks Camilla why her father?Camilla's son Taxi, a soap opera star?claims she's not really her grandmother, the complicated true story starts to spill out. Camilla's young, pretty mother, Rose, cheated on her husband. Camilla's husband, Macarios Wanthakos, an Episcopal priest and son of a bishop, had his own dark family stories. Dysfunctions abound, and the anticlimactic answer to the puzzle of Taxi's parentage mars the ending, but this will fit well into popular reading collections.?Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THE RECEPTION was held in the president's house. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE RECEPTION was held in the president's house. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mercy in an unmerciful world,
By A Customer
This review is from: Live Coal Sea (Paperback)
Oh that more people in our world had read this sweet and poingant story! This is perhaps one of the most telling tales of humanity that I have ever read, and has remained hopeful for our possibilities. L'Engle has told a story of Grace, like in the parable of the vinyard workers, which is radical and even offensive to our natrual inclinations, yet hopeful that we might find grace and mercy for ourselves and those who hurt us.Read it, and hear it. If you listen closely you might hear the Christ telling his Gospel of peace, mercy, faith and hope.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking read...,
This review is from: Live Coal Sea (Paperback)
After reading Madeleine L'Engle's Camilla, I just had to find out what had become of her. A Live Coal in the Sea introduces new characters and reunites us with old friends. Written in the style of A House Like a Lotus, with flashbacks every few pages, the reader will never be confused about the time. The main character is Camilla Dickinson, who is happy until her granddaughter, Raffi, comes to her home asking "Are you or aren't you my grandmother?" Camilla is forced to deal with something that happened long ago. So she tells the story of her life, beginning at her senior year of college, when she met her husband which all lead up to the discovery of Raffi's father Taxi's parentage. There is a surprise twist at the end of the book. Ms. L'Engle deals with complicated issues in a subtle way. This book should be read by more mature readers, but everyone will learn something from it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
i loved it,
This review is from: Live Coal Sea (Paperback)
i read this book long after i read the wrinkle in time series, and i really didn't know what to expect. but i thought that this book was so wonderful. the story of the xanthakos family, from the past to the present, was emotionally touching. i became completely absorbed in the story. the issues that the charcters dealt with are challanging and uncomfortable, and everyone must face who they are. it's a beautiful story and everyone should read it.
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