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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Those who miss watching the TV movie-of-the-week may find comfort in Novak's second novel (after Five Mile House), a melodramatic but earnest story about a desperate mother in search of her missing son. Joyce, a Vermont wife, is distraught when her 17-year-old son and his girlfriend run away. One evening, she empties her savings accounts, abandons her husband and heads west, toting photos of her son and his girlfriend. On a tip from a hitchhiker, she aims for Lugrimas, a dead-end California town on the edge of the Mojave Desert. There she meets young Danny, a lost soul who has been taken in by the locals. Danny, quite implausibly, communicates only in sections of dialogue from Shakespeare's The Tempest; out of a desire to mother him, or simply because she lacks any other options, Joyce buys the town's only bar, the Hoodoo, and waits for her son to turn up. She finds solace in the people of Lugrimas, perhaps because they are as desperate and worn-out as she is, though many remain suspicious of her. There's Duncan, Danny's primary caretaker and roughneck owner of a scrap yard; TJ, the Hoodoo's cheery waitress; and a group of hard-drinking regulars who are a quirky, more depressed version of the gang from Cheers. It's no secret that all the elements - from the oddball Lugrimas residents to the angelic Danny - are all carefully positioned to push Joyce down the path to redemption. A burgeoning romance with Duncan and a subplot concerning a murder at the scrap yard fail to generate sparks, but Joyce's overwhelming sense of loss is ably communicated.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
A mother's search for her lost son leads her to a most unusual, almost mythical California desert town. Nestled in a hidden valley, Lágrimas is the last stop for a host of eccentric and questionable souls. When Joyce arrives looking for her son on a tip from a hitchhiker who claims to have seen him there, she settles in a bit too quickly for the locals' comfort. Much to her crushing disappointment, the boy she's been led to is not her son, but an emotionally battered teenager who communicates solely through lines from The Tempest. The locals, suspicious of Joyce's intent, believe that she has brought with her the forces of the Owl, a devastating storm that threatens to demolish Lágrimas once every decade. Like a storm, the histories of Joyce and all of Lágrimas' inhabitants come raining down over the course of this riveting novel. Emotionally wrought and ultimately redeeming, Ordinary Monsters is a remarkable story about the sorrow of loss and the gift of healing.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary,
By Laume "a million shades of green" (United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ordinary Monsters (Hardcover)
After reading Karen Novak's first novel, Five Mile House, I was extremely excited to start her second. I was not disappointed. Ordinary Monsters captured me instantly and weaved a tale of loss and finding yourself in the most unlikely of places. The story is about a woman searching across the country for her junkie son who ran away with his equally junkie girlfriend. Her search finds her in Lagrimas, a small out of the way and quiet California town. In Lagrimas, the locals like their anonymity, and some would prefer that Joyce never had settled in and bought their local bar. The story revolves around a few central characters that you'll grow to love and wish the novel could go on for hundreds of more pages. I loved this book, I only wish she could write faster and give us more amazing novels.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Tempest Reimagined for Modern Times,
By Kristan Ryan (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ordinary Monsters (Hardcover)
Novak will seduce you with her masterful and engaging retelling of Shakespeare's tale. Her characters, sharply drawn and all too human, will endear themselves to you right off the bat. Like me, you will find yourself only too willing to follow them down every dark and narrow passage they travel. I indulged myself with Ordinary Monsters -- I started reading on a Saturday afternoon and didn't put down the book until I was done. You'll want to do the same.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seeking forgiveness,
By
This review is from: Ordinary Monsters (Hardcover)
The characters in Karen Novak's latest novel are not soft and cuddly. This is not a book for readers who want their endings tied up in neat little packages nor their characters prototypical. But, if a reader is willing to spend some time with characters who come across as real, flawed, self-aware and struggling, then I can't recommend this book highly enough. Joyce is on a mission to find her drug-addicted son. She is also trying to control the uncontrollable--the "ordinary monsters" that stalk us in daily life. Her quest brings her to the middle of nowhere--a bar in the desert. The bar serves as the sink trap for those struggling to avoid being sucked down the drain, a collection of characters with their own secrets and monsters. Novak skillfully shows us how each of these characters wound up in Lagrimas. This is not a novel about pathetic victims, nor is it a novel about Oprah-type heroines who overcome their pasts. Rather, it is about the spider web of relationships that support us--but may also trap us--when we've flown blindly into the night. Want to see more reviews on this item?
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