- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (April 13 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375503773
- ISBN-13: 978-0375503771
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.7 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 567 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,136,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Praised for his portrait of a strong-willed mother raising a Down's syndrome child in Jewel, Lott returns to the notion that some burdens are in fact blessings in this quiet, tender novel about what it means to go home again. After her only son, Mahlon, is killed in a car accident, widow Naomi Robinson is sure of one thing: she must leave New England, where she and her husband settled after WWII, and head home to South Carolina. In trying to recapture the joy of her childhood, Naomi hopes to find serenity and redemption, a process hampered by a 50-year-old secret she's kept hidden from all but her best friend. To Naomi's surprise, Mahlon's wife, Ruth, vows to join her. The book unfolds slowly, as mother and wife cope with their shared grief amid a loving, working-class family they barely knew they had. Based on the biblical story of Ruth, Lott's novel doesn't pivot on plot turns but rather on small observations about the power of mementos and rituals to give one a sense of history and belonging, and about how forgiveness can weigh the heart down more than guilt. At times, the writing shines with pathos-as when Naomi recognizes that "[l]oss was alive down here too.... You'd have to be a fool to believe otherwise, to think that loss lived only where you left it"-while at other times, it feels greeting card-like, with plenty of repetitive, treacly telegraphic paragraphs ("Eli. Her husband. Her love"). Lott misses the opportunity to make Ruth more interesting; she comes across as a one-dimensional martyr, beautiful, devoted and boring. The blessing is that readers will find it easy to identify with Naomi and Ruth's tragic loss, and aren't likely to notice.
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
In this highly emotional depiction of grief and its aftermath, Lott (Jewel, 1991) expertly avoids the sickly sweet sentimentality that often torpedoes books of its ilk, such as Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie (1997) or Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook (1996). Instead Lott brings gravitas and a biblical cadence to his story of seventysomething Naomi, a widow forced to confront death once again when her son, Mahlon, is killed in a car accident. As Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, stumble through the weeks following the funeral in a haze of grief and sadness, Naomi keeps returning to an image from her South Carolina childhood--a slant of light scattered on pine straw. This memory inspires her to move back to her hometown, and her daughter-in-law goes with her: "Where you go, I will go." Lott's great gift here is the way he elevates the small rituals of everyday life--a child's Thanksgiving drawing, homemade biscuits for breakfast--into transcendent moments of human connection. Although the relationships presented are idealized, with nary a cross word exchanged, they are never less than persuasive. Lott's rhythmic and repetitive phrasing, revealing the source of his inspiration--the Book of Ruth--is both artful and soothing. This is a radiant, achingly tender portrait of the grieving process. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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First Sentence
I STOOD OUTSIDE my son Mahlon and his wife Ruth's bedroom door, in my hands two coffee cups, the pain sharp shards in my old fingers looped through the handles. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
I STOOD OUTSIDE my son Mahlon and his wife Ruth's bedroom door, in my hands two coffee cups, the pain sharp shards in my old fingers looped through the handles. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could be much more,
By
This review is from: A Song I Knew by Heart: A Novel (Hardcover)
I found myself disappointed in this book after reading a great review of it elsewhere. Mr. Lott writes beautifully but goes way overboard in some of his descriptive passages and constant rehashing of Naomi's "sin". Get over it already! Instead of finding Naomi a sympathetic character, which I believe was his intention, I became exasperated with her whining, self flagellation and deep, emotional thoughts. There's a lot of promise here but I was glad when it was over.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Story....somewhat sappy,
By Kel "acountkel" (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Song I Knew by Heart: A Novel (Hardcover)
I liked this book. Parts made me teary. It was written in a way where you could feel the emotion Lott was expressing thru his words. The story line was interesting enough. And the feelings the characters were experiencing were very vivid.The only thing I didn't like was it was wordy and a bit sappy.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific retelling of a comforting story,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Song I Knew by Heart: A Novel (Hardcover)
I was surprised when I started reading A Song I Knew by Heart to find it a retelling of the Naomi and Ruth story from the Bible (see the Book of Ruth). Some names are the same - Naomi and Ruth - and some are different - Beau instead of Boaz, but in essence it is a modern telling of an ancient story. The story challenged me to think as Ruth and Naomi . . . what would I do if I was widowed? I enjoyed Bret Lott's writing style and encourage anyone who wants a good romance without sappy endings to pick up a copy.
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