Kirjahaku

"A big, entertaining novel...Rich in character and place and humanity...Gail Godwin is a wonderful writer."THE BOSTON GLOBEAt the death of Leonard Strickland, beloved Southern gentleman, husband and father, his family is faced with the unknown. Nell always relied on the husband of her youth for security and friendship. Fiercely independent Cate and perfect Lydia have spent their lives vying for the love and approval their father generously gave. And as each woman begins to view her life, her past, and the possibilities of the future with new eyes, each belatedly discovers that life and death are impossible to plan, and that the past that has kept them apart can bring them closer to themselves and one another....

"POWERFUL. . .GODWIN IS BRILLIANT. . .DEFTLY PLOTTED AND IMAGINED. . . [It] deepened my long-cherished belief about certain forms of art: that in exploring extremities of human behavior, in forcing us to wade through real or metaphorical blood, such art saves us from these experiences and is cathartic in the best sense of the term."--Joyce Carol OatesThe Washington PostFrancesca married her husband Cameron, an ambitious Los Angeles district attorney, because he asked. Beautiful and pampered, she has never worked and has never wanted to. She lives only to appreciate the finer things and to be adored. But after four years of marriage, she finds herself unable to move, to dress in the morning, or to take the elevator outside.Lately, she finds her days drifting by in a haze. She'd like to leave Cameron, but the effort seems too great. Instead, she visits her mother, once her closest confidante, now indifferent and distant. As Francesca prays for rescue, change makes a surprise appearance, and suddenly she is faced with the choice between an awkward life and a slow, comfortable death. . . ."Deceptively subtle: it would be easy to skim right over all the deep things the author is saying and read her book as a well-written surface story of a beautiful woman who makes an abortive bid for freedom....I have been crying out for contemporary woman's new consciousness to express or define itself in a good novel....Here it is: Glass People by Gail Godwin."--Anatole Broyard The New York Times

"Compelling, beautiful. . .Miraculous. . . Astonishing. . . So deeply satisfying, as to be breathtaking."--The Philadelphia InquirerIn fifteen extraordinary and lyrical short stories, esteemed novelist Gail Godwin has created worlds in which we discover ourselves as lovers, mothers, wives, and friends.Carefully, delicately, Ms. Godwin peels back the layers of defense and reveals women who search for meaning and connection in a world of abstraction and isolation. In "Dream Children," a reckless young wife finds herself unable to separate from the child she has lost; in "My Love, His Summer Vacation," the mistress of a married man so closely follows his every action that she has no life of her own; and in "Indulgences," a woman makes a list of her lovers, only to wonder if she can love.A keen observer of both heart and mind, Ms. Godwin has conjured up a stunning collection of stories that strike at the center of our lives."In Dream Children, Gail Godwin shows her capabilities as a clear-seeing uncoverer of thought. . . . What she knows about the workings of the human mind as it deals with grand tragedies, tiny sorrows, she knows with conviction."--The Christian Science Monitor"The work of a writer who is moving confidently to the forefront of contemporary American fiction."--The Miami Herald"The stories are all. . . detailed with expertise and frosted with elegance."--Kirkus Reviews

"[A] BRILLIANT, WITTY AND PROVOCATIVE NEW NOVEL."--San Francisco ChronicleAs a young woman, the brilliant and eternally curious Magda Danvers took the academic world by storm. Then, to everyone's surprise, she married Francis Lake, a mild, midwestern seminarian, who has devoted his life to taking care of his charismatic wife. Now, Magda's grave illness puts their marriage to its ultimate test. Though facing her "Final Examination," Magda continues to arouse her visitors with compelling thoughts and questions. Into this provocative atmosphere comes Alice Henry, retreating from family tragedy and a crumbling marriage to novelist Hugo Henry. But is it the incandescence of Magda's ideas that draws Alice, or the secret of "the good marriage" that she is desperate to discover? For Alice, Hugo, Francis, and Magda will learn that the most ideal relationship--even a perfect marriage--doesn't come without a price...."COMPELLING WRITING...REMARKABLY SKILLFUL...Gail Godwin shows herself to be at the height of her considerable power as a storyteller and a writer."--The Boston Globe"ONE OF HER FINEST BOOKS...It is not only a well-written story, but a mature and wise one, affirmative in its vision of love, unblinking in its portrayal of tragic loss."--Atlanta Journal & Constitution"FASCINATING...[A] BIG SUMPTUOUS BOOK...HER BEST NOVEL."--Entertainment Weekly"A BRILLIANTLY CRAFTED NOVEL, full of fun and mischief and resonating with wisdom and moral depth."--New WomanA Featured Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club

Justin Stokes would never forget the summer she turned fourteen, nor the woman who transformed her bleak adolescent life into a wondrous place of brilliant color. In the little pondside hut also known as the finishing school, eccentric, free-spirited Ursula DeVane opened up a world full of magical possibilities for Justin, teaching her valuable lessons of love and loyalty, and encouraging her to change, to learn, to grow. But the lessons of the finishing school have their dark side as well, as Justin learns how deep friendship can be shattered by shocking, unforgivable betrayal."

To read Gail Godwin is to touch the very core of human experience. With inimitable grace and aching emotional precision, Godwin probes our own complexities in characters whose lives oscillate between success and struggle, stoic resolve and quixotic temptation, bitter disappointment and small, sacred joys. Now with Evensong, she again translates our everyday existence into soul-touching truths as she brings to brilliantly realized life the people of a small Smoky Mountain town--and a woman whose world is indelibly altered by them. "Rich. Satisfying. Luscious . . . Evensong reawakened in these weary eyeballs the joy of reading. . . . It's that old-fashioned concept, a good read."--USA Today"A DEEPLY CONSIDERED, EVEN DIGNIFIED NOVEL . . . One stays engaged with the story for sheer narrative hook: As with story lines from Dickens . . . you simply want to find out who does what to whom. . . . The final beauty of Evensong is its ability to address God--to address the mystery of faith by comprehending, then embracing, this premise of uncertainty itself."--The Boston Sunday Globe"EVENSONG LINGERS IN THE MIND. . . . Meticulousness and precision are, indeed, Godwin's greatest strengths. In matters liturgical and clerical, her command is impeccable."--The New York Times Book Review"[A] SENSITIVE, PERFECTLY PACED NOVEL . . . A story full of fresh, spiritual wisdom . . . Smashing one of the strangest taboos in American literature, Godwin may have finally brought religion back from the wilderness and made it a safe subject for literary fiction."--The Christian Science Monitor"[A] RICH NEW NOVEL . . . with the narrative verve and moral gravity that made earlier novels of hers so appealing."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt The New York Times

The novels of Gail Godwin are contemporary classics--evocative, powerfully affecting, beautifully crafted fiction alive with endearing, unforgettable characters. Her critically acclaimed work has placed her among the ranks of Eudora Welty, Pat Conroy, and Carson McCullers, firmly establishing Godwin as a Southern literary novelist for the ages. Father Melancholy's Daughter, is widely recognized as one of the author's most poignant and accomplished novels -- a bittersweet and ultimately transcendent story of a young girl's devotion to her father, the rector of a small Virginia church, and of the hope, dreams, and love that sustain them both in the wake of the betrayal and tragedy that diminished their family

The novels of Gail Godwin are contemporary classics -- evocative, powerfully affecting, beautifully crafted fiction alive with endearing, unforgettable characters. Her critically acclaimed work has placed her among the ranks of Eudora Welty, Pat Conroy, and Carson McCullers, firmly establishing Godwin as a Southern literary novelist for the ages. In A Southern Famiy, the celebrated author of A Mother and Two Daughters, The Finishing School, and Father Melancholy's Daughter once again explores the shattering dynamics of parents' relationships with their children and themselves. It is the story of the Quick family and the reunion that leads to tragedy -- a masterful tale of anger and pain, of love and hatred, and of the understanding that ultimately heals.

What is the heart? We know it as not only the beating thing in our chests that sustains life, but as the wellspring of all faith, hope, and love. In this remarkable book, critically acclaimed author Gail Godwin takes us on a breathtaking journey that spans the history of human civilization, combining myth, art and religion to understand how humans have conceived of the heart through time. From the first valentine to the first stethoscope, from the Ancient Egyptians to the Buddha, from the heart of darkness to heart-to-heart talks, Godwin weaves her own stories of heartbreak and hope through it all.Inspired by the richest of lore, Godwin ultimately arrives at what every culture must discover anew: we cannot let the head alone rule our lives. In this colorful history of the organ of life itself, she discovers a template for a more heart-filled life.

To humans, the heart has always been more than flesh and blood. Rising above its biological function, it has, instead, become the symbol of our emotions. Fear, sadness, anger, love, restlessness, discernment, foreboding, pleasure, longing, comfort, pride, despair - all that signifies passion and the human spirit are the domain of the heart. Gail Godwin takes us on a breathtaking journey that spans the entire history of human civilization, combining literature, myth, religion, philosophy, medicine, the fine arts, and intensely personal stories from the writer's own past to explore the full and complex character of this unique icon. Godwin's explorations and meditations brilliantly track themes of the heart in life, legend, and in art: from the first drawing of the 'heart-shaped' heart to the first valentine, from Gilgamesh to Confucius, from the heart of darkness to wearing one's heart on one's sleeve.

Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Gail Godwin's penetrating and haunting narrative about intimacy and loss and remorse, set against a background of world-changing events'The perfect summer read can come in unexpected guises ... Dive into its deep waters and witness a novelist at the peak of her powers' The Times'A beautiful examination of character and the far reaching repercussions of our actions. Gail Godwin brings grace, honesty, and enormous intelligence to every page' Ann PatchettTen-year-old Helen and her summer guardian, Flora, are isolated together in Helen’s dilapidated family home while her father is doing secret war work during the final months of the Second World War. At three Helen lost her mother and the beloved grandmother who raised her has just died. A fiercely imaginative child, Helen is desperate to keep her house intact with all its ghosts and stories. Flora, her late mother’s twenty-two-year old first cousin, who cries at the drop of a hat, is ardently determined to do her best for Helen.Their relationship and its fallout, played against the backdrop of a lost America, will haunt Helen for the rest of her life.

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2017 (Top 10)Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2017Indie Next Summer 2018 Pick For Reading GroupsThe haunting tale of a desolate cottage, and the hair-thin junction between this life and the next, from bestselling National Book Award finalist Gail Godwin.After his mother's death, eleven-year-old Marcus is sent to live on a small South Carolina island with his great aunt, a reclusive painter with a haunted past. Aunt Charlotte, otherwise a woman of few words, points out a ruined cottage, telling Marcus she had visited it regularly after she'd moved there thirty years ago because it matched the ruin of her own life. Eventually she was inspired to take up painting so she could capture its utter desolation.The islanders call it "Grief Cottage," because a boy and his parents disappeared from it during a hurricane fifty years before. Their bodies were never found and the cottage has stood empty ever since. During his lonely hours while Aunt Charlotte is in her studio painting and keeping her demons at bay, Marcus visits the cottage daily, building up his courage by coming ever closer, even after the ghost of the boy who died seems to reveal himself. Full of curiosity and open to the unfamiliar and uncanny given the recent upending of his life, he courts the ghost boy, never certain whether the ghost is friendly or follows some sinister agenda.Grief Cottage is the best sort of ghost story, but it is far more than that--an investigation of grief, remorse, and the memories that haunt us. The power and beauty of this artful novel wash over the reader like the waves on a South Carolina beach.

From New York Times-bestselling, three-time National Book Award finalist Gail Godwin, a consideration of what makes for a life well lived-for readers of Oliver Sacks's Gratitude and Deborah Levy's Cost of Living. I can't see a way out of this. Things will not necessarily get better. This is my life, but I may not get to do what I want in it. Ingmar Bergman once said that an artist should always have one work between himself and death. When renowned author Gail Godwin tripped and broke her neck while watering the dogwood tree in her garden at age eighty-five, a lifetime of writing and publishing behind her and a half-finished novel in tow, Bergman's idea quickly unfurled in front of her, forcing her to confront a creative life interrupted. In Getting to Know Death, Godwin shares what spoke to her while in a desperate place. Remembering those she has loved and survived, including a brother and father lost to suicide, and finding meaning in the encounters she has with other patients as she heals, she takes stock of a life toward the end of its long graceful arc, finding her path through the words she has written and the people she has loved. At once beautiful, biting, precise, poetic, and propulsive, Getting to Know Death is her own reckoning with the meaning of a life, the forms of passion that guide it, and how the stories we hold can shape our memories and preserve our selves as we write our own endings.

BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'Fascinating . . . [A] big sumptuous book . . . her best novel' ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY '[A] brilliant, witty and provocative new novel' SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE'Compelling writing . . . Remarkably skilful' BOSTON GLOBE 'Mates are not always matches, and matches are not always mates.'As a young woman, the dazzling and eternally curious Magda Danvers took the academic world by storm. Then, to everyone's surprise, she married Francis Lake, a mild, midwestern seminarian, who has devoted his life to taking care of his charismatic wife. Now, Magda's grave illness puts their marriage to its ultimate test. Into this provocative atmosphere comes Alice Henry, retreating from family tragedy and a crumbling marriage to novelist Hugo Henry. But is it the incandescence of Magda's ideas that draws Alice, or the secret of 'the good marriage' that she is desperate to discover? For Alice, Hugo, Francis and Magda will learn that the most ideal relationship - even a perfect marriage - doesn't come without a price . . . Moving from the Deep South to Eastern Europe and the cathedral towns of England, this is a rich and rewarding novel with the scope and all the moral force of George Eliot.

From the three-time National Book Award nominee and New York Times bestselling author Gail Godwin comes an incandescent reflection on past and present that speaks urgently to our current political moment. "He just had the presidency stolen from him." It's November 1960, and a crush of reporters eagerly await the first postelection meeting between Kennedy and Nixon when Nixon's ally Bebe Rebozo speaks these words to the crowd. Among the eyewitnesses is Gail Godwin, reporting for the Miami Herald. Hearing these words echoed in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, Godwin embarks on a project to reflect on that long-ago moment and offset a mounting pressure of dread about the election that loomed ahead. In looking back at her life as a young woman abroad, her early marriage, her friendships with Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving juxtaposed with chronicles of the recent election cycle, she discovers an understory that surprises her-one that leads her to ask, "What, at this late date, did I still want to become?" With hope, urgency, and a yearning so many now feel, Godwin's blend of history and memoir delivers both inspiration and a rousing battle call, encouraging readers to engage in their own reflection on the art and meaning of being a citizen.