The Hatbox Letters
Set near St. John, New Brunswick, Beth Powning's debut novel is a profound meditation on the nature of grief and memory. Kate, 52, has recently lost her husband, Tom, a painter, to a heart attack. Even as Kate mourns her tragic loss, she receives nine antique hatboxes filled with letters and documents from her ancestors in Hartford, Connecticut. Kate then commences an interior journey through her past, recalling when she would visit her grandparents in the great summer house of Shepton, where five generations of her family had lived. Sudden death at a young age is a recurring theme, and it is a tribute to this novel that the author is able to avoid any sense of the maudlin. In fact, when she relates the story of an eight-year-old relation dying of measles early in the century, the writing is riveting and the period scenes perfectly drawn. What marks this novel as exceptional is its lyrical language. As Kate goes about her daily tasks and struggles with her memories, she sees the objects of the world--flowers, dew, clouds--with a near-painful clarity. Old envelopes are "embroidered by the teeth of mice. " Adolescence is a time when "one has no idea that one is in mourning for childhood itself. " Each leaf in her shining garden "holds a spear or prism or cup of light. " Kate ultimately must find her own way to deal with the ghosts of her past, including a troublesome, heavy-drinking man she once knew who returns to her town to take a newspaper job. While the themes of this thoughtful novel might not appeal to every reader, it is beautifully, tenderly written. --Mark Frutkin Author(s): Beth Powning. Binding Hardcover. Publisher(s): Knopf Canada. Label: Knopf Canada.
| Fabricant: | Knopf Canada |
| Numéro de la pièce: | |
| Prix le plus bas (CAD): | 32,00 $ |
Caractéristiques du produit |
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| Auteur : | Beth Powning |
| Catégories de litérature : | Essays & Letters |
| Format : | Hardcover |
| Marque : | Knopf |
| Title : | Title S-T |
