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Pictures of You

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Pictures of You Cover

ISBN13: 9781565126312
ISBN10: 1565126319
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Two women running away from their marriages collide on a foggy highway, killing one of them. The survivor, Isabelle, is left to pick up the pieces, not only of her own life, but of the lives of the devastated husband and fragile son that the other woman, April, has left behind. Together, they try to solve the mystery of where April was running to, and why. As these three lives intersect, the book asks, How well do we really know those we love — and how do we forgive the unforgivable?

Review:

"Leavitt's ninth book (after Girls in Trouble), a touching story of loss and discovery, centers on photographer Isabelle Stein, whose stifled Cape Cod life and marriage crumbles when she discovers her husband has gotten his mistress pregnant. She packs up her cameras and takes off, but has a horrific car accident in Hartford, Conn., that kills the woman in the other car. As it turns out, the dead woman is April Nash, who lived a few blocks away from Isabelle's home on the Cape, and April's son, Sam, now believes Isabelle is an angel who can help him communicate with his mother. Once Isabelle ends up back on the Cape, she, Sam, and April's widower, Charlie, develop a strong but strange bond as they all try to sort out what comes next. Leavitt explores the depths of grief and the sticky spots sorrow pushes people into, and though the story stumbles sometimes into too saccharine moments, Leavitt's near bottomless reserve of compassion for her imperfect characters will endear them to readers. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)

Review:

"Leavitt is superb at revealing the secrecy inside many marriages and the way children grieve...most impressive is how Leavitt deals head-on with well-meaning people who come to realize, too late, that even an imperfect life is irreplaceable." O: The Oprah Magazine

Review:

"Leavitt's ambitious narrative examines the various kinds of love — uxorious, romantic, paternal — that can arise from or be transformed by unspeakable grief. These survivors bravely gather the fragments of their lives, which once seemed so safely wrapped up in habits and, it turns out, illusions. Their trials and triumphs remind us that however firmly we seek to root our perceptions in reality, some truths will always elude us in love." Elle

Review:

"Although we all hope this becomes a seamlessly happy ending, its more like the sloppy, messy, human, frustrating, yet transcendent thing we generally call life." Mothering magazine

Review:

"Caroline Leavitt plumbs the depths of grief and forgiveness in the lovely Pictures of You." Vanity Fair

Review:

"A magically written, heartbreakingly honest snapshot of the people we leave behind and those we can't let go....Caroline Leavitt is one of those fabulous, incisive writers you read and then ask yourself, 'Where has she been all my life?'" Jodi Picoult

Review:

"I found it impossible to put this book down...[it's] as complicated, crushing, and joyous as life itself." Robb Forman Dew

Review:

"A splendid writer at the peak of her powers." Robert Olen Butler

Review:

"Heartbreaking, suspenseful, and moving, Pictures of You contains all the elements I long for in a great story." Diana Abu-Jaber

Review:

"I have long admired Caroline Leavitt's probing insight into people, her wit and compassion, her ability to find humor in dark situations, and conversely, her tenderness toward characters other writers might merely satirize." Dan Chaon

Review:

"Caroline Leavitt is a masterful storyteller...this is a beautiful book." Dani Shapiro

Review:

"An enthralling amalgamation of a literary mystery and the story of one woman's search for self-fulfillment." Binnie Kirshenbaum

Review:

"This thoughtful novel brings up a problem all of us have to deal with in the course of our lives, unless we're lucky enough to sneak through existence without encountering misfortune of any kind....This is a novel that invites us to look at our own imperfections, not the dramatic crimes, but the niggling little sins of omission that so often render our lives tragically undernourished and small." Washington Post
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About the Author

Caroline Leavitt is the award-winning author of eight novels. Her essays and stories have been included in New York magazine, Psychology Today, More, Parenting, Redbook, and Salon. She's a columnist for the Boston Globe, a book reviewer for People, and a writing instructor at UCLA online.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
irishiii68, January 2, 2012 (view all comments by irishiii68)
Touching, thoughtfully written. A very good read.
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Denise Morland, May 1, 2011 (view all comments by Denise Morland)
Pictures of You is a novel of accidents, coincidences, and mystery. The lives of Isabelle and April collide one foggy afternoon on a lonely country road. April is killed leaving a bewildered husband and son to try to understand why she was on that lonely road and where she was going. Isabelle, drowning in grief over the accident and the rest of her destroyed life, can't leave April's husband and son alone, becoming more and more involved in the mystery of April's motivations. This chance relationship looks to head either in the direction of salvation or that of destruction, the reader won't know until the end.

Pictures of You is an interesting look at the consequences of the choices women make between love, family, and career. Must women sacrifice everything for their children and husbands? How do you balance their needs with your own? And what happens when a woman has given up everything for her family and then discovers it isn't enough? I loved the idea of this book, but had some problems with the execution. The coincidences were just too unlikely for me to believe in them wholeheartedly and the relationships between characters were undeveloped and difficult to relate to. I was especially confused and disturbed by the interactions between Isabelle and her own mother which just never made sense to me.

I listened to Pictures of You on audio, narrated by Robin Miles. She does a great job of portraying Isabelle, especially convincing us of her insecurities and confusion. I wish that she had developed different, more distinct voices for the other characters.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781565126312
Author:
Leavitt, Caroline
Publisher:
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Subject:
General
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
Paperback
Publication Date:
20110131
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
8.2 x 5.48 x 1 in 0.75 lb
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Related Subjects


Featured Titles » General
Featured Titles » Literature
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » Sale Books

Pictures of You Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$4.95 In Stock
Product details 336 pages Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill - English 9781565126312 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Leavitt's ninth book (after Girls in Trouble), a touching story of loss and discovery, centers on photographer Isabelle Stein, whose stifled Cape Cod life and marriage crumbles when she discovers her husband has gotten his mistress pregnant. She packs up her cameras and takes off, but has a horrific car accident in Hartford, Conn., that kills the woman in the other car. As it turns out, the dead woman is April Nash, who lived a few blocks away from Isabelle's home on the Cape, and April's son, Sam, now believes Isabelle is an angel who can help him communicate with his mother. Once Isabelle ends up back on the Cape, she, Sam, and April's widower, Charlie, develop a strong but strange bond as they all try to sort out what comes next. Leavitt explores the depths of grief and the sticky spots sorrow pushes people into, and though the story stumbles sometimes into too saccharine moments, Leavitt's near bottomless reserve of compassion for her imperfect characters will endear them to readers. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)
"Review" by , "Leavitt is superb at revealing the secrecy inside many marriages and the way children grieve...most impressive is how Leavitt deals head-on with well-meaning people who come to realize, too late, that even an imperfect life is irreplaceable."
"Review" by , "Leavitt's ambitious narrative examines the various kinds of love — uxorious, romantic, paternal — that can arise from or be transformed by unspeakable grief. These survivors bravely gather the fragments of their lives, which once seemed so safely wrapped up in habits and, it turns out, illusions. Their trials and triumphs remind us that however firmly we seek to root our perceptions in reality, some truths will always elude us in love."
"Review" by , "Although we all hope this becomes a seamlessly happy ending, its more like the sloppy, messy, human, frustrating, yet transcendent thing we generally call life."
"Review" by , "Caroline Leavitt plumbs the depths of grief and forgiveness in the lovely Pictures of You."
"Review" by , "A magically written, heartbreakingly honest snapshot of the people we leave behind and those we can't let go....Caroline Leavitt is one of those fabulous, incisive writers you read and then ask yourself, 'Where has she been all my life?'"
"Review" by , "I found it impossible to put this book down...[it's] as complicated, crushing, and joyous as life itself."
"Review" by , "A splendid writer at the peak of her powers."
"Review" by , "Heartbreaking, suspenseful, and moving, Pictures of You contains all the elements I long for in a great story."
"Review" by , "I have long admired Caroline Leavitt's probing insight into people, her wit and compassion, her ability to find humor in dark situations, and conversely, her tenderness toward characters other writers might merely satirize."
"Review" by , "Caroline Leavitt is a masterful storyteller...this is a beautiful book."
"Review" by , "An enthralling amalgamation of a literary mystery and the story of one woman's search for self-fulfillment."
"Review" by , "This thoughtful novel brings up a problem all of us have to deal with in the course of our lives, unless we're lucky enough to sneak through existence without encountering misfortune of any kind....This is a novel that invites us to look at our own imperfections, not the dramatic crimes, but the niggling little sins of omission that so often render our lives tragically undernourished and small."
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