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Aberrations

by Penelope Przekop

Aberrations Cover

ISBN13: 9781934572030
ISBN10: 1934572039
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The story takes place in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she grew up. It is a moving story that shares insights on many subjects, including: parenthood, mental illness, accepting others and ourselves, pursuing and confronting the truth, narcolepsy, homosexuality, experimental drugs, adultery, and friendships.

Review:

"'I wanted to convey in the book and story that everybody has a different path in life'.... 'But it's what you have to go through to come out on the other side to find yourself.'" Shreveport Times

Synopsis:

Twenty-one-year-old narcoleptic Angel Duet knows her father harbors secrets. He loves and protects her, but his suspicious refusal to discuss her mother's death drives Angel to worship an image created from the little history she does have: her father's sketchy stories and her mother's treasured photography, studies of clouds that have hung in the their foyer for more than twenty years. When her father's girlfriend moves in, the photographs come down, and Angel's search for truth becomes an obsession.

As she struggles to uncover the past and gain control over the narcolepsy that often fogs her world, Angel descends into a dizzying realm of drugs, adultery, and confused desire that further obscures reality. As Angel begins to expose a history she could never have imagined, she discovers her entire life has been anchored around lies.

Accepting the truth, once found, is the key to understanding herself, her family, and her life. To truly awaken, Angel must realize that sometimes the gifts we receive are not what we want — and only with time do we see their worth.

Synopsis:

In this edgy coming-of-age novel, a narcoleptic college student grapples with her disorder-which has become a coping mechanism of sorts-and seeks the truth behind her mother's untimely death.
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About the Author

Penelope Przekop is director of Global Quality Management for the Benefit-Risk Management organization within the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Group. She is a popular guest speaker for groups including the International Quality and Productivity Center and the Center for Pharmaceutical Training.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
BookishRuth, May 2, 2009 (view all comments by BookishRuth)
Aberrations is an extraordinary debut novel for Penelope Przekop. This is not just a coming of age story, it is truly an awakening.

Angel Duet is a 21-year-old narcoleptic living in Louisiana during the 1980’s. Her mother died when she was born, and all that Angel has of her mother are stories told to her by her father, and a series of cloud photographs taken by her mother.

When her father’s new girlfriend moves in, the pictures come off the wall and Angel finds her familiar life turned upside down. She feels the loss of the pictures as another person would feel a parent’s death. Throughout the story we see her searching for the one thing she’s never felt, but needs so acutely – a mother’s love. This search will lead her down a dark path of drugs and sexual experimentation, before ultimately leading her to demand real answers from her father.

Aberrations is an intriguing look into the secrets people keep and their motivations for keeping them. Every character has something that they want to hide from others: a medical condition, their sexuality, an extra-marital affair. As the story progresses, we glimpse each character’s secret. Some secrets, once revealed, are liberating for the characters. Others are absolutely devastating. The secrets that Angel’s father has kept from her concerning her mother will irrevocably change her life.

Przekop has crafted some truly fascinating characters in this novel. I found myself drawn to each character, but I was most drawn to Angel. As a person living with a chronic illness, I easily identified with Angel’s struggle with narcolepsy and her desire to not allow the illness to define her.

Powerful and stirring, Aberrations is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. Don’t miss this one!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781934572030
Author:
Przekop, Penelope
Publisher:
Emerald Book Co
Subject:
Medical
Subject:
Family life
Subject:
Coming of age
Subject:
Young women
Subject:
Fathers and daughters
Publication Date:
July 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
240
Dimensions:
8.68x6.16x.76 in. .87 lbs.
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