Synopses & Reviews
The
New York Times bestselling author's first collection of short fiction.
Alice Hoffman evokes the world of the Samuelsons, a family torn apart by tragedy and divorce in a world of bad judgment and fierce attachments, disappointments and devotion. Hoffman charts the always unexpected progress of Gretel Samuelson from the time Gretel is a young girl already acquainted with betrayal and grief, until she finally leaves home. Gretel's sly, funny, knowing perspective is at the heart of this collection as she navigates through loyalty and loss with the help of an unforgettable trio of women: her best friend Jill, her romance-addicted cousin Margot, and her mother, Franny, whose spiritual journey affects them all. Told in alternating voices, these tales work wonders. Funny and lyrical, disturbing and healing, each is a lesson of survival, a reminder of the ties of blood and the power of friendship.
Review
"Moving and deadpan funny....Epiphanies about passion, pain, and resiliency induce smiles and shivers in equal measure." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Clearly, Local Girls isn't beach reading. But coupled with the weightiness of the book's subject matter, it is a sparkling message of hope, a Hoffman-esque belief that while human turmoil is often haphazard and undeserved, love is always present..." San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
Review
"Pulls the reader in effortlessly....Hoffman has the power to make you really laugh and really cry." USA Today
Review
"Ten disastrous years in the life of a family on Long Island, only partly redeemed by the shimmering prose we've come to expect from Hoffman....Hoffman remains a major talent, but she's marking time here." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"When living and dying get a little extreme, Hoffman invokes the paranormal, replacing hard questions with pretty metaphors. This is comfort literature, and she does it well though she sometimes falls on the wrong side of the line between charming and cloying." Literary Review
Synopsis
Hoffman is at her haunting, thought-provoking best with these interconnected stories about a Long Island family, the Samuelsons, and the lessons in survival and transformation that life brings to every family.
Synopsis
From the
New York Timesbest-selling author of
The Dovekeepers,
Alice Hoffmanis at her haunting, thought-provoking best with these interconnected stories about a Long Island family, the Samuelsons, and the lessons in survival and transformation that life brings to every family...
"Pulls the reader in effortlessly...Hoffman has the power to make you really laugh and really cry." --USA Today
"Moving and deadpan funny...Epiphanies about passion, pain, and resiliency induce smiles and shivers in equal measure." --Entertainment Weekly
"
Synopsis
From the
New York Times best-selling author of
The Dovekeepers,
Alice Hoffman is at her haunting, thought-provoking best with these interconnected stories about a Long Island family, the Samuelsons, and the lessons in survival and transformation that life brings to every family...
"Pulls the reader in effortlessly...Hoffman has the power to make you really laugh and really cry." --USA Today
"Moving and deadpan funny...Epiphanies about passion, pain, and resiliency induce smiles and shivers in equal measure." --Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
Alice Hoffman is the author of many bestselling novels, including Practical Magic, Here On Earth, and Blue Diary, and most recently, The Probable Future and Blackbird House.
Table of Contents
Dear Diary 1
Rose Red 15
Flight 29
Gretel 39
Tell the Truth 51
How to Talk to the Dead 61
Fate 75
Bake at 350° 87
True Confession 99
The Rest of Your Life 119
The Boy Who Wrestled with Angels 151
Examining the Evidence 145
Devotion 157
Still Among the Living 165
Local Girls 181