Lorelei's Secret - Hardcover

Parkhurst, Carolyn

3.58

19,052 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340827920 ISBN 13: 9780340827925

Publisher: Sceptre, 2003

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'Here is what we know, those of us who can speak to tell a story: On the afternoon of October 21st, my wife, Lexy Ransome, climbed to the top of the apple tree in our back yard and fell to her death. There were no witnesses, save our dog Lorelei . . .'

So begins this remarkable, unputdownable debut about a man faced with the sudden and inexplicable loss of the love of his life. Convinced that Lexy's death was not an accident, and driven by a desire to discover what really happened that October afternoon, Paul decides to embark on the only course of action he can possibly imagine. What follows is a luminous account of an extraordinary, magical love affair, and its aftermath. This is the story of a passionate woman and her irrepressible dreams; of a man who does not know how to begin to live without her; of an animal's loyalty and devotion, and of the desperate search for answers that leads them all to places they never expected to go.

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Review:

A heartbreaking exploration of memory and language, grief and redemption (Esquire)

Shimmers with idiosyncratic intrigue . . . a humanistic parable of the heart's confusions. (Entertainment Weekly)

Captivatingly strange ... perilously adorable (New York Times)

The most unique and imaginative book I have read in recent times. Parkhurst is a wonderful writer and her story is daring, tender and full of surprises as well as wisdom and insight. I simply could not put it down. (John Searles, author of 'Boy Still Missing'; Senio)

Carolyn Parkhurst's 'Lorelei's Secret' --so luminous, heartbreaking, comic, and daring--is an astonishing debut. Parkhurst writes of love and loss, and, above all, of what we can and cannot know of one another, with power and deeply earned grace. (Richard McCann, author of 'Ghost Letters')

Carolyn Parkhurst writes as well about talking dogs and square eggs as she does about the limits of language and the intractable mysteries of the self. 'Lorelei's Secret' is a strange, beautiful and very moving novel that asks us to look, in equal measure, at the puzzle that is grief and the puzzle that is love. (Elizabeth Graver, author of 'The Honey Thief' and)

This tightly woven tale has all the right stuff: romance, suspense, fantasy, and an ending that does not disappoint. (Red magazine (US))

If you like a tear-jerker with a twist you'll adore this (Glamour Must-Read)

Prepare to have your heart smashed into melancholy pieces (Elle)

A mesmerising and unusual novel ... beautifully written and packs a powerful emotional punch (Good Housekeeping)

Book Description:

A spellbinding debut: heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure, this is a story of love, loss and the lengths that people go to when driven by grief and by hope.

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