The Law of Bound Hearts: A Novel - Softcover

LeClaire, Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345460464 ISBN 13: 9780345460462

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2005

Synopsis

With Entering Normal and Leaving Eden, Anne LeClaire brilliantly probed the interior lives of women-friends, mothers, daughters-bringing to vivid life the conflict, surprises, and resilience of their complex relationships. Now in her new novel, The Law of Bound Hearts, LeClaire focuses her gaze on sisters, with the same compassion, insight, and startling breadth of emotion.

Sisters Libby and Sam Lewis were inseparable as little girls, best friends and soul mates. But a terrible event during in their 30s completely shatters their tender connection. Now the sisters live entirely unconnected lives. Happily married, Libby manages a spotless household, clings to schedules, and maintains a vigorous exercise routine; a pastry chef who harbors no romantic delusions, Sam runs a successful decorative cake business out of her newly purchased Victorian home. Neither wishes to be the first to reach out and make amends-until a sobering turn of events forces action.

Libby discovers she has contracted a rare kidney disease that could end her life. A transplant will increase her chances for survival. Sam would be the ideal donor. But Libby is stubborn and unwilling to seek help from others. Much to the dismay of her husband, she is resolved to face her illness alone. Sam avoids the sentimental and refuses to allow Libby back in her life. Once she knows the truth, will Sam bury the past and reach out to her estranged sister?
Anne LeClaire's The Law of Bound Hearts is an extraordinary story of family that lingers in the mind. It is a novel about courage, betrayal, and forgiveness that penetrates the very core of love.

About this title

Review:

"Once again, Anne LeClaire has given life on the page to characters we care about, as if they were old friends. Here is the work of a natural-born storyteller."
-JOYCE MAYNARD, author of The Usual Rules

"With a vision as wide as the tall grass prairie and prose as focused as a poem, Anne LeClaire reminds us how love can subvert the hardest and most stubborn of hearts, and that the ties that bind are not easily undone. An honest and tender ache of a story."
-JUDITH RYAN HENDRICKS, author of Bread Alone

"Anne LeClaire has given us a realistic glimpse into the intricacies of family life: how the ties that bind can sometimes chafe and sometimes be a lifeline, how there are some bonds that are deeper than blood and run longer than history. The story of Sam and Libby rings so true, it's hard to believe these aren't women we've actually met."
-JODI PICOULT, New York Times bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper

"The Law of Bound Hearts unfolds with such precision and power that it kept me turning pages way into the night, spellbound. Without sentimentality or preaching, Anne LeClaire captures perfectly the agony of estrangement and the ultimate redemption of forgiveness."
-CASSANDRA KING, author of The Sunday Wife

"The Law of Bound Hearts is a lovely novel whose characters surprise us with their humor and strength even in the midst of trouble and betrayal. Anne LeClaire writes dialogue that could come directly from our own real lives, with all the wit and humor and sorrow and love that life allows."
-JOSEPHINE HUMPHREYS, author of Rich in Love

About the Author:

Anne LeClaire is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Leaving Eden and Entering Normal. She is also a short story writer who teaches and lectures on writing and the creative process, and has worked as a radio broadcaster, a journalist, and a correspondent for The Boston Globe. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Redbook, and Yankee magazine among other publications. She is the mother of two adult children and lives on Cape Cod. Visit the author's website at www.anneleclaire.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0345460464
• ISBN 13: 9780345460462
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336