Blue Diary - Softcover

Hoffman, Alice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0425184943 ISBN 13: 9780425184943

Publisher: Berkley / Nal, 2002

Synopsis

Alice Hoffman, the bestselling author of The Rules of Magic, asks how we can find the courage to face the unthinkable in this compelling New York Times Notable Book.

When Ethan Ford fails to show up for work on a brilliant summer morning, none of his neighbors would guess that for more than thirteen years, he has been running from his past. His true nature has been locked away, as hidden as his real identity. But sometimes locks spring open, and the devastating truths of Ethan Ford's history shatter the small-town peace of Monroe, affecting family and friends alike.

Now, the police are at the door. Ethan Ford's life as an irreproachable family man and heroic volunteer fireman has come to an end--and Jorie Ford's life is coming apart. Some of the residents of Monroe are rallying behind Ethan. But others, including his wife and son, and wondering what remains true when so much is shown to be false--and how capable we really are of change.

About this title

Review:

Alice Hoffman's Blue Diary is a gripping tale of good and evil, of ordinary families whose lives are wrenched apart by death. It questions whether you can ever really know anyone, even members of your immediate family you have known all your life, and whether you would be able to find it in your heart to forgive someone you love and respect when they are accused of a crime so terrible that it smashes your whole world to pieces.

Jorie and Ethan Ford are a golden couple blessed with an 11-year-old son, Collie, living a decent, quiet life in small-town Massachusetts. Ethan is a pillar of the community--a handsome, good man, whose life revolves around his family, his work as a carpenter and his roles as volunteer fireman and Little League coach. Since he first walked into her home-town, her life and her bed 13 years before, Jorie has never lost the feeling that she is special, singled out by fate to live a charmed life with a man she still desires and a son she adores. And then, on a glorious Monday morning in June, Jorie's fate turns and her life as she knows it is changed. One wonders whether the hand of fate will offer her any kind of salvation and if she can come to terms with the unimaginable.

Kat Williams, Collie's next-door neighbour and best friend is mature beyond her years. In her short life, she has had to cope with the loss of her father, a distant mother and a sister who attracts, and dispenses with, boyfriends as flies to a light, but who has taken to self-mutilation to heal her numbness. Is Kat the only one who can instinctively feel when something, or someone, is wrong? Charlotte, Jorie's best friend since childhood, knows when something is amiss, but her own terrible losses and lack of self-worth cause her to mistrust her feelings and internalise blame.

In the pages of this (relatively) short novel, Ms Hoffman manages to cover the singular emotions involved in so many different relationships--from parental, marital, sibling, friendship and even criminal-victim. The writing demonstrates enormous intelligence and endless compassion, an ability to cut through the sharp edges of humanity and look deep into a person's soul. In spite of its dark, disturbing theme, Blue Diary is an inspiring story of the enduring spirit of human love. Carey Green

Review:

Praise for Blue Diary

"Hoffman ably sends her theme of loss and deception reverberating across several well-made subplots...fast-moving."--The New York Times Book Review

"[Hoffman's] observations of the natural world are conveyed with gorgeous clarity and the supporting characters are roundly drawn...[Blue Diary] investigates the themes of devotion, betrayal, guilt, and forgiveness in trenchantly effective ways."--Publishers Weekly

"A page-turner...hard to put down...even harder to forget."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"As suspenseful as it is lyrical and provocative."--Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Berkley / Nal
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0425184943
• ISBN 13: 9780425184943
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304