"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
*From the onset of this heart-wrenching novel, it is evident
that Mazer (After the Rain) thoroughly understands and
empathizes with her impoverished narrator, Em, the
younger Thurkill daughter. Em eloquently expresses her
belief in an elusive happiness: "I sensed this phantom
thing, happiness, as something real--like a fabulous
painting or statue that existed in the world, hidden from
me now, but only waiting for me to come upon it." while
taking blows from her older sister, Pamela, whose
sullenness explodes into fits of rage and violence. When
Pamela and Em are forced to flee from their run-down
trailer, they move to the city where life remains grim for
14-year old Em. She has trouble holding onto a job while
caring for her sister, and continues to be "crazy" Pamela's
target for attack. Four years later, Em is shocked when
Pamela dies unexpectedly ("I didn't believe Pamela would
ever die. She was too big, too mad, too furious for
anything so shabby and easy as death"), and gingerly takes
her first steps towards liberation. The author poetically
evokes a poignant, honest image of rebirth and self-
reliance. Em edges toward friendship with younger
children and a woman named Louise, working up the
courage just to smile or say hello; begins a garden in a
vacant lot, hauling heavy jugs of water and weeding it
daily; and after an exhaustive search, finds a job with a
caring and gentle boss. Readers who wince at the heroine's
abuse and rejection will find solace in her slow-but-steady
emergence into a kinder world.
Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, 7/21/97
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