Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

A Map of the World

By Jane Hamilton

(12)

| Hardcover | 9780783811895

Like A Map of the World?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

Performances by Mary Beth Hurt and David Strathairn
Two cassettes, 3 hours

One unremarkable June morning, Alice Goodwin is, as usual, trying to keep in check both her temper and her tendency to blame herself for her family's shortcomings.  When the Goodwins took over the last dairy farm inContinue

Performances by Mary Beth Hurt and David Strathairn
Two cassettes, 3 hours

One unremarkable June morning, Alice Goodwin is, as usual, trying to keep in check both her temper and her tendency to blame herself for her family's shortcomings.  When the Goodwins took over the last dairy farm in the small Midwestern town of Prairie Center, they envisioned their home a self-made paradise.  But these days, as Alice is all too aware, her elder daughter Emma is prone to inexplicable fits of rage, her husband Howard distrusts her maternal competence, and Prairie Center's tight-knit suburban community shows no signs of warming to "those hippies who think they can run a farm."  A loner by nature, Alice is torn between a yearning for solitude coupled with a deep need to be at the center of a perfect family.

On this particular day, Emma has started the morning with a violent tantrum, her little sister Claire is eating pennies, and it is Alice's turn to watch her neighbor's two small girls as well as her own.  She absentmindedly steals a minute alone that quickly becomes ten: time enough for a devastating accident to occur.  Her neighbor's daughter Lizzy drowns in the farm's pond, and Alice - whose own volatility and unmasked directness keep her on the outskirts of acceptance - becomes the perfect scapegoat.  At the same time, a seemingly trivial incident from Alice's past resurfaces and takes on gigantic proportions, leading the Goodwins far from Lizzy's death into a maze of guilt and doubt culminating in a harrowing court trial and the family's shattering downfall.

Critics

  • TheBookHaven.net - A Map of the World - Jane Hamilton

    Click the pic to buy the book. Support this site! Get all your books by clicking on this Amazon link. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with A Map of the World . I hesitated when I picked it off of the library shelf. I wasn't exactly crazy ... (read full critics)

    thebookhaven published on Fri, 10 Sep 2010

  • A Map of the World

    I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with A Map of the World . I hesitated when I picked it off of the library shelf. I wasn't exactly crazy about The Book of Ruth , another of Jane Hamilton's novels. While reading Ruth , I wasn't sure whether ... (read full critics)

    thebookhaven published on Thu, 2 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • I hate to give up on this highly acclaimed book, but I also hate to see it sitting on my shelf. So I just have to say that for now, I find it way too emotionally draining. If anyone has any words of encouragement I may pick it back up sometime down the road.

    Is this helpful?

    Marion the librarian said on Jul 7, 2009 about the School & Library Binding edition | Add your feedback

  • My copy of this was one of those books that fills up the back cover with reviews, so you don't get a plot synopsis. Perhaps if I'd known what it was about I'd have been less likely to read it, though, and since I found it interesting-albeit a bit disturbing-, that would have been a shame. It's basic ... (continue)

    My copy of this was one of those books that fills up the back cover with reviews, so you don't get a plot synopsis. Perhaps if I'd known what it was about I'd have been less likely to read it, though, and since I found it interesting-albeit a bit disturbing-, that would have been a shame. It's basically the story of a totally normal family that get blown apart when the mother is falsely accused of sexually abusing children at the school where she works. If that puts you off, think of overcoming awful life events, think of descriptions of semi-farm life, think of seeing how strong people can be when they have to be. That just about made up for the gruesome parts for me.

    Is this helpful?

    zbrntt said on Sep 30, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780783811895 Hardcover $25.95 -- The Book Depository
Other editions →
+ 1 copy tradable: →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.