Amanda Peters
Auteur de The Berry Pickers
A propos de l'auteur
Œuvres de Amanda Peters
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Date de naissance
- 20th century
- Sexe
- female
Membres
Critiques
Listes
Prix et récompenses
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 1
- Membres
- 420
- Popularité
- #58,060
- Évaluation
- 4.1
- Critiques
- 18
- ISBN
- 10
- Langues
- 1
This family's story alternates with that of another family, a local doctor, his wife, and their daughter Norma. Although the father is a doctor in high standing in the community, they aren't much happier. The mother is high strung, domineering and overprotective. Norma is rarely allowed out of the house except with family members. People often comment on Norma's complexion, which is darker than her parents', and she wonders why there are no baby pictures of herself in the family scrapbook. The family has a reason for everything: her complexion is due to some far-back Italian ancestors, and they were just too busy taking care of her (plus her mother's health was frail) to remember to take photos. The reader doesn't have to work very hard to figure out that Norma is really Ruthie, snatched by a woman who had suffered several miscarriages and whose mental health was in decline.
The rest of the novel plays out how the the truth behind Ruthie's disappearance and identity slowly comes to light. I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than the above description might suggest. The characters are well drawn and interesting, and the author writes beautifully about loss, grief, a sense of identity, and prejudice. There are a number of events that reveal how the loss of Ruthie has affected every member of the family, and Norma's family also suffers from the secret they must hide.… (plus d'informations)