β Scribed by Jayne Anne Phillips
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Starred Review. From Phillip's (Motherkind ; Shelter) comes a long-awaited and wonderful coming-of-age tale of grief and survival. The story straddles a parallel six-day period in July, one in 1959βduring which 17-year-old Lark; her brother, Termite, who cant talk; and their aunt and caretaker, Nonie, are struggling to balance hope and despair in smalltown West Virginiaβand nine years earlier, when Termites father, Robert Leavitt, serves a tour in Korea. Lark, living with her aunt without knowing who her father is or why her mother gave her up, was nine years old when baby Termite landed on their doorstep. Nonie works long hours at a local restaurant to support the hodgepodge family, leaving Lark to take over mothering duties, but as Lark finishes secretarial school and realizes how limited the options are for her and Termite, forces of nature and odd individuals shed light on mysteries of the past and lend a hand in steering the next course of action. Through Robert and Nonie's stories and by exposing the innermost thoughts of each character, Phillips creates a wrenching portrait of devotion while keeping the suspense at a palpitating level. (Jan.)
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This poetic novel alternates between the last hours of Robert Leavitt, a corporal in the U.S. Army, pinned down in a tunnel in South Korea, in 1950, and the story of his disabled son, Termite, who, nine years later, is living with his half sister, Lark, and their aunt in West Virginia. Lark knows little of her mother and even less of her father, and pours herself into nurturing Termite, whose stunted body and lack of language has Social Services perpetually threatening to take him away. The appearance of a sympathetic social worker marks the beginning of a great fracture in their lives, which culminates in a flood that reveals the past and makes way for a new future. Phillips gives each scene an evocative, often lyrical description, but the mystical elements of the story and the improbable ending undermine an otherwise moving exploration of familial love.
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EDITORIAL REVIEW: \*\*National Bestseller New York Times Notable Book \*Chicago Tribune\*, \*Christian Science Monitor\*, \*The Washington Post\* and \*Los Angeles Times\* Best Book of the YearLark and Termite\*\* is a rich, wonderfully alive novel about seventeen year old Lark and her brother,
A rich, many-layered novel from one of our major writers, her first in nine years. Set in the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea, it is a story of the power of loss and love, the echoing ramifications of war, family secrets, dreams and ghosts, and the unseen, almost magical bonds that unite and s
Set during the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea, this is the story of two children--Lark, on the verge of adulthood, and her brother, Termite, a child unable to walk and talk but filled with radiance--who grow up with their mother and aunt while their soldier-father fights for his life during the ch
EDITORIAL REVIEW: \*\*National Bestseller New York Times Notable Book \*Chicago Tribune\*, \*Christian Science Monitor\*, \*The Washington Post\* and \*Los Angeles Times\* Best Book of the YearLark and Termite\*\* is a rich, wonderfully alive novel about seventeen year old Lark and her brother,
EDITORIAL REVIEW: \*\*National Bestseller New York Times Notable Book \*Chicago Tribune\*, \*Christian Science Monitor\*, \*The Washington Post\* and \*Los Angeles Times\* Best Book of the YearLark and Termite\*\* is a rich, wonderfully alive novel about seventeen year old Lark and her brother,
EDITORIAL REVIEW: \*\*National Bestseller New York Times Notable Book \*Chicago Tribune\*, \*Christian Science Monitor\*, \*The Washington Post\* and \*Los Angeles Times\* Best Book of the YearLark and Termite\*\* is a rich, wonderfully alive novel about seventeen year old Lark and her brother,