Saturday, March 25, 2006

Swan by Frances Mayes

Something about this book didn't work for me. Maybe it was the pacing, maybe listening to the story told from different views without visual cues made it more difficult. I did like the uniqueness of the opening event - a woman is found unearthed from her grave, and we never do find out for sure who did it or why, but the situation brings back her two grown children who have not coped well with her suicide. The sister leaves her archeology site in Italy to come back to Georgia, and her brother is pulled out of a life of fishing and turning away from the world. As the life of the dead woman unfolds, the brother and sister start letting go of the past to be able to commit to life and relationships. The main setting is the deep South - Swan, Georgia, the extreme heat and the pace of life. There are glimpses into Italy and the Palo Alto area. I sometimes felt the descriptions were overdone.
(Finished listening in early March.)

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