Alice Bliss: A Novel

by Laura Harrington | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0670022780 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wombles of Caboolture, Queensland Australia on 9/15/2011
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wombles from Caboolture, Queensland Australia on Thursday, September 15, 2011
A free copy with a special Alice Bliss BC label in it already!

Journal Entry 2 by wombles at Caboolture, Queensland Australia on Sunday, September 25, 2011
I really enjoyed this book, though it was sad, there were also some parts that were funny and parts where I thought "I can remember feeling that way" (at 15!).
I would like to know what happens to Alice next, whether Uncle Eddie settles down, if John comes home safely.. and more.

I have a 16 year old daughter who might enjoy this but I also plan to send it across the sea to a friend.

Journal Entry 3 by discoverylover at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Friday, November 11, 2011
I've been looking forward to reading this, thanks for sending it Wombles!!

Journal Entry 4 by Skyring at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Thursday, November 17, 2011
Here I am in Wellington, visiting Diacoverylover and BargainQueen, and who do I see but Alice Bliss! Different cover to my copy, but.

Where do I begin?

Alice Bliss is a book that made me laugh, and cry, wince with embarrassment and shout for the joy of life. We were all teenagers once, along with everything that goes with those awkward years, and Alice has her own path through. She has the guidance of her father Matt at many times in the story, even when his National Guard unit is sent into combat and communications become sparse.

Closer to home, Alice has family and/or friends, a diverse group indeed, though I must say that Uncle Eddie is particularly cool. Is this love touching Alice, or just hormones? Long-time friends and new stars soar through Alice's life, and there's always something fresh - seeds to plant, people to see, lessons to learn and chores to be done.

The book didn't go as I thought or feared. There are twists and surprises, but be prepared to feel the tension and the emotions of a teenage girl in difficult times. It's a ride and a half.

Laura Harrington knows how to tell a story and how to make characters come alive. I read this book in a gallop, bouncing along on the back of the story to see what came along next. I enjoyed every moment.

The image that sticks with me, I guess, is Alice working in the garden, wearing an old shirt of her dad's, grumbling over her relationships with mother, sister, boys and teachers, but still turning over the earth and planning for the harvest.

She's a little bit nutty and obsessive sometimes, but that's how she found a way into my heart.

I'll now return this book to Discoverylover. Thanks, Wombles!

Journal Entry 5 by discoverylover at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, December 10, 2011
I should really have journalled this a while ago, but I got distracted with figuring out what to write without spoilers, and so I didn't. The short review is LOVED IT! Since reading it I've bought at least 2 (and maybe even 3) copies of it to give to people. I've lent this copy to my Mum who said she loved it too. She apparently needed a bucket to mop her hanky out in at the end, and I needed a toilet roll!

I'm probably going to give this to Sherlockfan at the meetup on Tuesday.

Edited to add: I couldn't give it to SF on the meetup cos my Mum (who was reading it) was overseas, so couldn't pick it up!

Can't wait to read more by Laura!

Journal Entry 6 by Sherlockfan at Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Friday, December 23, 2011
Discoverylover actually forgot to take the book to our Wellington Bookcrossers Christmas meeting but, kind young woman that she is, she hand delivered it to my home where she found me confined to bed and feeling very sorry for myself. At the time she came I was just about to start another book but a quick browse into "Alice Bliss" and I was hooked.
I wasn't going anywhere and was able to read the book straight through in one session. Plenty of tissues in my bedside table were a help. I loved it. While I don't remember exactly what my relationship with our four children when they were fifteen was like we do have three 15 year old grandchildren and I could emphasise with such a lot of the mental turmoil going on in the lives of that age-group in this book.
Wombles, I am so pleased you started this off as a ring. Our daughter will be reading it before I look for someone who has it on their wish list.

Journal Entry 7 by Sherlockfan at Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sorry about the delay in moving this on. -it has been at our daughter's house and its just returned here tonight. She loved the book, as I did.
I've checked Wish Lists and there are only two people wishing for this; one loves in England and with the large postal charges here I'd sooner not post it that far; the other person has nothing on the bookshelf to say where they live and have only registered two books so I don't know about that.
Maybe I'll take it to our first full BC meet-up.

Journal Entry 8 by Sherlockfan at Arizona Bar in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, February 12, 2012

Released 12 yrs ago (2/14/2012 UTC) at Arizona Bar in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Will be releasing this on a table in the Arizone bar where Wellington Bookcrossers are having their Tuesday meet-up. Someone will likely 'catch' it.

If you find this book and are new to bookcrossing please send a pm through the bookcrossing site to me, Sherlock fan and I can tell you where our next meet-up will be; we are in the process of changing venues.

Journal Entry 9 by wingEdwardstreetwing at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Tuesday, February 14, 2012
TBR
Outside the back window Alice can see the outlines of the garden, some of the furrows visible under the snow, stretching away in long thin rows. She can't imagine doing the garden without her dad. It's his thing; she's always thought of herself as his assistant at best. She can't imagine doing anything without her dad and she starts to feel like she can't breathe. And then she looks at him. Just looks at him as he watches the fire with muffin crumbs on his lap.
'I'll write to you.'
'I know, sweetheart.'
'Every day.'"
--From Alice Bliss

When Alice Bliss learns that her father, Matt, is being deployed to Iraq, she's heartbroken. Alice idolizes her father, loves working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. When he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind.

Matt will miss seeing his daughter blossom from a tomboy into a full-blown teenager. Alice will learn to drive, join the track team, go to her first dance, and fall in love, all while trying to be strong for her mother, Angie, and take care of her precocious little sister, Ellie. But the smell of Matt is starting to fade from his blue shirt that Alice wears everyday, and the phone calls are never long enough.

Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations--the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; the complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of new love with the boy-next-door. These characters' struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future.


Journal Entry 10 by wingEdwardstreetwing at IHC offices in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Thursday, October 4, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (10/4/2012 UTC) at IHC offices in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I have had this a while ( apologies) and have not read yet and now have spotted another copy on my shelves, so will release this to get it moving.

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