Picked up during a trawl of the charity shops.

Synopsis
The high ideals and inevitable compromises of the 1960's form the background to this acclaimed first novel Phoebe O'Connor, eighteen years old in the summer of 1978, is obsessed by the memory of her charismatic older sister, Faith, a flower child who died in Italy in 1970. Searching for the truth about her death and life, Phoebe follows Faith's trail from San Francisco through Europe, ending up in the very place where Faith leapt to her death. The truth that Phoebe discovers there is larger and darker than one death; it goes to the ambiguous heart of a generation that tried to follow its dreams of freedom, and reveals the complex and disturbing nature of those dreams.


I think I'll set this one off on a ray/ring

1.Lizzy-stardust (uk)
2.Jozebedee (UK)
3.lucy-lemon (UK)
4.arturogrande (UK)
5.lauraloo29 (Canada)
6.sunfi (USA)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Happy reading

recieved today in the post. thanks so much! will read next!

Finished this book yesterday and was quite impressed. The way Phoebe clung so desperately to a past that she herself had missed out on only made her longing for her sister more palpable. There were things which happened to Phoebe in Europe which I found to be unecessary, but I woin't spoil it for future readers., All in all, a satisfying read.

Received the book in the post this weekend. Sorry for the delay in journalling! Am looking forward to this one!

I absolutely loved this book! This is such a well written, and original story with some powerful characters and is quite an emotional rollercoaster of a read. I have already recommended this to a couple of friends - and hope that everyone else in the bookring enjoys it as much as me.
Thanks again for a great read lellie! Posting off to lucy-lemon now!

Arrived this morning. I've been waiting to read this for a while, so will put to the top of the other rings I have to read!

Thanks for including me on the ring :-)


03.12.08
I finished this last night, and was amazed! The first couple of chapters didn't really live up to what I was expecting, but as the story went on I got more and more dragged in by the characters. Phoebe irritated me a bit at some points, but Faith fascinated me. I mean, who doesn't secretly want to be as reckless as that? I know I do!

I'm going to be looking out for a copy of this to keep I think.

Arrived safe and sound - thanks very much. I've got a couple of rings ahead of this one, but I'll get to it as soon as I can (Christmas permitting!)

I've finally got round to finishing this book, and I'm sorry for holding the ring up for so long. I'd got quite a few rings ahead of it and then Christmas and New Year got in the way.
But once I'd started it, I read it pretty quickly, as I wanted to know what happened next.
The story was very well constructed, the settings were beautifully drawn and the whole thing was very atmospheric. I wanted to know what happened to Faith, and also to see how the revelations about her would affect Phoebe.
My only criticism was that I didn't like a single character in the book. Faith was selfish and self-obsessed, with no idea of the consequences her actions would have, Phoebe was incredibly naive and almost dim in parts, Wolf - well, I couldn't see the attraction and the other characters - the mother, the brother, the dead father etc, were just background.
Apart from that,I did enjoy the book and I'm glad I read it.
Thanks, lellie, for starting this ring, and to everyone else for passing it on.
It's now on its way to lauraloo29 in Canada.

Arrived safe and sound today. Just when I think I'm getting my rings under control, another one arrives. :) Not to worry. I'll keep them moving.

I'm struggling with this book. And I hate keeping rings here too long. I'm going to send this book on its way to the next person. Thank you for sharing!

Received in the mail today, thanks lauraloo29 for mailing this to me and lellie for including me in this ring/ray. I have a number of other rings/rays ahead of this one and I'll get it on its way as soon as I can.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sorry I kept this one a little longer, I had a number of other rings/rays (with other folks in line behind me) so I put this one aside for a bit. I just finished this one, a couple parts of the story dragged for me, but overall I was captivated by it.

I'm sending this off to valpete as a RABCK, as it is on her wishlist.

Wow! Thanks so much for your generosity. Unfortunately, I'm bogged down with Rings/Rays at the moment, so it will have to join my others on my TBR shelf. Hope to get to it soon!

I'm moving this one along to someone who has it on his Wishlist.

Enjoy!

Received in the mail today as a surprise RABCK! Thank you!

1995 Picador trade paperback of the debut novel, by a short story author who grew up here across the Bay. This was on my list of best recent debuts to read.

Edit June 30, 2022: This was good, but I just skimmed to end for time. I currently have this ranked at #2013 on my ranked list of best-read books lately.

... in the box.

And please visit the next meetup of TriValley BookCrossing group, at Panera Bread in Dublin, the second Tuesday of each month.

And if you are now hoping to catch or release another book, but don't know where, check out my home page for a full list of all the local Little Free Libraries and other great release zones, where books can be safely left and found!

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