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Title: Willem's Field: A Novel by Melinda Haynes ISBN: 0-7432-3849-4 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 05 May, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: I'd like to sit and have coffee with these people!
Comment: I found this book a joy to read. Original characters that pop off the page and sit down and have coffee.
Now retired and in his twilight years, Willem Fremont hasn't been back to his home town of Purvis, Mississippi since he left at age nineteen. Certain he will find answers there, he journeys back in search of the source of his panic attacks. What unfolds is a finally crafted quilt of the interrelated lives of family and friends in all their heartwarming, hilarious glory that is as true in the South as it is in the Midwest and New York City. Set in the 70s, it brings together many of the social and political problems, gets under them and puts a human face on them. I don't want to spoil any of the fun of turning these pages, but I will promise there will be at least one moment you'll chuckle and say, "This writer's been to my house!" I've not read Melinda Haynes first two books, Mother of Pearl and Chalktown, but I will. A strong character driven story, this would make a good independant film.
Rating: 5
Summary: Haynes writes with a formidable passion and humour.
Comment: I became familiar with Melinda Haynes's work a few years ago when I picked up the challenging Mother of Pearl. I can't say that I enjoyed Mother of Pearl, so it was with some trepidation and a certain amount curiosity that I picked up a copy of Willem's Field. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this novel, and I'm shocked that's it's not getting more notoriety. This is wonderfully eloquent piece of work - just gorgeous. Haynes has a beautiful, rolling lyrical style that just melts over the page - you can tell that she's just passionate about the South. There is so much attention to detail here, and just so much to take in that a second reading would certainly do this book justice.
Willem's Field is far more character driven than plot driven, but this doesn't detract from the story at all. Haynes beautifully weaves both plot and character to satisfying effect. She has an ear for natural dialogue and is also able to portray intimate details of small town life, along with the environment - fields sounding the town of Purvis, Mississippi - and the major characters' intimate domestic habits. The dialogue will have you laughing and crying - moving from the absurdly acerbic and funny to the sad and heart rendering; this is a real achievement for Melinda Haynes.
The characters are startling in their three dimensionality: the aging Eilene, lonely and bitter over her "lot" in life and resentful of her fat lazy son, Sonny; Eilene's eldest son, Bruno, suffering a spinal injury from the Vietnam war, caught in an unhappy and discontented marriage to his wife Leah; and Leah herself, feeling deserted and alone, left to care for the farm and ponder with bitterness the dysfunctional relationship she's had with her eccentric parents. And then there's Willem, old, tired and suffering terminal panic attacks, and returning to Purvis from Colorado, to reconnect with his old life and search for home and happiness. There are many wonderfully eccentric and "real" characters and all of them, both major and minor, are searching for acceptance while trying to get by in a world that seems harsh and distant. The depiction of these characters is so authentic that you can imagine knowing these people or having them live next door to you, and it was such a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with them.
Willem's Field is also a great depiction of the 1970's, deftly recreating an era of Nixon, rock music, bell-bottoms, and the innocence of a country rocked by the effects of the Vietnam War. This is definably one the best books of the year, and Melinda Haynes's finest and most nuanced book to date. Five stars.
Michael
Rating: 5
Summary: Melinda Haynes has done it again
Comment: When I find an author that I love to read, I wait for them to bring us another book. I was certainly not disappointed by Ms. Haynes third book. As I read her work I am in awe, how does she come up with these storylines? Between the brothers, the mother and Willem, we are given a cast of true characters. this is a must read.
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Title: Waiting for April: A Novel by Scott M. Morris ISBN: 1565123700 Publisher: Algonquin Books Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Lunch at the Piccadilly: A Novel by Clyde Edgerton ISBN: 1565121953 Publisher: Algonquin Books Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Family History by Dani Shapiro ISBN: 0375415475 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: The Dogs of Babel (Today Show Book Club #12) by Carolyn Parkhurst ISBN: 0316168688 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 13 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman ISBN: 0385507607 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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