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Loading... Crane spreads wings : a bigamist's story (edition 1998)by Susan Trott
Work InformationCrane Spread Wings by Susan Trott
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I received this book when I worked at B&N as an Advanced Readers Copy. I liked it, maybe loved it. I was very smitten by the Tai Chi angle. So much so, I didn't really remember the bigamist plot. But on the second reading I find this book even more charming. The main character is confused, imperfect and undecisive. But she grows with the plot in a very satisfactory way. No grand metamorphosis or epiphany, just subtle changes that are often missed by others. no reviews | add a review
Effie Crackalbee (a.k.a. Jane Croy), the loving, daring, and generous protagonist of Crane Spreads Wings, is a self-proclaimed T'ai Chi warrior who practices the ancient movements that center her spirit even as she sets out to re-create her life. When we meet her, she is Jane Croy, and she has just decided to run away from Alan, her husband of one month, because, as she says, he has misrepresented himself. He's full of hot air--always spouting off--and Jane hates spouters. Nevertheless, within hours, she too, is misrepresenting herself. When she runs into Gled Saltonstall, the bearish, slightly pudgy single father of an adorable little boy, she becomes Effie Crackalbee--indeed her given name--and immediately signs on as the boy's nanny for the summer, neglecting to mention that she isn't as single and unencumbered as she appears. When it turns out that Alan and Gled live in the same summer community on the Massachusetts coast, Jane's little lie of omission begins to take on enormous dimensions. One fib inexorably leads to another, until there is virtually no one in this moving and vastly entertaining novel who doesn't at some point bend the truth, whether out of kindness, self-preservation, fear, or love--because at its heart this is a book about love; and about families, from the most conventional to the most bizarre. By the end of her sometimes dizzying journey of discovery, Effie will have found her balance, creating a new life not only for herself but also for all those she loves--and who love her. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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---Previous review: Okay, FINE. I am officially reading too many darned books at the same darned time.
But here's the thing. I started this one and really thought I was going to just put it right back down again. It's just that every time I think the main character is *way* too annoying and I can't stand this a minute longer, she *admits* that she's annoying and that softens me up. Plus Trott keeps tossing me interesting bits of plot just when I think I know what's going on.
So, is Effie *really* going to go ahead and marry that guy when she knows very well she's already married to that other guy? A summer fling is one thing. But bigamy? After only a month of ever having been married at *all*? I'm impressed. ( )