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Loading... When Madeline Was Youngby Jane Hamilton
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I picked this book at the library because the story wasn't like any I'd read before, and the plot was very intriguing. Aaron Maciver makes a decision that will dramatically change the rest of his life when his new wife, Madeline, is injured in a bike accident and suffers severe brain damage. Aaron decides to care for Madeline, who now has the mind of a young child. He ultimately remarries to Julia, and they have a son, Mac, who as an adult with children of his own tells the story of his parents' love for Madeline and how he was raised as her brother. Hamilton shows the sacrifices made by the entire family to care for Madeline and how the family treats her with love and kindness. It must've been hard for Julia to have Madeline sleep in bed with her and Aaron or to witness memories of her marriage to Aaron cause Madeline to act out. The family could've sent Madeline to an institution, but they instead accept and embrace the burden and the trials of caring for a grown woman who will forever be a child. Used to watching the daily news and hearing stories of abuse and neglect, When Madeline Was Young shows that it is possible to do the right, noble thing--even when it's hard--and still be content. (  ) annaeccentric | Jul 15, 2009 |  I wanted to like this book, but something about it didn't work for me. The story wasn't really about Madeline. (  ) KPW | Aug 14, 2008 | An unusual ménage poses moral questions in this fifth novel (after Disobedience) from Hamilton, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for The Book of Ruth. Aaron and Julia Maciver are living in a 1950s Chicago suburb with their two children—and with Aaron's first wife, Madeline. Aaron has insisted on caring for Madeline after she suffered a brain injury soon after their wedding, leaving her with the mental capacity of a seven-year-old. Refusing to consider this arrangement inconvenient, Julia treats the often-demanding Madeline like a beloved daughter, even letting her snuggle in bed with Aaron and herself when Madeline becomes distraught at night. Decades later, the Macivers' son, Mac, now a middle-aged family practitioner with a wife and teenage daughters, prepares to attend the funeral of his estranged cousin's son, killed in Iraq, and muses about the meaning, and the emotional costs, of the liberal values of his parents. Hamilton brings characteristic empathy to the complex issues at the core of this patiently built novel, but the narrative doesn't take any clear direction. Though Mac suggests there are "gothic possibilities" in his parents' story (partly inspired, Hamilton says, by Elizabeth Spencer's The Light in the Piazza), the Macivers' passions remain tepid and unresolved, and Julia remains an enigma to her son. (Sept. 19) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Publishers Weekly)  CollegeReading | Jun 23, 2008 | Jane Hamilton, award-winning author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World brings us a rich and loving novel about a non-traditional family in the aftermath of a terrible accident. When Aaron Maciver’s beautiful young wife, Madeline, suffers a head injury in a bicycle crash, she is left with the mental capabilities of a six-year-old. In the years that follow, Aaron and his second wife care for Madeline with deep tenderness and devotion as they raise two children of their own. Inspired in part by Elizabeth Spencer’s Light in the Piazza, Hamilton offers an honest and exquisite portrait of how a family tragedy forever shapes the boundaries of love. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (  ) bibliophileofalls | Jun 11, 2008 | A very interesting rather convoluted family story. After Maciver's beautiful young wife is injured in a bicycle accident, Maciver marries her nurse, and they keep Madeline in their family, treating her as one of their children. The story is told from the point of view of their son Mac, who relates his experiences with his extended family, and the oddity and embarrassment of having a brain-injured "sister" who is the same age as his father. I was surprised at the emphasis on Mac's story--thought it would focus more on the stresses of "parenting" one's husband's first wife. Rather we go through life with Mac, from childhood until he has grown children of his own, and his relationships with his family members, both immediate and extended. ( ) annatapl | Jun 1, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Jane Hamilton, award-winning author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World, is back in top form with a richly textured novel about a tragic accident and its effects on two generations of a family.
When Aaron Maciver’s beautiful young wife, Madeline, suffers brain damage in a bike accident, she is left with the intellectual powers of a six-year-old. In the years that follow, Aaron and his second wife care for Madeline with deep tenderness and devotion as they raise two children of their own.
Narrated by Aaron's son, Mac, When Madeline Was Young chronicles the Maciver family through the decades, from Mac’s childhood growing up with Madeline and his cousin Buddy in Wisconsin through the Vietnam War, through Mac’s years as a husband with children of his own, and through Buddy’s involvement with the subsequent Gulf Wars. Jane Hamilton, with her usual humor and keen observations of human relationships, deftly explores the Maciver's unusual situation and examines notions of childhood (through Mac and Buddy’s actual youth as well as Madeline’s infantilization) and a rivalry between Buddy’s and Mac’s families that spans decades and various wars. She captures the pleasures and frustrations of marriage and family, and she exposes the role that past relationships, rivalries, and regrets inevitably play in the lives of adults.
Inspired in part by Elizabeth Spencer’s Light in the Piazza, Hamilton offers an honest and exquisite portrait of how a family tragedy forever shapes and alters the boundaries of love.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:24 -0400)
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