Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Leaving Lucy Pear (edition 2016)by Anna Solomon (Author)
Work InformationLeaving Lucy Pear by Anna Solomon
Books Read in 2017 (3,000) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In 1917, Bea leaves her newborn baby under a pear tree where she knows a family will find the baby. She assumes they will take her in and raise her, and they do. Ten years later, Lucy’s “adopted” mother Emma starts working for Bea, as a nurse to Bea’s uncle. This was pretty slow. And vague at times as to what exactly was going on. I don’t think I particularly liked any of the characters – oh, I suppose I kind of liked Uncle Ira. I really didn’t care much about the characters, either, maybe because I didn’t like them very much? Initially, I thought I was enjoying the book, but I’m leaning more toward it being ok. The story takes place in 1920's Prohibition-era Massachusetts. It follows the story of a wealthy Jewish mother, Bea, who leaves her newborn in a pear orchard for an Irish family to find and raise. As the child Lucy Pear grows up, it is apparent to all that she wasn't born into her new family. The plot traces the lives of both mother and daughter, and how they come to meet again. Great Book Club title, so much to talk about. This novel, set in 1920s New England, opens with a scene in which a teenage girl named Beatrice leaves her baby in a pear orchard. The novel traces the fates of the characters touched by this decision, from Beatrice and her parents to the baby and the family that adopts her. Through the stories of all these characters, Solomon explores themes of assimilation, Jewish identity, class, family, and, perhaps most centrally, motherhood. no reviews | add a review
Fiction.
Literature.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:“From the first page, I was under Anna Solomon’s spell.” —Sue Monk Kidd From the author of The Book of V., a novel chosen as a must-read book by TIME Magazine, InStyle, Good Housekeeping, The Millions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and BookPage Set in 1920s New England, the story of two women who are both mothers to the same unforgettable girl—a big, heartrending novel from award-winning writer Anna Solomon One night in 1917 Beatrice Haven sneaks out of her uncle's house on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, leaves her newborn baby at the foot of a pear tree, and watches as another woman claims the infant as her own. The unwed daughter of wealthy Jewish industrialists and a gifted pianist bound for Radcliffe, Bea plans to leave her shameful secret behind and make a fresh start. Ten years later, Prohibition is in full swing, post-WWI America is in the grips of rampant xenophobia, and Bea's hopes for her future remain unfulfilled. She returns to her uncle’s house, seeking a refuge from her unhappiness. But she discovers far more when the rum-running manager of the local quarry inadvertently reunites her with Emma Murphy, the headstrong Irish Catholic woman who has been raising Bea's abandoned child—now a bright, bold, cross-dressing girl named Lucy Pear, with secrets of her own. In mesmerizing prose, award-winning author Anna Solomon weaves together an unforgettable group of characters as their lives collide on the New England coast. Set against one of America's most turbulent decades, Leaving Lucy Pear delves into questions of class, freedom, and the meaning of family, establishing Anna Solomon as one of our most captivating storytellers. “Anna Solomon writes with a poet’s reverence for language and a novelist's ability to keep us turning the page. A gorgeous and engrossing meditation on motherhood, womanhood, and the sacrifices we make for love.” —J. Courtney Sullivan. No library descriptions found.
|
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
Thank you to Penguin Random House forthe free advance reading copy. ( )