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Loading... Originby Diana Abu-Jaber
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I was disappointed after loving her other work. It took me a long time to finish this one because I just couldn't get into the story. I was hoping for more and was hoping for a more complicated history of her 'origin'. (  ) nouveaustar | Jun 26, 2009 |  Gripping book that really drew me in. I loved how the author intertwined the plot - the book was interesting on many levels and the title Origin speaks to that. The characters are well-built and the overall story and mystery is terrifically written. Great book! (  ) kak57910 | Mar 27, 2009 | This is, without a doubt, the most well written mystery novel I have ever read. The characters are deeply engaging, the plot is fascinating on multiple levels, and the writing was lovely. The title, "Origin", speaks to all levels of the plot. The primary themes are: identity, trust, intuition, courage, and determination. Wonderful read! (  ) hemlokgang | Dec 16, 2008 | The story of a woman who aches to know more about her past. She grows up in a foster family that never formally adopted her and this fact is a huge emotional tension between her and her family. She grows up to work in a crime lab focusing on fingerprint identification. A case of babies written off as SIDs cases turns out to be something else altogether. The main character's search for a baby killer is linked to her need to know about her personal history. The book also weaves in the childish office politics with her co-workers, her love life which includes a new love interest with a detective and a strained relationship with a husband she is separated from, and some goofy neighbors. The book was engaging enough and the mystery itself kept me through to the end to find out "whodunit". Looking back, some of the elements were a little odd and I don't know if they worked. There was some whimsy- like the theme that she may have been raised by apes. It was a bit out there and was made even more out there when you learn the conclusion to that story line. I could not stand the main characters passive personality- she was walked on by her coworkers, her ex-husband and on and on. When she started to stand up for herself it did not seem believable because she was portrayed as such an "out-of-touch" person. It was as if life happened to her and she stood outside herself and watched. I like a little more of a sense of agency in my characters. (  ) kdenissen | Jul 29, 2008 | Fascinating tandem mysteries--one solving the mystery of a fingerprint analyst's infancy and the other solving a series of suspicious crib deaths. The winter Syracuse setting is bleak and evocative. Abu-Jaber's writing is beautiful. One of the best literary mysteries of 2007. ( ) Sengels | Nov 27, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0393064557, Hardcover)Known for her books on Arab-American themes, Crescent, Arabian Jazz, and The Language of Baklava, Abu-Jaber makes a departure here, into a whole new world of mystery, alienation and unanswered questions. Lena Dawson is a fingerprint expert in Syracuse, New York, at the time that SIDS is, unaccountably, on the rise. When cribs start showing up in the evidence lab, everyone is uncomfortable, Lena more than anyone. She doesn't believe in coincidence; she thinks that there is a serial baby-killer loose.Lena doesn't know where she came from. Her foster parents tell her only so much, and her mother keeps insisting that their loving presence should be enough for her. Why didn't they ever adopt her? Lena asks the question over and over again, to no avail. Her earliest memories are of a rain forest, an ape mother, fur and leaves and a canopy of trees...was she really raised by apes until she was found by humans and put in foster care? Abu-Jaber has done a masterful job of keeping the suspense going right to the very end. The story is compulsively readable; once you start, you can't stop until you find out what the real story is. Lena's origin has something to do with the crib deaths, but what is it? How could they possibly be connected? With the help of a detective who is more than a friend and an understanding boss and his wife, Lena pursues the question relentlessly, at her own peril. She could be the next victim. Lena also has an ex-husband who is well-meaning most of the time, but really is a certifiable jerk, colleagues who are gossipy backbiters and a goofy neighbor, just to up the ante in this absolutely original (no pun intended) story of identity. Lena is socially inept, reclusive and possessed of an uncanny sense of smell and an intuitive approach to every question. Her character dominates the book, and as she uncovers more and more about herself, her personality opens up and, by story's end, she is becoming what she was meant to be. A departure for Abu-Jaber; a treat for readers. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:52 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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