My Only Story
by Monica Wood
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An unconventional love story frames this graceful, funny, and moving novel by a writer of exceptional talent. Rita, a hair stylist in her 20s attuned to the suffering of others and the ways that she can help, meets John Reed who, she observes, though not yet out of his thirties, "...seemed old, the way all sad people do." As they come to know, trust, and eventually love one another, John tells Rita "his only story," the one story that each of us tells that defines us the most. In a dark, show more terrible moment five years earlier, John's brother Roger killed his own wife and then himself, orphaning their then 3-year-old daughter, Aileen. After Aileen is adopted by her dead mother's close-knit trio of sisters, John is excluded from contact with her in memory of his brother's tragic act. With Rita's help, ties are slowly reestablished with Aileen, and John and Rita's own relationship moves in a direction that seems at once inevitable and completely unexpected. An exploration of love, sacrifice, and the bonds of family which will appeal to readers of Lorrie Moore, Ann Hood, and Rosellyn Brown, Monica Wood's novel speaks to our deepest longing and brightest hopes. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Monica Wood's company is a deep pleasure throughout "My Only Story." This piece has some of the most expert capturing of gritty and exact details I have encountered. The telling of place and family is so grounded and real, we feel very close to these characters. Motivations and consequences are inevitable in this book, but the denouement bounces us out of our smug seats and takes us on a merry ride.
The main character, a mildly psychic hairdresser, truly loves a man, who loves her in return. However, this lovely character doesn't seem to have a choice but to perpetuate a series of shenanigans against this man's family - all completely harmless - that some things are bound to change. There is a perceptive commentary on mutability as show more opposed to continuity in the layers of this book, too. A distinct and memorable pleasure.
http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-only-story-by-monica-wood.html show less
The main character, a mildly psychic hairdresser, truly loves a man, who loves her in return. However, this lovely character doesn't seem to have a choice but to perpetuate a series of shenanigans against this man's family - all completely harmless - that some things are bound to change. There is a perceptive commentary on mutability as show more opposed to continuity in the layers of this book, too. A distinct and memorable pleasure.
http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-only-story-by-monica-wood.html show less
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Author Information
19+ Works 3,853 Members
Monica Wood was born in Maine to a devout Irish Catholic family of paper mill workers. She grew up with the tradition of storytelling . She also read quite alot as a child and soon developed a love for books. Her sister and her were the first generation in her family to attend college so she thinks of her background as a literary one. Her fiction show more titles carry the theme of family throughout. Her older brother and sister are almost a generation older than her and her two sisters. Her parents died young and one of her sisters is mentally disabled, which has kept the family close throughtout the years. She works to create characters who appear real despite their circumstances. She also creates an empathy with the reader so that they care about what happens to these characters. Her titles include: Secret Language, The Pocket Muse, My Only Story, and The One-in-a-Million Boy. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Beauty shop
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- Reviews
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- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, Italian
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