Turtle Moon

First line:
~ The last major crime in the town of Verity was in 1958, when one of the Platts shot his brother in an argument over a Chevy Nomad they had bought together on time ~

This is one my all time favourite books and I am very glad I was prompted to read it again. I fell in love with it many years ago when my mother recommended it to me and I just re-read it in August and loved it still.

This book is filled with lyrical prose, beautiful descriptions of people and places and things. There is magic in this world Hoffman has created. I don’t mean witchcraft but some strange things happen and there is something magical about them. Magical realism. And there is romance and humour and murder and mystery all wrapped up in one nice show more magical package.

If you want something to bring you joy and happiness on a soft summer’s evening or a sunshiny fall day, pick this up. You won’t be disappointed.

I need to read some more Alice Hoffman, for sure. show less

A story about Keith, a troubled boy living with his divorced mother in Florida and Julian, a troubled foster child, now a K9 cop in the town. May is a troubled month with the turtles hatching and moving toward the moon, oppressive heat and humidity that matches the mood of everyone in town. And there's an angel in the Gumbo-Limbo tree in the Burger King parking lot. A magical tale that will keep you turning the pages and rooting for the troubled kid and cop.

In a nutshell: a woman runs away from her abusive husband, taking her infant daughter to Florida. It is not a spoiler alert to say she doesn't stay hidden for long and winds up dead. The daughter goes missing. Another woman in the same apartment complex has a surly son who has also gone missing. Police think this is not a coincidence. Now mom needs to find the identity of the murdered woman, find the missing baby, and clear her son's name in the process. The magical realism in this story is an angel sitting up in a tree. This other-worldly figure of bright light doesn't factor into the story all that much. As an aside (albeit a snarky one), another element of magical realism could be the jetlag Lucy claims to experience traveling from show more Florida to New York...which are in the same time zone.
Confessional: I am a stickler for human nature that makes sense. I didn't get Julian Cash at all. I got Lucy Rosen even less. I'll tackle Julian first. As a former foster kid, Julian is riddled by guilt over a car accident he survived, but his cousin did not. Hence the angel in the tree. Julian is now a K9 cop with very little to say. The chip on his shoulder is the size of a boulder. He has so many issues that he is described like an exaggerated caricature. As mentioned before, a young mother has been murdered and her under-two-year-old baby has gone missing. It's up to Julian and his vicious dogs to find the infant. Except, Julian falls for mother of angsty son, Lucy, and decides he needs to drive her car from Florida to New York. And speaking of Lucy. Her son has been fingered for the crime so she figures the only way to clear his name is to find the real killer. She doesn't know the baby-mama's name but what a coincidence! She was married to someone Lucy went to high school with in upstate New York! The story really started to fall apart when Lucy traced her Florida neighbor back to her hometown because I didn't care for Lucy's treatment of her ex-husband, Evan. Evan has moved on and is even dating someone new, yet Lucy doesn't see anything wrong with 1) staying with Evan, 2) borrowing his car (because remember, she left hers in Florida), 3) making Evan take her to their high school reunion (?!) even though he had plans to take the girlfriend), and 4) inviting Julian into Evan's home to take a shower and have breakfast. show less

Turtle Moon is a book about tragedy, and about what a belief in fate...or unbelief in fate, for that matter...can do to a person. But all that said, it is not itself a tragedy. Similarly, there's no doubt that the book is also heart-wrenching at many moments...but in good ways (and, just so you know, this is coming from someone who doesn't like sad books).

Admittedly, it took me longer to get into Turtle Moon that Hoffman's other books have required, perhaps because of the many main characters and subplots. But, in the end, I read the last 175 pages (of 275) in a single sitting. Hoffman's touch in this book is pitch-perfect, and the magic on every other page is tantalizing. This wouldn't be the first book of Hoffman's that I'd recommend show more to a new reader, but for someone who has already fallen a little bit in love with her work, I'd put this book in their hands in a moment. Simply, it is recommended, and it is one I'll reread. show less

The first 3/4 of the book alternated between 2 and 3 stars for me. The last 1/4 really pulled me in and the magical elements were gorgeous. 4 stars for the last bit...maybe 5.

A synopsis feels almost impossible. I'm not even sure who the main character is. There are so many storylines and maybe that's why I didn't enjoy the first part of the book. I had a hard time figuring out why this was even written. It just felt very disjointed. But Hoffman finds a way to bring it all together, beautifully.

Alice Hoffman captures the sweltering heat of the south and elevates it to a fable of passion and compulsion. The fairy tale voice is haunting. For awhile, mid-way through the book, fantasy yields to a fairly pedestrian mystery-thriller. Some of the charm of the book fell away when its characters went north. When they found their way back to the steamy south, fantasy mingled with brutal realism. Sweet and sour, deeply satisfying.

I am not really fond of magic realism, but I really enjoyed this book. What is not to like? It has a little romance, a baby, a murder and the magic realism. This is one of the better books I have read by Alice Hoffman.