One warm September morning in 1985, not far from the town of Goddard, New Hampshire, Naomi Roth finds the drowned body of a newborn baby girl floating in the Sabbathday River. The community rapidly fingers Heather Pratt, a young single mother notorious for her affair with a married man, as the prime suspect, and after intensive interrogation by the police, Heather confesses to the crime. When Naomi, following Heather's directions, uncovers the body of a second infant-who was born on the same day as the other baby-on Heather's property, she assumes charges against the girl will be dropped. Instead, to Naomi's amazement, Heather is charged with the murder of both infants.
Naomi, herself something of an outcast in conservative Goddard, is moved and angered by Heather's plight, and goes to work with Judith Friedman, a lawyer, to defend her. But when the truth at the heart of this astonishing case finally comes to light, it is Naomi who must confront how little she has truly understood about her town, her friend, and herself.
Jean Hanff Korelitz has written a powerful, hypnotically readable work that reverberates with enormous impact.
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Though the prosecution's case is exceedingly farfetched and the D.A. clumsily duplicitous, local sentiment runs deeply against Heather, whose apathy and refusal to face reality annoy even her few supporters. What's more, the case becomes a political football when news organizations and a radical feminist group converge on the town, eager to turn Heather into a symbol of oppression. Judith mounts an impressively cohesive defense, yet in the end help comes from an unexpected source.
After the protracted courtroom drama, the essential puzzle still remains: Whose is the second baby? Oddly, Jean Hanff Korelitz telegraphs the surprise ending disappointingly early, deflating the denouement somewhat. Yet the characters at the book's core--intelligent, analytical, argumentative--and their personal dramas are intriguing enough to overshadow the small faults of plot, making The Sabbathday River a rewarding, if longish, literary mystery. --Barrie Trinkle
Moved and angered by Heather's plight--and increasingly isolated in conservative Goddard--Naomi engages the help of Judith Friedman, a lawyer and fellow "flatlander," to defend the young woman. But when the truth at the heart of this astonishing case--and the body of a second baby--comes to light, it is Naomi who must confront how little she has understood her town, her friend, and herself.
The Sabbathday River builds to a truly surprising ending that casts everything that came before in a new light. This is a hypnotic, enormously resonant novel by one of the most powerful writers to emerge in recent seasons.
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR004716110
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First printing. Well bound in clean black cloth boards. Text pages and eps are clean and bright. D/J is unclipped with just very light shelf wear. Despatched same or next working day in protective packaging. Seller Inventory # 007247
Book Description Hardback crime novel. Fine in VG dustwrapper (very minor crease on lower edge corner). Seller Inventory # 13230
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Near fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near fine. First UK edition-first printing. Near fine condition.Macmillan,1999.First UK edition-first printing(9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1).Black hardback(gilt lettering to the spine) with Dj(a couple of creases and small nicks on the edges of the Dj cover),both in near fine condition.Nice and clean pages with two small ink marks on the outer edges,pencil mark impression on the edge of the first blank page of the book,two small nicks on the edges of the pages.504pp.Price un-clipped.Heavy book. Seller Inventory # 6596