Bitterroot Landing - Hardcover

Reynolds, Sheri

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039913994X ISBN 13: 9780399139949

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 1994

Synopsis

Jael is a ward of the court sleeping in the church basement until River Bill takes her in--and she survives because of the kindness of strangers, a goodhearted priest, a loving man, and, above all, the voices of women, real and imagined. A first novel.

About this title

About the Author:

Sheri Reynolds teaches part-time at Virginia Commonwealth University.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Rape, murder, abuse, incest, self-mutilation, and temporary insanity combine to form an uninspiring first novel. Growing up in an unspecified region of rural America, Jael hates her Mammie, who allows the men who buy her moonshine to force themselves on the girl with only the warning ``Don't take no more than you pay for.'' Jael eventually knocks Mammie over the head with a mallet, and the murder is blamed on a disgruntled customer. She is adopted by the deacon, River Bill, and lives contentedly in his house in the middle of the river until the day she predictably becomes ``his wife instead of his daughter...it confused me like nothing before.'' She takes off with a handsome young man who stops at their shop while River Bill isn't around, only to find when she awakens that he's disappeared with all her belongings--a development that surprises her far more than it will the reader. Jael spears frogs for dinner, makes a home under a giant oak, and begins a strange ritual: cutting herself on the stomach, hips, and insides of her thighs. The tone here is so matter-of-fact, and Jael's voice is so colorless, that even this extreme experience seems dull, lifeless, and predictable. After her rescue, Jael fakes amnesia so she won't have to go back to her former life and begin the difficult process of resocializing; instead, she finds support and strength in imaginary companions like the woman she models out of wax and the Virgin Mary. Reynolds's lackluster prose never leaves any doubt that Jael will overcome this passing madness, leaving little reason to watch her working as a janitor in a church, falling in love with a young artist, and joining a sexual- abuse survivors' group. The subject of abuse and recovery deserves more skilled treatment than it gets here. (Literary Guild alternate selection) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 039913994X
• ISBN 13: 9780399139949
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 239