"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
But in June 1990, whatever idyll the Goodhearts have worked for comes to a permanent end. On a beautiful morning--marred by her 5-year-old's tantrum but still recuperable--Alice looks forward to taking her children and Theresa's youngest for a swim. Distracted for several minutes, she has no idea that the 2-year-old is no longer in the house:
Lizzy had run to the pond and splashed in. It had felt good on her hot feet and she kept running and then she was pedaling and pedaling. She tried to grab hold of the water, pawing for the metal bar, a ladder rung, her mother, but there was nothing. She clutched and flailed.... She sank. The trout that Howard had stocked in the pond swam along through the dark water. They noticed Lizzy out of the corner of their eyes. They had inherited the knowledge of that look, and they knew it by heart.This is only the first of Alice's body blows. Next, she's questioned about one of her students, a memorably bad seed. On the verge of collapse, she cries out, "I hurt everybody!"--which will later be construed as a confession. Charged with sexual abuse and unable to come up with $100,000 in bail, she is forced to await trial in jail.
Narrated first by Alice, then Howard, and then Alice again, A Map of the World moves from intimate domesticity to courtroom drama with grace and subtlety. Hamilton wrote her book when accusations of abuse in schools and day care were peaking, yet this is not a modish work or an "issue novel" but a lasting creation of several complex lives. At one point, fed up with civil mechanisms, Alice tells her lawyer: "'Let Oprah be the judge.... Let Robbie and me, Mrs. Mackessy, Howard, Theresa, Dan, Mrs. Glevitch--let all of us come before Oprah. Let the studio audience decide. They're nice suburban woman, many of them, dressed for a lark. They have common sense and speak their minds.'" Apparently La Winfrey was listening, since she chose this beautifully observed novel for her book club. --Kerry Fried
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Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. Seller Inventory # wbs4947017637
Book Description Condition: Used: Acceptable. Occasion - Etat Correct - Jauni - A map of the world (1995) - Grand Format. Seller Inventory # 3203841
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Although they own a farm in Prairie Center, Alice and Howard Goodwin are st ill treated as outsiders by the townspeople. A tragic accident occurs on th e farm, which sets in motion a devastating string of events, which will cha nge their lives for ever and turn their paradise into a living nightmare. Seller Inventory # RWARE0000011840
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Good. Reprint. Softcover, reprint, 274gms, 414 pages. Book is in good condition with minor general wear and tear and moderate page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings. Seller Inventory # GENFIC525