Faraday's Popcorn Factory

By Sandra Lee Gould

Book Overview

Filled with exuberant characters, a lush lyricism, and myth and magical realism, the most remarkable love story since Like Water for Chocolate announces a new talent and that rarest of all things: a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312185782
• ISBN13: 9780312185787
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Length: 273 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

A different type of love story

Faraday's Popcorn Factory is a great book. It talks about a woman named Willow who lives in a town called Good Sky.And how her heart was broken so many times that eventually she gave up on love. But just when that happens a strange man named Clement moves in to town and shows her how to live again. But he has secrets of his own that he tries to hide and responsibilities that he runs away from.To me this book was really good,it put love,myth,mystery,and magic in one book. This book tells a love story in a different way. I'm sure lots of people will find it refreshing, as well as touching.

Incredible tale, but not for the faint of taste

Before I start, read the other reviews prior to this one. They cover enough elements of the story itself. What I want to review is the MOOD and REWARDS of the book; how it rates with other books that are marketed to the same people (Black women).I'll be this honest: I had, like a lot of people I know who love to read (not just love the idea THAT they are particpating in the act of reading, but find that they have a true passion for words and seek out original, fresh ideas), recently gotten sick of most of the books by Black authors out here. Every book was a romance, and most of them thinly veiled attempts to pass off autobiography-diary as epistolary fiction. On top of that, if I had to read another so-so written book by someone in first person narrative ("I woke up this morning next to a man I met the night before", "I went to the club", "I..."), I was going to cut up my library card. I am so sickened by the better part of these works that I almost hate walking down the Black aisle in a bookstore...so much incestuous ripping-off and just plain bad stuff.So when I saw "Faraday's", I was wary. I picked it up and read the jacket and checked out the author's pic. I flipped to the middle of the book to see what perspective the story was being told in ("aghh! First person! And MULTIPLE, at that!"). I sighed, I hemmed and hawed.Then I read the first 10 pages.They started off in short, sweet journal-like entries, which were easily dissovable and got me interested. I'd become accustomed to letting the same ol' normal words in the same ol' normal situations wash over me and getting the story through a feeling of the book, but I couldn't get through these passages that way. I had to stop and go "equinoxes" and "sparkling solitude"; literaly say the words aloud a bit to taste them.I like a book that challenges me, that makes me think and feel at the same time; that makes me want to add words to my everyday speech. "Faraday's" does that to stunning effect. I admit, this is not a book for the average book club group accustomed to "Cheaters" or "How Stella..."; this is high reading for solitary, moody evenings, and you almost have to prepare yourself before sitting down with it.Thank God a book can still make me want to do that.

love,love,love

I love this story so much I have read it twice. Every sentence is poetry. It taught me that love is blind , unselfish, strong,and can make life so beautiful. This is not the typical romance, but it's about the strongest connection between two people.Clement,a spiritual force, who has a physical effect on the world,took one look at Willow ( the main character) and had to meet her."I came to love you," he says to her at the end of the book. My heart melted. Every kiss, every touch was detailed with emotion out of the ordinary.This book was actually really full with emotion and passion. It is wonderfully crafted in the characters' point of view. If you want to taste magical,heart- lifting, soul-inspiring love, read the this book

Mystery and the healing power of love create rich novel

In a series of journal entries we are introduced to Willow who just happens to stop off in the town of Good Sky and stays. She works in the popcorn factory and makes friends...for one, Clement, the man with eyes bright as stars who lives across the street. He burns candles throughout his house, brings her presents of home-baked bread, and gives her some good advice. Clement's mother, we hear, busies herself stirring up tornadoes across the country. And who is the mysterious Oull? Also, there is Frau Edda, who tells her stories about the Valkyries and Lohengrin and later presents her with a book of the stories, the characters all hand-colored in varying shades of brown to make them Willow's stories too. Just as we are sure it is to be Willow and Clement, back into her life comes an old boyfriend. All the elements are in place for a good read. Most of all readers must trust Gould. She will give you a creation story, a hero's journey and transformation, and a heroine's growing understanding of life and love. Thoroughly satisfying.

The expression "the sparks fly" takes on new meaning.

FPF is a "what if" romance - what if a young black woman, jilted by her class-conscious boyfriend ten years ago, met and fell in love with a "man" who was really more than he seemed? The possibilities are explored in this novel, as are other ramifications of love - the early awkwardness of initial attraction, reawakened passion, and the ex-lover (who realizes his mistake and returns to reclaim his love - a little late). The love between a woman and a celstial being is an intriguing premise, and the author's lyrical writing style makes FPF an enjoyable read.