Quickening

By Laura Catherine Brown

Book Overview

"Get ready to meet a quirky and poignant heroine who will grab you from the first page and won't let you go. Love, grief, loss, confusion, the search for identity-it's all here, and it all feels fresh... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 034543773X
• ISBN13: 9780345437730
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Best book I've read in a long time!

I usually don't write reviews, but I found this book to be so enthralling that I just had to say a little about it. I was hooked after the first few pages, and that's saying a lot because it usually takes me a couple of chapters to get into a book. The author does a wonderful job of making the reader just as confused about the people in Mandy's (the main character's) life as Mandy herself is. The reader doesn't know whether the mother is a haterful hypochondriac or an unfortunate soul, whether the father is a jolly good guy or a drunken bum, and whether the boyfriend is an abandoned little boy or a possessive jerk. The reader sees the quirky Mandy making poor choices, but somehow sympathizes and understands them at the same time.I would say this is probably the best modern-fiction novel I've read in a couple of years. I don't agree at all with the Kirkus review that calls it slow-moving. I give this book my highest praise, and I will be looking for more from this author.

a poignant read

This is a beautifully rendered story of one young woman's journey to discover her true self. Ms. Brown has a wonderful grasp of metaphorical language which she puts to fine use in this book. Mandy Boyle, her heroine is tender, vulnerable and painfully self-aware. Bent on escaping her mother's claustrophobic universe, Mandy goes happily off to college but is suddenly stopped in her tracks when she receives the news that her father has unexpectedly died. Without her father as a ballast, Mandy loses her tentative hold on the world, and is forced -- in spite of her best efforts otherwise -- to finally face and confront her own demons. Ms. Brown explores this difficult emotional terrain with honesty and a sure hand. Her evocative language, well-paced scenes and true to life characters lend poignancy and reality to Mandy's dilemmas. You will root for this character from beginning to end. This is a fine debut.

Quickening rocks!

There's so much to this book. The story evolves in a world of wryly portrayed characters who are hilarious and scary by turns. Mandy's myriad difficulties with her family, friends and her own identity will keep you glued to the pages and you will cheer when she asserts her own self worth at the conclusion. A notable debut indeed.

Couldn't put it down

I found this book about a smart but damaged young woman very absorbing. I loved reading about her evolution from child to woman, from daughter to person. The coloration of the other characters in the book was marvelous: quirky, varied, amusing, sad. The story reminded me of the journey taken by the heroine in "She's Come Undone," by Wally Lamb, from child of a troubled family to triumphant survivor. I started this book and just kept on reading until the moving ending.

earnest search for meaning

This book mixes gritty realism with wish-fulfillment in the story of a young woman trying to shed her own skin. Throughout you're hoping poor Mandy will find a way to free herself of who she is and figure out who she can become. "Quickening" is an absorbing, heartfelt book that I already want to read again.