The Writing on the Wall

by Lynne Sharon Schwartz

Book Overview

For the first time, one of New York City's major resident authors spins a breathtakingly immediate, intimate family novel set around the September 11th attacks. Thirty-four and decidedly independent, Renata has been known to keep her involvement with people - men in particular - to a minimum. Even her job at the library keeps her at a remove from the uncertainty of trusting other people with the stories of her past. Instead, she loses herself in language,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582433003
• ISBN13: 9781582433004
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Catapult
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Must read

Must read for any serious reader. Very, or extremely difficult to get into, but once within impossible to put down.

Jack's tower of love

Another powerful book by Lynne Sharon Schwartz. Reading this book helped me move the events of 9/11 away from the still unthinkable horror to the effect that day had on the lives of real people as they first made their way through the ash and dust on the street and through the days beyond that. I loved the strength of Jack's love for Renata. I liked that he fell for her before he learned her many layered aches from the past and stayed with her ready to move through and beyond to their days beyond that. I liked how the characters were able to rise to the occasion when they needed do, including Renata's mother who loved her enough to reject her offered fantasy and demand that her daughter live her life and overcome her losses in the days beyond that.

Absorbing reading

A thoroughly enjoyable novel, with many challenging themes which twist in and out of the story line. The author obviously has done a lot of research: or observed 9/11 from not too far away. The theme of twins, the theme of incest, the theme of the attacks on the buildings are interwoven with great skill. The main character has a healthy disregard for the pious mouthings of the (un-named) US President and this alone gets full marks from me. But there is much to admire here - I have mentioned only a few aspects of the narrative. I will certainly be seeking out her other works.

A novel about redemption

This marvelous novel combines deep insights into human suffering and redemption with painfully sharp awareness of the importance of speaking the truth and the impossibility of hearing the truth from our political leaders. The story begins with the events of 9/11 but actually gets more powerful as it veers away from current events and into the protagonist's struggle with her private demons.

COMPELLING FICTION

Even though 9/11 and the days that followed it frame "The Writing on the Wall," it isn't exactly a novel about 9/11. It's a book about loss, love, and the need to stay connected to other human beings. The novel brings the events of September 11 to pulse-quickening life, then weaves them firmly into a poignant, compellingly plotted story. Remarkably, the characters are sharpened and deepened rather than dwarfed by the cataclysm that is their backdrop. Renata, the accomplished linguist whose story is the heart of the novel, is so fully imagined she almost walks off the page. Schwartz's assured voice, her humor, and her supersonic ear for language have never been better.