Windfalls

by Jean Hegland

Book Overview

The acclaimed author of Into the Forest mines our fears and explores our capacity to love in this epic tale of modern motherhood. Young and pregnant, Cerise and Anna make very different decisions... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743470079
• ISBN13: 9780743470070
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 339 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Evocative

Into the Forest is one of my all time favorite books, so naturally I was excited to see Hegland had a new novel out. So, what took me so long to read it? The cover. Something about this cover, and the theme of motherhood, made me picture my Aunt Dot's house on Easter. (I wish you knew my Aunt Dot ... ) I can assure you, this is nothing like Aunt Dot's (or Aunt Bunny's or Aunt Kitty's - and yes, I'm serious about my Aunt's names) house on Easter. This book hits on a very profound level. It deals with the honesty of motherhood, of the fears and pains, the hopes and disappointments - enmeshed with deep love. The writing is amazing, and the characters are exceedingly well drawn. Lucy was a perfectly realized child. The way she talks, and her views on life. It would be impossible not to fall in love with her. This book was not quickly written and it shows. The attention to detail and emotional depth could only come with something that was given time to breathe. I look forward to Hegland's next work, even if it isn't out until sometime ... (ready?) Into the Future.

An Incredible Read

This novel written by a local Sonoma County author, Jean Hegland, is an incredible read. It took me into the lives of two women, their children, their troubles and their personal journey. As I read, I came to know these two women, care about them and eagerly await my quiet time with them each evening. Last night, I finished the book and set it down with the sadness of losing a close friend. A piece of work is art to me when it surpasses its medium and provides me with a quality of emotion or a uniqueness of thought I didn't have before. Windfalls was both of these for me. I lived the life and felt the emotions of Anna and Cherise. At one point early in the story, there was a scene so vivid and devastating that I had to avoid the novel for several days to recover my perspective. Of course, I know these things happen, but I'm normally able to keep them at a distance. Not so with Hegland's work. She writes up close and personal and her heart shines through from the words on each page. And even during terrible events, she moves her characters forward through their heroine's journey like she's holding a baby bird and teaching it to fly. In a limited sense, the story is about motherhood. And it is written about women but not necessarily just for women. Her birthing scenes brought me back into the delivery room where I witnessed the births of my last three children. So in the larger sense, the story is about human parenting. The artistry of a novel also lives in the crafting of its words, and it is Hegland's choice of words, her similes, her descriptions that kept me intrigued and stirred my emotions as though I were reading poetry. But it goes further, because the right gathering of words can have a rhythm, a magic balance between the sounds so that they sing and for me, this novel was a song. Finally, both Anna and Cherise are protagonists in the story, and I realized as I put the book down for the last time, that I knew more about Anna because of the kind of person she was. Yet Cherise was the more unusual and more interesting character, and in a subtle way, she was the predominate protagonist because of who she wasn't. Reviewed October 5, 2004

A Story of Mothers

Anna and Cerise - two young women who end up pregnant, two different choices, two different lives. They don't know one another in the beginning of the book but by the end, each knows no one better. Their lives aren't parallel in style or nature, but their stories are told in a parallel style which is done well by Hegland. As we watch their lives change and develop, we become their friends. We share their unhappiness, their fears, their concerns. We understand what is happening and wish we could help them. I found this book to be powerful in its presentation and beautiful in a sharing, compassionate way. Reading it will be a windfall for you as a person.

Amazing, Beautiful

One comes to Windfalls with high expectations after reading Hegland's first novel Into The Forest. No one will be disappointed. Hegland has woven a beautiful tale perfectly patterned with great characters and story lines. The story alternates between Anna when she is in college and finds herself pregnant, and Cherise, at 15 and also pregnant. Each girl chooses a different path and way to deal with their pregnancies. What I liked about it is that it wasn't a novel where the author has decided that because this character chose a certain route then her life is predetermined for her and has to be a certain way. We follow their lives for many, many years and through other pregnancies and life changes. It is absolutely beautifully written, with amazing metaphors and descriptions, something the faithful expect from Jean Hegland. I give it the highest rating of five, simply because there aren't ten.

A Hefty, Thought-Provoking, Densely Plotted Tome

Anna, an unmarried and pregnant college student in Washington State braves a crowd of protesters to get an abortion. She's relieved to resume her schooling and the photography she loves, but she never minimizes the loss of life. Soon she drifts into a general depression, burning her photographs and unable to shoot more. Her life seems as empty as her body.California teenager Cerise punishes herself for her forlorn awkwardness by burning her wrists on a hot iron. Feeling grateful for the attention and yet disconnected from what's happening, she sleeps with a boy she meets. Soon, she's pregnant and being counseled in a LifeRight office. Cerise informs her angry mother that she will keep her baby, and the LifeRight people help her move into her own apartment and apply for welfare. Despite her sudden popularity at school due to her exotic condition, she's soon too tired to care. She drops out of school and doesn't care when her boyfriend finds a new girlfriend.Ten years pass. Cerise is now cleaning a nursing home to support her beloved daughter Melody. Despite her poverty, she takes joy in her little family. Anna is equally content --- married, living in her grandparents' old house, and expecting a child.Life takes a downward turn for both women, however. Anna finds herself pregnant with her second child just as her husband loses his job. They are forced to move to California, away from family and friends. Anna's second daughter has health problems at birth, while her older child has trouble adapting to her new school. Anna has never regained the art that sustained her at one time; she can no longer lose herself in her photography.Cerise struggles with Melody, who has become a hostile teenager. When Cerise consoles herself with a boyfriend, she finds herself pregnant. Travis is born, and his father vanishes. In an attempt to better herself, Cerise starts college. But an unbearable tragedy strikes soon after Melody leaves home forever. Cerise escapes to the forest, meeting a woman who tells her, "Healing is the human task. Your job is to heal." Cerise, homeless and nearly senseless with desperation, walks miles alone in her quest for healing. Her journey eventually leads to meeting Anna, now a college teacher, and the women draw power from the intersection of their lives.Since I read Jean Hegland's first novel, the amazing INTO THE FOREST, I've been eagerly anticipating her second. WINDFALLS, in many ways a totally different work, continues her theme of how difficult yet possible survival is, no matter how far we fall.If you're looking for a lighthearted feel-good escape, try another book. This is a hefty, thought-provoking, densely plotted tome, filled with intense tragedy and subtle uplifting redemption. Some of the devastating events that befall these two women are almost physically painful to read. There were moments when I nearly closed the book for good because of the bleak subject matter. But by then I was in the power of a master storyteller a