Pictures of You Paperback – January 25, 2011

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From Bookmarks Magazine ( /gp/feature.html/?docId=1000242451 ) -------------------------------------------------------------- The Boston Globe describes Pictures of You “as part literary mystery, part domestic drama, and part psychological examination,” and, indeed, the novel kept most critics on their toes the entire time. A novel of loss, redemption, forgiveness, and self-discovery, the intertwining stories grapple not only with the tragedy but also with the mystery of April’s hasty departure from her family. Reviewers commented that what could have been a maudlin, predictable storyline instead becomes fresh with Leavitt’s direct, unsentimental writing; her you-are-here details; and her fully convincing characters. Readers who enjoy both fine storytelling and writing will be sure to savor this novel. Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) From Booklist ( /gp/feature.html/?docId=1000027801 ) ---------------------------------------------------- In Leavitt’s (Girls in Trouble, 2005) compelling new novel, a car c provides the catalyst for an examination of how well we know the people we love. April and Isabelle, both fleeing their marriages, collide on a foggy, deserted stretch of road. Only Isabelle survives, and though blameless, she is haunted by guilt. In search of healing, she finds herself drawn to Charlie and Sam, April’s grief-stricken husband and son. Complicated relationships develop, and Leavitt thoughtfully handles friendship and romance in scenes of emotional resonance. She understands the ache of loss, the elusiveness of forgiveness, and the triteness of words like “closure.” An expert storyteller, Leavitt alternates perspective among her three leading characters, providing in into the thoughts, secrets, and dreams that they withhold from each other. Whether these individuals will arrive at happiness separately or together is the question that drives the narrative, and the reader, forward as Leavitt teases suspense out of the greatest mystery of all—the workings of the human heart. --Patty Wetli Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) Review ------ "Caroline Leavitt is a splendid writer at the peak of her powers." --Robert Olen Butler (added by author) "I have long admired Caroline Leavitt's probing in into people, her wit and compassion, her ability to find humor in dark situations, and conversely, her tenderness towards characters." --Dan Chaon (added by author) "Caroline Leavitt’s compelling new Pictures of You unfolds as part literary mystery, part domestic drama, and part psychological examination. Leavitt beautifully paces the book’s intertwining stories, meticulously unfurling bits of the back story, letting us put together the pieces just as the main characters do. Provocative and riveting.”--Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe "PICTURES OF YOU is a complicated and complex near mystery of a novel ... I found it impossible to put the book down until I finished it. Leavitt is a writer who can be trusted absolutely, and she's created a wonderful book that's as complicated, crushing, and joyous as life itself."--Robb Forman Dew, National Book Award winner "PICTURES OF YOU is the story of two women, both running away, whose es intertwine forever. Leavitt writes straight into the heart of each scene to find its rich, emotional nuances and undercurrents."--Kate Christensen "Complex, contradictory characters. Leavitt's literary touch is so light, her hand so translucent on the page, that only when the mystery is finally solved does the reader realize how taut she's kept the tension all along. Hauntingly compelling."--San Francisco Chronicle, Editor's Choice, Lit Pick * * * Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} "Caroline Leavitt plumbs the depths of grief and forgiveness in the lovely Pictures Of You."Hot Type --Vanity Fair "Suspenseful...gripping. Leavitt is superb. Most impressive is how Leavitt deals head-on with well-meaning people who come to realize, too late, that even an imperfect life is irreplaceable."Jane Ciabattari --O, the Oprah Magazine "A white knuckle ride of love and longing. The author exhibits the talent for nuance in human relationships so mercifully devoid of romanticism they are reminiscent of early-career Alice Munro. A brooding, beautiful novel that sparkles with all the haphazard brilliance of broken glass upon the concrete." Andrea Hoag, Minnesota Star Tribune Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) From the Author --------------- Pictures of You began from a phobia. My dirty little secret is I don't drive. Oh, I have my license (all I had to do to get it was to drive around the block), but I'm anxious around cars. The novel began with an image of a c, and I found myself giving my phobia to Isabelle, one of the characters. Of course, it being fiction, I made things much worse for her! While she was working through her phobia, yet another piece of my past intruded: my childhood asthma, something I wanted to revisit as much as I wanted to have root canal without novocaine. But the character of asthmatic little Sam persisted, and by giving him compassion, I healed my own shame about my past--and I actually felt better for the four years it took me to write the book! A San Francisco Editor's Choice Lit Pick, Pictures of You is now out in the world. I hope you'll read it. Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) About the Author ---------------- Caroline Leavitt is the award-winning author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Pictures of You and Is This Tomorrow. Her essays and stories have been included in New York magazine, Psychology Today, More, Parenting, Redbook, and Salon. She’s a book critic for People, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she teaches writing online at Stanford and UCLA. Read more ( javascript:void(0) )