Strange Fits of Passion: A Novel
Nov 1999 · HarperCollins
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3 reviews
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354
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About this ebook
"Thrilling and finely written" with an ingenious structure, a powerful portrait of truth, deception, and a troubled marriage from the bestselling author ( The New Yorker).
Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It's the early '70s, and no one discusses or even suspects domestic abuse.
But after Maureen suffers another brutal beating, she flees with her infant daughter to a coastal town in Maine. The weeks pass slowly, and just as Maureen settles into her new life and new identity, Harrold reappears, bringing the story to a violent, unforgettable climax.
Nearly nineteen years later, a cache of documents regarding Maureen English is given to her daughter by a journalist. The truth should lie within them, but the papers raise far more questions than they answer . . .
"Superbly rendered . . . both touching and troubling. The box-within-a-box structure moves Shreve's subtle and searing book beyond the contemporary horror genre. It creates a kind of double novel." — Cosmopolitan
"The novel has a thought-provoking twist at the end, and Shreve leaves us with [a] haunting [question]: 'Who could ever know where a story had begun?'" — The Washington Post Book World
"Her elegiac, portentous prose provides effective pacing . . . insightful and moving." — Publishers Weekly
"A superbly crafted, intelligently written exploration of the complicities of an abusive relationship . . . Highly recommended." — Booklist (starred review)
Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage. It's the early '70s, and no one discusses or even suspects domestic abuse.
But after Maureen suffers another brutal beating, she flees with her infant daughter to a coastal town in Maine. The weeks pass slowly, and just as Maureen settles into her new life and new identity, Harrold reappears, bringing the story to a violent, unforgettable climax.
Nearly nineteen years later, a cache of documents regarding Maureen English is given to her daughter by a journalist. The truth should lie within them, but the papers raise far more questions than they answer . . .
"Superbly rendered . . . both touching and troubling. The box-within-a-box structure moves Shreve's subtle and searing book beyond the contemporary horror genre. It creates a kind of double novel." — Cosmopolitan
"The novel has a thought-provoking twist at the end, and Shreve leaves us with [a] haunting [question]: 'Who could ever know where a story had begun?'" — The Washington Post Book World
"Her elegiac, portentous prose provides effective pacing . . . insightful and moving." — Publishers Weekly
"A superbly crafted, intelligently written exploration of the complicities of an abusive relationship . . . Highly recommended." — Booklist (starred review)
"Thrilling and finely written" with an ingenious structure, a powerful portrait of truth, deception, and a troubled marriage from the bestselling author ( The New Yorker).
Everyone believes that Maureen and Harrold English, two successful New York City journalists, have a happy, stable marriage....
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Ratings and reviews
3 reviews
melanated woman
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December 12, 2014
Abuse and finding courage to walk away.
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Anita Shreve was a high school teacher and a freelance magazine journalist before writing fiction full time. She was the author of over fifteen novels including The Stars Are Fire as well as the international bestseller The Pilot's Wife, and The Weight of the Water, a finalist for the Orange Prize. Shreve taught writing at Amherst College and lived in Massachusetts.
Anita Shreve was a high school teacher and a freelance magazine journalist before writing fiction full time. She was the author of over fifteen novels including The Stars Are Fire as well as the international bestseller The Pilot's Wife, and The Weight of the Water, a finalist for the Orange Priz...
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