After the loss of their mother, the Jones children — Larken, Gaelan, and Bonnie — have grown into adulthood under the shadow of unresolved grief and become encased in town myth. Everyone in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, knows the story of Aneira Hope Jones, the woman swallowed up by a tornado, never to return to earth, and of the painful legacy bestowed on her children, always longing for the gift of their mother's bones, for a release from the past and their identities as motherless children. They have, both knowingly and unknowingly, condemned themselves to the task of interpreting and paying homage to the story of their mother's life; thus they have never claimed their own.
Sing Them Home will delight readers with its warmth, humor, and wisdom.
Kallos's second novel is rife with opportunities for the audio narrator, and Tavia Gilbert takes full advantage. There's the persona of MS-ridden Hope, who disappeared in a Nebraska tornado years ago but whose diary entries punctuate the story. Her three children develop into a womanizing TV weatherman, a compulsive art professor, and a young woman who does odd jobs and is dying to have a baby. They become distinct personalities, thanks to Gilbert's expert characterizations. Then there's the small, mostly Welsh, town with a personality of its own. In clear and impeccable diction, Gilbert recounts kiddie beauty pageants, fancy egg festivals, and week-long funerals. Getting into this may take a bit, but Gilbert will hook listeners. And she gets to sing in Welsh! J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly (starred review)...
“[Sing Them Home] will find a welcome audience in anyone who has experienced grief, struggled with family ties or, most importantly, appreciates blossoming talent.”
About the Author
STEPHANIE KALLOS spent twenty years in the theater as an actress and teacher, and as a writer, her short fiction has been nominated for both a Raymond Carver Award and a Pushcart Prize. She is the author of the highly-acclaimed novel, Broken for You, which won the 2005 Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Award and was selected by Sue Monk Kidd for Today’s Book Club, later becoming a national best-seller.
Digital Rights Information
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All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
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