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Cargando... A Small Indiscretion (2014)por Jan Ellison
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro.   ) jj24 | May 27, 2024 |  Told from the perspective of Annie Black in a letter to her son, "A Small Indiscretion" spans multiple continents and follows Annie's life over twenty years, leading to the confession of a family secret brought to light by her son's involvement in a near-tragic automobile accident. First, kudos to Jan Ellison for writing with a beautiful, powerful voice. The prose had me awe-struck at moments, had me identifying with Annie Black as a mother looking back on what it was to be her own woman. The observations about daily life, marriage, and motherhood lend sympathy to Annie's plight as she brings the reader along through her sometimes questionable past. Annie is a woman who has loved and who has been loved, not always realizing the impact of her reckless choices where men were concerned. Characters are what made this story for me. The author does an incredible job weaving a complex tapestry of individuals whose paths become tangled. I suspected the ending of the book early on, as I assume most will, but this novel isn't as much about an A to B plot as it is about love and redemption. What is forgivable within the confines of a marriage? How do we perceive love after twenty years of life versus twenty years of marriage? How do our choices affect others? Plot was a bit lacking for me. The author writes in intricate detail, often crossing the fine line between stunning and verbose. The actual point of Annie's letter came late, dragging me along solely with the quality of writing and the fact that I liked her as a character. There were points I was sure I might shelf the book. I'm glad I didn't. Fairly, I normally read mysteries, thriller, and horror novels that are much more fast-paced than this type of book. I can't say that didn't contribute to the fact that I felt that this was overall a slow read. The first part of the novel (as this story is told in two parts) was somewhat frustrating in its going back and forth between past and present, often within the same chapter and without warning. It was easy enough to figure out who and when after a few lines, but it seemed that there should have been more attention to time and how it was conveyed. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I found the story believable, the characters three dimensional, Annie's story just compelling enough to compensate for the slower pace and mundane detail, and the resolution to be satisfying. I went back and forth between three and a half and four stars, but the prose puts it over the top. Four stars for a well-written debut. ( ) bfrisch | Dec 9, 2022 | One of the least appealing parts of this book is the voice. Annie Black is writing this story to her son, Robbie, which might work for explaining the past...and does essentially since those are the parts of the story that were enough to hold my interest. The problem comes when she is explaining the present day events. Why do you need to tell your son, "A friendship developed. Mitch took a shine to you right away, and as you grew, he mentored you in your study of science." He obviously knows the influence that Mitch has had over his life, but this is information she needs to give the reader, and for me it is an awkward way of giving it. I might have liked the story better if she had just told it outright. Sometimes I feel I need a break from heavy reading and I opt for what I think will be "just for pleasure" reading. Unfortunately that seldom works well for me. This book is surely someone's cup of tea, just not mine. Jan Ellison has a talent, but she needs to resist buying into the formula. (  ) mattorsara | Aug 11, 2022 | ) WiebkeK | Jan 21, 2021 | This kept me reading, so it gets points for that. But it is told in a very convoluted way. First, it's in the form of a long letter to her oldest son, which really makes no sense, because there's a lot of information being conveyed that I could not see a mother telling her teenage son. Secondly, it kept jumping around in time: there's before the photo was received and after; there's before Annie's trip back to London (in the present) and after she returns; there's before her son's accident and after--these are all befores and afters in the present, and on top of this there's Annie's time in London 19 years ago, and the present. As the story is told these various times are all jumbled together, and I frequently had trouble figuring out where we are in time (or in fact if it was even critical where in time we were). So I don't think the author did a very good job in planting us where we needed to be. The big flaw to me though was its overall premise, which is that after 19 years, a mature woman with a good life was still not over a fling she had at age 19 with a man she knew even then was not a good person. It doesn't seem real that someone would risk losing their good life for a scoundrel from their past. And beyond that, I can't say I cared for Annie. To start with, she is presented as an idealistic young woman who wants to live and work in London for a while to see the art and soak up the culture. So what does she do? She starts the affair with her boss the first day on the job, and thereafter spends all her free time drinking in pubs to drunkeness, being hung over everyday until the next round of drinking begins. Overall, this is not one I recommend. 2 stars ( ) arubabookwoman | Dec 30, 2020 | sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Distinciones
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE * With the emotional complexity of Everything I Never Told You and the psychological suspense of The Girl on the Train, O. Henry Prize winner Jan Ellison delivers a brilliantly paced, beautifully written debut novel about one woman's reckoning with a youthful mistake. "Part psychological thriller, part character study . . . I peeled back the pages of this book as fast as I could."--The Huffington Post At nineteen, Annie Black trades a bleak future in a washed-out California town for a London winter of drinking and abandon. Twenty years later, she is a San Francisco lighting designer and happily married mother of three who has put her reckless youth behind her. Then a photo from that distant winter in Europe arrives inexplicably in her mailbox, and an old obsession is awakened. Past and present collide, Annie's marriage falters, and her son takes a car ride that ends with his life hanging in the balance. Now Annie must confront her own transgressions and fight for her family by untangling the mysteries of the turbulent winter that drew an invisible map of her future. Gripping, insightful, and lyrical, A Small Indiscretion announces the arrival of a major new voice in literary suspense as it unfolds a story of denial, passion, forgiveness--and the redemptive power of love. Praise for A Small Indiscretion "Ellison is a tantalizing storyteller . . . moving her story forward with cinematic verve."--USA Today "Rich with suspense . . . Lovely writing guides us through, driven by a quiet generosity."--San Francisco Chronicle (Book Club pick) "Delicious, lazy-day reading. Just don't underestimate the writing."--O: The Oprah Magazine (Editor's Pick) "Rich and detailed . . . The plot explodes delightfully, with suspense and a few twists. Using second-person narration and hypnotic prose, Ellison's debut novel is both juicy and beautifully written. How do I know it's juicy? A stranger started reading it over my shoulder on the New York City subway, and told me he was sorry that I was turning the pages too quickly."--Flavorwire "Are those wild college days ever really behind you? Happily married Annie finds out."--Cosmopolitan "An impressive fiction debut . . . both a psychological mystery and a study of the divide between desire and duty."--San Jose Mercury News "A novel to tear through on a plane ride or on the beach . . . I was drawn into a web of secrets, a world of unrequited love and youthful mistakes that feel heightened and more romantic on the cold winter streets of London, Paris, and Ireland."--Bustle "Ellison renders the California landscape with stunning clarity. . . . She writes gracefully, with moments of startling insight. . . . Her first novel is an emotional thriller, skillfully plotted in taut, visual scenes."--The Rumpus "To read A Small Indiscretion is to eat fudge before dinner: slightly decadent behavior, highly caloric, and extremely satisfying. . . . An emotional detective story that . . . mirrors real life in ways that surprise and inspire."--New York Journal of Books "If you liked Gone Girl for its suspenseful look inside the psychology of a bad marriage, try A Small Indiscretion. . . . It touches many of the same nerves."--StyleCaster No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Antiguo miembro de Primeros reseñadores de LibraryThingEl libro A Small Indiscretion de Jan Ellison estaba disponible desde LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  Debates activosNingunoCubiertas populares
 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (3.46)
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