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Zusatztext “An American beauty this book…. The narrator of Jane Hamilton’s sensational first novel is a holy lusty innocent.” – Vogue “A sly and wistful! if harrowing! human comedy. Hamilton is a new and original voice in fiction and one well worth listening to.” – Boston Sunday Globe “Ms. Hamilton gives Ruth a humble dignity and allows her hope–but it’s not a heavenly hope. It’s a common one! caked with mud and held with gritted teeth. And it’s probably the only kind that’s worth reading about.” – The New York Times Book Review “Hamilton’s story builds to a shocking crescendo. Her small-town characters are a appealingly offbeat and brushed with grace as any found in Alice Hoffman’s or Anne Tyler’s novels.” – Glamour “Jane Hamilton’s novel is authentically Dickensian…. The real achievement of this first novel is not so much the blackness as the suggestion of resilience. At the end! Ruth begins to put together her shattered body! spirit and life. Her words are awkward! as they have been all along! but suddenly and unexpectedly they shine.” – Los Angeles Times “A disturbing and beautiful book.” –Hilma Wolitzer “An extraordinary story of a family’s disintegration…. Will be compared to Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres . Astonishingly vivid and moving.” – People “An enthralling tale of guilt! betrayal! and the terrifying ways of our lives.” – Entertainment Weekly “Unforgettably! beat by beat! Hamilton maps the best and worst of the human heart and all the mysterious! uncharted country in between.” – Kirkus Reviews Informationen zum Autor Jane Hamilton is the author of The Book of Ruth , winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction; A Map of the World , a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and named one of the top ten books of the year by Entertainment Weekly , Publishers Weekly , the Miami Herald , and People magazine; Disobedience ; and The Short History of a Prince . She lives in Rochester, Wisconsin. Klappentext Winner of the 1989 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel, this exquisite book confronts real-life issues of alienation and violence from which the author creates a stunning testament to the human capacity for mercy, compassion and love.One What it begins with, I know finally, is the kernel of meanness in people's hearts. I don't know exactly how or why it gets inside us; that's one of the mysteries I haven't solved yet. I always tried to close my eyes and believe that angels, invisible in their gossamer dresses, were keeping their loving vigil. I learned, slowly, that if you don't look at the world with perfect vision, you're bound to get yourself cooked. Even though I may still be looking through the dark glass, even though I haven't finished learning the lessons, I'm the only one who tells the story from beginning to end. It can't be up to Ruby, because he has been spirited away and born again. Neither love nor prayer can bring him back. May can talk herself blue in the face and no one will hear. By rights this belongs to Justy, because he inherits the earth for a short time, but he doesn't quite count yet. He'll remember the taste of pecan balls, exactly how the powdery mash got stuck on the roof of his mouth, the color black maybe, and the color and shape of Ruby's teeth. They were rotten with sweets. I tell myself that it should be simple to see through to the past now that I'm set loose, now that I can invent my own words, but nothing much has come my way without a price. I'm not counting on a free ride. I know the only way to begin to understand is to steal underneath May's skin and look at the world from behind her small eyes. I shudder when I think about the inside of Ruby's head, but I know I have to journey there too, if I'm going to make sense of what'...
