Rosie : a novel

Title:

Rosie : a novel

Author:

Lamott, Anne author.

ISBN:

9780140264791

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

275 pages ; 19 cm

Subject Term:

Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.

Mothers and daughters -- California, Northern -- Fiction.

Alcoholics -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

California, Northern -- Fiction.

Summary:

If Elizabeth Ferguson had her way, she'd spend her days savoring good books, cooking great meals, and waiting for the love of her life to walk in the door. But it's not a man she's waiting for, it's her daughter, Rosie-her wild-haired, smart-mouthed, and wise-beyond-her-years alter ego. With Rosie around, the days aren't quite so long, but Elizabeth can't keep the realities of the world at bay, and try as she might, she can't shield Rosie from its dangers or mysteries. As Rosie grows older and more curious, Elizabeth must find a way to nurture her extraordinary daughter-even if it means growing up herself.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	FICTION LAM	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	FICTION LAM	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	FICTION LAM	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow ; Small Mercies ; and Stitches , a wise and witty novel about motherhood. Look out for Anne's next book, Hallelujah Anyway , coming in 2017.

In Anne Lamott's wise and witty novel, the growing pains of motherhood are portrayed with rare humor and honesty. If Elizabeth Ferguson had her way, she'd spend her days savoring good books, cooking great meals, and waiting for the love of her life to walk in the door. But it's not a man she's waiting for, it's her daughter, Rosie--her wild-haired, smart-mouthed, and wise-beyond-her-years alter ego. With Rosie around, the days aren't quite so long, but Elizabeth can't keep the realities of the world at bay, and try as she might, she can't shield Rosie from its dangers or mysteries. As Rosie grows older and more curious, Elizabeth must find a way to nurture her extraordinary daughter--even if it means growing up herself.

Author Notes

Anne Lamott was born on April 10, 1954 in San Francisco, California. She began writing when she returned to California after spending two years at Goucher College, but her early efforts, mostly short stories, met with little success. The turning point in her writing came with a family crisis, when her father was diagnosed with brain cancer. She wrote a series of short pieces about the traumatic effect that serious illness has on a family. These pieces were published, and they eventually became the basis of her first novel, Hard Laughter, published in 1980.

During the 1980s, she wrote three additional novels, Rosie, Joe Jones and All New People. In 1989, her life took another turn when her son was born. Her next book, published in 1993, was a non-fiction effort called Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year. She wrote ironically, but candidly, about her struggles to adjust to her new role as a mother and a single parent, and her experiences with everything from sleep deprivation to financial and emotional uncertainty to concerns about what she would tell her son when he was old enough to ask about his absent father.

Operating Instructions proved to be even more successful than her novels, and led to interviews on network news programs and a regular spot on National Public Radio. Her other works include Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life; Crooked Little Heart; Blue Shoe, Imperfect Birds, and Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son. Her title Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. Her title Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair and Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace also made The New York Times Best Seller List.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

A widow at 38, Elizabeth Fergusen is sheathed in ""emotional Plexiglass""; she's anxious, depressed, and (offspring of alcoholic parents) drinks too much; she's ""a stranger in a strange land, her skin didn't fit correctly."" So it's daughter Rosie, an eight-year-old of giant affections, with the kooky inventiveness of a Watergate plumber, who keeps Elizabeth getting up in the morning, cooking, chauffeuring, and loving until it hurts. Rosie is the first grade's Hot Shot, a wow at Show and Tell. (One day she brings in a black rock which, she explains, comes from the star that fell in the Fergusen back yard, killing Elizabeth's boyfriend--the latest boring one.) Her best friend is Sharon Thackery, whose mother Sybil makes swell stuff like tuna fish casserole instead of Elizabeth's ""disgusting gourmet slop."" But even Rosie can't singlehandedly cure Elizabeth's malaise: bright and attractive, she found most men boring till Andrew came along, the ""great good man"" with money, kindness, and faith. But then Andrew was killed in an auto accident--leaving Elizabeth enough money to drift in a San Francisco suburb, bored with her own boredom and drinking more, unenticed by jobs, Causes, or trends (like ""Personal grooviness Über alles""). So Elizabeth just ""embellishes"" herself to herself, while two good people do appear on the scene, adored by Rosie: weaver Rae, who beams a lot, eats like a vacuum cleaner, loves much, and lusts for a worm named Brian; and unpublished writer James Atterbury, so close to being a ""great good man""--with fire, humor, and kindness. James smokes, however; he's short and chews his food like a starving rodent. ""Love,"" says Elizabeth, ""is details""--as she skids but can't surrender. And only after some booms and blasts of reality--a dangerous drug trip, an obscene threat to Rosie, Rae's dumps, James' glooms, jealousy, rage, overwhelming love--does Elizabeth discover pockets of strength she didn't know she had. With more coherence and less of a tendency to dabble in playful verbiage than Lamott's Hard Laughter (1980) debut: a sunny, strong-backed novel--featuring great, good people and a rare bird in Rosie herself. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

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