The Fortune Teller - Hardcover

Marsha Norman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002232561 ISBN 13: 9780002232562

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1988

Synopsis

After Fay, a fortune teller, sees that her daughter, Lizzie, is going to fall in love with a man who will separate them, she sets out to ward off her fate

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

The energy and narrative drive in this first novel by the author of the Pulitzer Prizewinning play and movie, 'night, Mother, is relentless, so much so that the reader is not put off by its facile sentimentality and several preposterous plot elements. In fact, a willing suspension of disbelief takes over as the tension rises to an adroitly managed crescendo. The protagonist, Fay Morgan, is a psychic who often helps the police in her small East Coast town, where detective Arnie Campbell is her longtime lover. Fay's psychic powers are rendered with credibility, as she becomes involved in tracing 27 children kidnapped at a fair. She is distracted, however, by involuntary visions of the future in which she sees thatwithin the 24-hour span of the novelher 19-year-old daughter Lizzie will run off with an arrogant, selfish man and will be lost to her forever. Though Fay can see the future, she cannot prevent it, and her frustration is made palpable and moving. Less successful are other characterizations and some awkward plot contrivances. The book has a strongly feminist and prochoice bias and makes some valid points about the limits of love and the commitment of parenting. Despite its flaws, it has potential as a highly commercial novel. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild featured alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Fay Morgan, a professional psychic, is troubled by what she sees in her daughter's future, but all her warnings go unheeded. Meanwhile, 27 young children are kidnapped as a bizarre protest against abortion, and Fay attempts to locate them. Throughout, the pain of the separation of parents and children is a major theme further integrating these neatly intertwined and suspenseful plots. Norman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and lively, engaging dialogue is certainly one of the most striking features of her first novel. At some points the plot may seem too melodramatic and the persistent references to Tarot cards too strained, but Norman's characters are deftly drawn and their problems are moving. Literary Guild alternative. Albert E. Wilhelm, English Dept., Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0002232561
• ISBN 13: 9780002232562
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 528