Paper Wings - Softcover

Swick, Marly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753801205 ISBN 13: 9780753801208

Publisher: Phoenix, 1998

Synopsis

The Keller family live in the heart of conservative America in the early 60's. Suzanne is twelve, and loves her mother, Helen, desperately, but she knows that Helen is not like other mothers. In the conventional world they inhabit, Helen's unconventionality represents both the possibilities and the uncertainties of the adult world, and Suzanne observes her mother's passionate attachment to John F Kennedy with a mixture of wonder and apprehension. When the President is assassinated, and Helen's obsession tips into breakdown, only Suzanne has the courage to face up to the reality of her mother's unhappy life and the dark secret at its heart.

About this title

Review

Paper Wings, the first novel by Marly Swick, balances on the fulcrum of one of America's key turning points. The time is the autumn of 1963. Suzanne Keller, a 12-year-old, resides in a brand new suburban tract filled with young families whose lives seem to stretch before them with endless hope and possibility. But all that comes to an end with the crack of Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle--the assassination of J.F.K. changes everything. As the country drifts towards the Vietnam War, Suzanne's parents begin to drift apart, her mother finding refuge behind a pair of dark glasses, while her father seeks solace in an extramarital affair. Swick, the author of three collections of short stories, including the award-winning A Hole in the Language, turns her sharp eye to that moment in history when it seemed that everything changed, forever.

From the Back Cover

Everyone in Suzanne's family acknowledges her mothers instability, yet no one has any idea why she suffers these bouts of depression. They simply accept them as fact and enjoy the moments when she emerges from them, buoyant and energetic. With Kennedy's election, presidency and assassination as background, Suzanne tells the story of the dissolution, and ultimate redemption, of her family. Sure to appeal to readers of Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Hoffman and Mona Simpson, "Paper Wings" is a subtle and moving novel about a mother and daughter who struggle, hope, and learn from each other how to emerge from shadows of tragedy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Phoenix
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0753801205
• ISBN 13: 9780753801208
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288