Melanie, daughter of a musician and a psychoanalyst, withdraws from reality to live in a fantasy world of her own
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
On a spook-laden Halloween night, Melanie travels from her digs to her mother's house, which from the portentousness of the language and conjured-up memories might properly be located in Birnam Wood. Instead, Melanie emerges in Forest Hills, where her psychoanalyst mother, Laura, lives with her lesbian loverherself the first wife of Melanie's dead father, a failed musician whose aspirations and life were snuffed out by the narcissistic Laura. Melanie's one love has been the giant Gabriel, who turned out to be impotent, an apparent result of his giantism, another being the soft bones that signal early death. It becomes clear that Gabriel, a painter whose canvases had bestowed great beauty upon Melanie, is a symbol for the artists she presently gathers around her, each trying to find and preserve one transcendental moment. The novel is marred not only by overwriting but by its non-credible characterizations. Duncan wrote A Wreath of Pale White Roses. February
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The neurasthenic world of a sensitive soul forms this second novel from the co-creator of the Woman's Salon (an alternative literary network supporting women's work). Melanie lives half in reality, half in memory, as she struggles to escape her past. The daughter of a failed musician and an unhappy psychiatrist, she must overcome the scars caused by her father's death, her own obesity and asthma, and her mother's hostility. As a teenager, she flees to the arms of Gabriel, and artist and "giant," who re-creates her in his art, making her beautiful; later she leaves him to become a nurturing Earth Mother to New York's artists. Told entirely through Melanie's eyes, the novel is claustrophobic and so full of self-righteousness that one longs for Melanie to confront her fears. Though Duncan clearly can write, this is a disappointment from an artistic and feminist point of view. Shelley Cox, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Seller: Dan Pope Books, West Hartford, CT, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First edition, first printing (indicated by full number sequence, including the 1). Hardbound. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. A tight, clean copy, with some wear to jacket at edges, particularly head and foot of spine. Jacket unclipped with publisher's price of $14.95 intact. Comes with archival-quality mylar dust jacket protector. Shipped in well padded box. FICTION. FERRY. Seller Inventory # 150
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Books Do Furnish A Room, Durham, NC, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Moderate Edge & Shelfwear. First Edition. . Front bottom edge lightly dented. Small water stain at top front edge./ DJ stained inside around bottom spine Lightly scuffed along top edge, at bottom spine, and along front flap. Pages are clean and binding is tight. Seller Inventory # 2957
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Virginia Martin, aka bookwitch, Concord, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. Octavo, hardcover, VG in edgeworn black and red pictorial dj. First printing. 184 pp. ". the story of a woman's struggle to find her own identity in a psychological world peopled by larger-than-life phantoms from her childhood" (jacket front flyleaf). Book. Seller Inventory # 74224
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Mark Henderson, Olathe, KS, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Inscribed By the Author. Book. Seller Inventory # 022254
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: RUSH HOUR BUSINESS, Worcester, MA, U.S.A.
hardcover. Condition: Good. 1986 used hardcover copy some wear to dust jacket, tanning to pages with age, spine intact, price tag unclipped. Seller Inventory # BIBI1-1103-06-30-2021
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: NWJbooks, Lancaster, PA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. First printing. Blue covers in a black & pictorial dust jacket. 8vo, 184 pages. Seller Inventory # 93145
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. Very good or better in an about Very good dustwrapper. Slight bumping, slight fading of top panel edges/spine ends, dustwrapper shows tearing of spine ends/panel edges, sticker/light soiling on back panel. Please Note: This book has been transferred to Between the Covers from another database and might not be described to our usual standards. Please inquire for more detailed condition information. Seller Inventory # 222013
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Arundel Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall. Very Good used First Edition with full number line. [8], 184 pages. '. the story of a woman's struggle to find her own identity in a psychological world peopled by larger-than-life phantoms from her childhood' (jacket front flyleaf). Signed ('Erika') and inscribed by Duncan in blue ink on front free endpaper, May 1988. Short tear (closed) and slight rubbing to jacket; slight internal browning to edges. Seller Inventory # L048310
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Hay Cinema Bookshop Limited, Hay on Wye, United Kingdom
1st edition. 8vo. Prelims. + 184pp. Original boards, d/w. torn with some loss. ISBN 0805240004 US$10. Seller Inventory # 165598
Quantity: 1 available