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Synopsis
A vividly imagined new novel from award-winning Scott. In the mid-1950s, an American family travels to an island off the coast of Italy to make a fortune in gemstones.
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About the Author
Joanna Scott is the author of five novels, including the 1997 Pulitzer Prize finalist "The Manikin," the short story collection "Various Antidotes," which was a finalist for the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award, and the critically acclaimed "Make Believe." She has received a MacArthur Fellowship and a Lannan Award. She lives in Rochester, New York.
From Publishers Weekly
Napoleonic history, geology and a father's folly are woven together in this captivating novel by Scott (The Manikin; Make Believe). In 1956, extravagant, debt-ridden Murray Murdoch takes his wife and four young sons on a vacation to Elba, where he becomes convinced that he can profit from the island's abundant deposits of semiprecious gems. When the summer comes to an end and Murray still hasn't found the valuable tourmaline that he's looking for, the Murdochs decide to postpone their departure indefinitely. Their idyllic existence is shattered when a mysterious local girl goes missing and the community begins to suspect that the "investor from the United States" is somehow involved. The story is told by Ollie, the youngest of the four boys, who was five when the family arrived on the island and is 50 now. His memories are shaded by both a child's imagination and an adult's nostalgia, which allows Scott to explore some of the less straightforward aspects of the story. Entranced by the island's beauty, the boys communicate without speaking, and their mother, Claire, becomes uncharacteristically dreamy and distant. Murray's hunt for treasure grows increasingly desperate and futile, and finally, in an attempt to escape his responsibilities, he disappears on a three-day drinking binge. A few of Scott's departures from traditional narrative are tiresome, especially the pages devoted to the inner thoughts of an elderly British historian as he dies, but details of Elba's rich history, and particularly of Napoleon's exile there, are artfully woven into the narrative. This is an absorbing picture of a family rediscovering themselves in a foreign land.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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- Publisher10 x 18
- Publication date2009
- ISBN 10 2264048379
- ISBN 13 9782264048370
- BindingPaperback
- Rating
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Tourmaline
Seller: Ammareal, Morangis, France
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Softcover. Condition: Bon. Légères traces d'usure sur la couverture. Salissures sur la tranche. Pages cornées. Tampon ou marque sur la face intérieure de la couverture. Ammareal reverse jusqu'à 15% du prix net de ce livre à des organisations caritatives. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Book Condition: Used, Good. Slight signs of wear on the cover. Soiling on the side. Dog-eared pages. Stamp or mark on the inside cover page. Ammareal gives back up to 15% of this book's net price to charity organizations. Seller Inventory # C-193-053
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Tourmaline
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Condition: good. Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M02264048379-G
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Tourmaline
Seller: RECYCLIVRE, Paris, France
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Condition: Très bon. Merci, votre achat aide à financer des programmes de lutte contre l'illettrisme. Seller Inventory # 7467202406272APU19782264048
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Tourmaline
Seller: librairie philippe arnaiz, Isle sur la sorgue, France
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Bon Etat. poche. 2009. Broché. 346 pages. envoi suivi pour la France et l'étranger. Bon état. Seller Inventory # 170169
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Tourmaline
Seller: Chapitre.com : livres et presse ancienne, LAMNAY, France
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: OKAZ. Milieu des années 50. Une famille new-yorkaise embarque à bord du Casparia, un paquebot de luxe, direction Gênes, puis l'île d'Elbe. L'idéaliste Murray Murdoch rêve d'y faire fortune en se lançant dans le commerce de la tourmaline bleue, une pierre semi-précieuse. 1999, Ollie, son plus jeune fils, revient, raconte et se souvient : des jeux ininterrompus avec ses frères au coeur de ce petit paradis méditerranéen, de ce vieil anglais spécialiste de Napoléon, de sa mère Claire et de la jeune Adriana Nardi, une beauté insulaire, auquel Murray ne semble pas indifférent. Jusqu'à la mystérieuse disparition de cette dernière et les soupçons qui pèsent à présent sur Murdoch, au point d'anéantir son propre clan. - Nombre de page(s) : 1 vol. (346 p.) - Poids : 230g - Langue : fre - Genre : Littérature Romans Poche 10-18. Seller Inventory # O2310386-666
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