Shadow Baby

I think this is a YA book, so parents may want to know that before they let young kids read. May 08, krdito rated it really liked it. I read this many years ago when it first came out and just re-read it this weekend. I love coming-of-age stories told from a child's point of view, and this book was no exception. Clara is kind of an oddball with lots of repetitive thoughts, so I wonder if she is mildly autistic or just quite precocious.

She makes up stories to fill in gaps for missing details in her life and befriends an elderly man. I found the writing lyrical and authentic for this young girl. Will look for more books from Al I read this many years ago when it first came out and just re-read it this weekend. Will look for more books from Alison McGhee! Jan 16, Rhonda rated it liked it. This book was not for me at this time. I typically enjoy quirky characters and books that require reading each word, but I was looking for a quick read this time.

McGhee did a good job setting a scene and creating solid characters. This is not a book for readers looking for a happy ending. There are answers provided for questions being asked but this is not a sunny, cheery book. Dec 12, Tammy rated it really liked it. Again this author is incredibly talented with her writing style. The characters are revealed with such descriptions that you become deeply involved.. Oct 18, miharoo rated it really liked it Shelves: The synopsis kind of goes like this: Because of her love fo The synopsis kind of goes like this: Because of her love for knowing, she starts making up her own theories or stories as to what might have happened to the pioneers.

Thus, her school book reports were filled with, well, made-up books that she just imagined. Her teachers would easily be fooled because of her convincing summaries, which were backed up with fake publisher details that sound real. That kind of ended up a character introduction, huh? One day she discovers an old man who seems to be good at metalworking.

She decides to interview this old man, Georg not George Kominsky, for her oral history project. From their meeting, an unusual friendship is gradually being formed. Will she truly unfold the truth? How will she take the truth? Were she to blame anyone, anything? I honestly got bored reading it until roughly the page mark. The narrative seems to jump from place to place. Its flow was hard to follow for an irregular and newbie reader like me, especially so since the setup took long to finally sink in to my feeble mind.

Nonetheless, when I had a stronger image of the story and the characters, things began to look interesting and I was able to sit longer with it. It took me a few months two and half, I think?

I think I read the last third of it in just two days—really fast than when I was just starting on it. And I think that change in reading pace reflects the change in pace in storytelling, too. All of a sudden, more truths were being uncovered and the characters became more driven and resolute with their decisions, which would eventually lead to more heart-breaking and mind-boggling for me, at least events. These made everything at the beginning somewhat dull, but nonetheless good for the appreciation of this heart-racing scenes at the end.

Overall, the story and characters are nothing short of ordinary. The conflicts may have been petty, if anything, but it was lovable of the cast to be living their lives and actually being worried over these things that say a lot about their personalities. This book just left me in awe, deep inside wanting for more, but I have been convinced of the satisfying ending. Strangely, it left with a fuzzy feeling inside, much like what The Giver did after I read the last sentences.

Maybe the messy manner of storytelling helped in giving off this kind of effect to me. That the scattered plots were just meant to be connected as I approached the denouement. Wow Unique Story Very good book. It had a very unique story line, with an intense, intelligent and interesting main character who is only 11 year's old. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a love of reading! Great voice, story stays true to character with the age of the child and her questions about life.. Sep 21, Pat 'gabriel' rated it really liked it. I loved the way this book was written! Nov 28, Paulette rated it really liked it.

The book was a little slow but very interesting. Eleven year old Clara struggles to find out the truth about her missing father and twin sister. Dec 03, Kris rated it really liked it.

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Wow, I really zipped through this one, such a wonderful story with well developed characters. I loved how Clara was different without being labeled as such. Sep 19, Art Klossner rated it it was amazing. I found this story and the characters incredibly engaging. Mar 28, Tina Dahm rated it really liked it. Jan 07, Chris Gager rated it liked it. Started this morning but had to head for work. It's time for some gender balance in my list, which tends to be male author heavy.

Seems interesting so far but I'm a bit concerned after looking at some Goodreads reviews. Have any guys read this book??? Done now after another one-night read. This will be my first pre-composed review. I don't know if I'll keep doing it or go back to improvisation with notes.

Shadow Baby

I took a night off from books last night for this and other stuff including a great story i Started this morning but had to head for work. I took a night off from books last night for this and other stuff including a great story in the latest New Yorker that reminded me of "Bonfire of the Vanities". I thought this was a pretty good book. No reason for guys to shy away but it is in the female-themed category.

I place this book in the company of three others I've read recently. These other books are: The latter is mostly a bad book and the only one written by a man. It does, however, feature a lonely only child girl protagonist with a clueless mother. I rate "Shadow Baby" the best of the four but the competition is not strenuous.

That's a cliche' and not credible. Not just one but two blizzards come into critical play. The scene of the second one seems to be a direct and blatant "borrowing" from Joyce Carol Oates see above. The rural NY setting is the same too. I assume it was unintentional. I did the same thing in High School. Cute, smart, wordy, quirky, funny, spunky and adorable but nobody's THAT precocious. She seemed at times more like a precocious, nerdy and slightly autistic year old.

Credibility is always an issue for this kind of "realistic" fiction. Because it's fiction we cut the author some slack. It's understood that in order to make a point some manipulation is likely necessary. This author does an OK job on that score but only OK. Always good to avoid any TV movie special twists and turns. Is she a good writer? At least I enjoyed reading this more than " Jul 03, Abby Lyn rated it liked it. Clara is an isolated, rather awkward eleven year old living in the foothills of the Adirondacks who loves stories, reading and words.

She befriends an old immigrant metal worker who lives in a trailer park and forms an instant connection with him, and her overactive imagination weaves intricate stories about his life when he refuses to open up about his childhood. Like the old man, Clara's mother Tamar is also reluctant to reveal her past. Clara only discovered that her twin sister died at birth Clara is an isolated, rather awkward eleven year old living in the foothills of the Adirondacks who loves stories, reading and words.

Clara only discovered that her twin sister died at birth when a neighbor accidentally spilled the secret, and Clara has been amusingly badgering her mother ever since with questions about what her name would have been and how she died. The novel's setting in wooded, rural upstate New York is practically a second character in this book, lovingly described with mentions of local streets and stores; unfortunately, not being familiar with this part of the country, those references didn't provide much emotional pull for me personally. I found the writing style to be lovely and the narration through a child's point of view engaging, but the plot dragged.

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I don't think I would have been able to finish the novel if it weren't my next book club's pick. And just to nitpick, I really disliked the title and wish something had been chosen to highlight Clara's relationship with the old man rather than her obsession with her deceased sister. Quirky and irrepressible Clara at eleven years old, has many unanswered questions. Her mother blatantly refuses to answer most of Clara's questions.

Clara tries many methods to squeeze her questions in and once in a great while she gets a small bit of information. Clara winter is a strange girl they say. She makes up stories and book reports about people and places way beyond what should be her realm of knowledge, for Clara is a word person. She spells her last name with a lower case w because wi Quirky and irrepressible Clara at eleven years old, has many unanswered questions.

She spells her last name with a lower case w because winter has been harsh to her and she dwells on that quite a bit. She was born in a blizzard and this fact works at her. It's one of the areas she repeatedly questions, her mother, Tamar. When Clara is assigned to interview an older person, she already knows who she will pick.

She's seen an old man that lights lanterns in the night and she knows right away that he's the person she wants to write about. She goes over on Wednesday nights, while her mother is at choir practice and tries to question the old man. Like Clara's mother, the old man often does not respond to her questions but over time the two find a meeting of mind and spirit. There's more to this story than I'll tell you here. This was a very good book though at times, as children will, Clara became a bit annoying. Well worth persevering through to the end. Once you are able to suspend disbelief—that an year old could be quite as precocious as Clara—this is an engaging story.

As a consequence, Clara, a born storyteller, invents tales to satisfy her imagination; that her grandfather is a hermit in the Appalachian woods for instance. Clara also befriends an old man, Georg, who lives in a trailer.

Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee

Initially, she plans to interview him for a school project: American Immigrant is how she thinks of him. The voice that McGhee invests Clara with is genuinely enchanting. Sep 16, Alexandra rated it liked it. Shadow Baby is one of those books that you kind of have to be in the mood to read, I think. But there is no way to really tell beforehand if you are in the mood for it, if all you have to go by is the description on the back. It has a very somber feel to it. It takes place in a town called Sterns, New York where Clara winter yes, she spells her last name with a lowercase w lives with her mother.

The town is very rundown and poor. Many people live in broken down trailers and drive rust mobiles. Winters are so harsh there, with blizzards happening basically every few days. Hence, the lowercase spelling of her last name. Her mother, who I felt lacked emotion, just seemed to let thing happen instead of taking charge of the situation. I also felt that the last few chapters of the book, which draw the stories together, were rather rushed and galloped to the ending.

I liked the book to begin with but as the book progressed became more frustrated with the whole thing. Aug 14, Cleo Bannister rated it it was amazing. This is one of my favourite books of all times and one of the few that I re-read for sheer pleasure from time to time The story is about two girls adopted years apart, the reasons why they were adopted and how they and their mothers reacted to adoption. During the book we get to know the girls and their mothers through their own narratives. This is an emotional story and I often think of the real Evie's that lived in the shadows because of the time and circumstance of their birth.

I recommend This is one of my favourite books of all times and one of the few that I re-read for sheer pleasure from time to time The story is about two girls adopted years apart, the reasons why they were adopted and how they and their mothers reacted to adoption. I recommend reading Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir which includes the Margret Forster's family history, including that of her Grandmother who wouldn't speak of her early life at all. I am sure this wonderful book is the author's way of revealing some of what may have led to those secrets.

You can't do better than this for a dual time tale with a hefty dollop of social history included. Aug 07, Jo rated it really liked it Shelves: I love Margaret Forster's novels and this was no exception. The two stories are developed in parallel with a chapter devoted to each until the tales become more dramatic. I couldn't put it down and when my tablet ran out of charge a real book never does ended up reading the last few chapters on my phone as I had to know how it all worked out in the end! It really does make you think about the different mother-daughter connections, especially when unwanted pregnancies and adoptions are included I love Margaret Forster's novels and this was no exception.

It really does make you think about the different mother-daughter connections, especially when unwanted pregnancies and adoptions are included. The complexity of the different relationships as different personalities and circumstances are involved. I loved the "oh I get it" bit no spoilers! Apr 04, Lizzie rated it it was amazing Shelves: Two daughters given up by their birth mothers, two stories of how they grew up. Two women who relinquished their babies, and what happened after that. She really gets people. A slow-build read which, by halfway, had me glued to the page.

It is in part a story about unplanned pregnancy - choices, motherhood and how a girl grows to be a mother herself - and part social history. The history is the skeleton on which the flesh of the story hangs and inter-connects. Two young women fall pregnant, Leah in and Hazel in Both abandon their babies. The circumst A slow-build read which, by halfway, had me glued to the page. Both daughters are obsessed with their birth mothers. From generation to generation, mistakes are uncannily mirrored. Attitudes from the 19th century reappear in the 20th.

And how, when the daughter grows into a woman who in turn becomes pregnant, the same fears, expectations and social pressures kick in. Forster is perceptive about the rejection felt by the daughters, and the shame of their mothers, shame which prompts denial and continued rejection. These women have to make hard decisions to survive, decisions a million miles away from how we live today in our comfortable 21st century lives but with a stark reminder of how the actions of a previous generation can affect the next.

Read more of my book reviews at http: Apr 03, Clare Sullivan rated it it was amazing. Margaret Forster is a brilliant writer. I'm not a mother a regret nor am I adopted but I am a daughter and the development of the various relationships, the family connections, social pressures, is so beautifully written I read it in a couple of days. The way she develops the two stories concurrently is so moving I just had to continue reading until finished. Nov 24, Christine Parker rated it liked it Shelves: Reminiscent of Catherine Cookson.

Aug 07, Mareli rated it really liked it. Very touching story about the power of mother -daughter ties. Keeps you pondering long after the book is finnished. Nov 11, Kate rated it really liked it. This is my second Margaret Forster. I enjoyed Lady's Maid so much, I think I didn't seek out others because I didn't want to be disappointed! Forster has a great knack for writing about women, for writing how they think and feel, but what is most unique is her ability to convey complicated relationships between women, which most novels boil down to simple elements like jealousy, envy, etc.

Forster bl This is my second Margaret Forster. Forster blends the motivations behind her characters neatly but not simply; you truly understand the women and how they feel toward each other and why they act as such, without being told "She felt this and so said this. Mar 17, Jenna rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I discovered this author after hearing a interview with the author, now deceased, on CBC Vancouver.

The book is looks at illegitimacy in the late and the 's from the perspectives of the women that give birth to their illegitimate daughter and the perspective of the daughters. It was really well written, at times hard to read but I think an honest look at what the reality of having a child out of wedlock would have been at these times. The author also writes from personal experience as h I discovered this author after hearing a interview with the author, now deceased, on CBC Vancouver.

The author also writes from personal experience as her grandmother had an illegitimate daughter - I believe she tells this story in her book Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir which I hope to read soon. May 30, Kristina rated it it was amazing. Two girls who were abandoned as babys, and their two mothers. The girls want to find their mothers but the mothers don't want to be found. The stories are set 70 years apart and the two girls have quite different personalities but both have a tenacity in trying to find their mothers in common.

You follow stories of these four people and see their different viewpoints. As a final twist, there is a connection between the two abandoned girls. This is an excellent read and quite gripping - just like Two girls who were abandoned as babys, and their two mothers. This is an excellent read and quite gripping - just like every other book by Margaret Forster I have read. Jan 28, Jan rated it liked it. Gripping and very sad. May 17, A rated it it was amazing.

Margaret Forster will be much missed.