Almost Strangers

Description

From Publishers Weekly "How many parts of yourself can you lose... and still be yourself?" Two women, both in love with the same man, lose much in this melodramatic first novel of self-discovery by short story writer Winer. Once happily independent, 40-year-old Ursula Gant takes stock of her life after the loss of her beloved mother, Ruth, and begins a rapid slide into depression. Ursula lives alone in Boston on the income from her mother's investments, meticulously managed by New Yorker Daniel Dorfman. Daniel is married to the beautiful, insecure Cissy, but has been having an affair with Ursula for two years. When Daniel fails to respond to her pleas for help, Ursula knows she must make changes and catches the next flight to anywhere, which happens to be Athens. Ursula doesn't realize that Cissy knows about the affair and has followed her onto the plane, intending to kill Ursula in Greece. When the plane crashes, Cissy's body is never found, and she is declared legally dead. Ursula, severely burned, is afflicted with total amnesia. After her face and body have been reconstructed, she sets out to discover who she is, assuming the name of Lucy Snowe (there are many literary references). As Lucy travels through Europe, she keeps sighting a beautiful blonde woman, and it quickly becomes clear to the reader that the woman is Cissy, who miraculously walked away from the plane crash and has started a new life in Europe. The two begin an uneasy friendship based on their mutual need for companionship and understanding. This unlikely partnership leads each woman to self-realization and an understanding of who they want to be. Despite its many improbabilities, the novel exhibits some strong writing and provocative ideas. It's not a denigration to call this an intelligent women's book, and as such, it has significant potential for word-of-mouth sales. Agent, Lisa Bankoff. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From Booklist Two women, for very different reasons, board the same fateful flight from Boston to Athens. Ursula is mourning the recent death of her mother, fleeing an overwhelming grief she cannot escape, even in her extensive collection of books. Cecily, who perceives herself as a fading beauty at fortysomething, has discovered that her successful husband is involved with Ursula. When the plane crashes, only one of the women survives. The other's body is never found. The survivor is burned beyond recognition and suffers from total amnesia, her identity a complete secret even from herself. As she recovers physically, she faces a lonely existence, a person with a sizable settlement from the airline, but with no past and no identity. The determined, disfigured, truly lost in the world "Lucy" is a character not easily forgotten. Eddies of surrealism and some implausible twists mark this unusual and imaginative first novel. Winer's richly expressive writing and her ability to convey the anguish inherent in such an essential loss render the necessary contrivances of plot forgivable. Grace FillCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more See all Editorial Reviews

Features:

Product Details:

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684868180
• ISBN-13: 89
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• #129328 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Suspense

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