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9th out of 83 books
—
96 voters
Tethered
Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesn’t believe in God. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.
It changes even more when Detective Mike...more
It changes even more when Detective Mike...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
August 12th 2008
by Shaye Areheart Books
(first published January 1st 2008)
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Aug 11, 2008
Debbie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
lovers of well written 1st novels / fans of Jeff Lindsey's Dexter novels
Recommended to Debbie by:
Library Journal review
This book came into the library yesterday and I read the first few pages while cataloging it--I can't wait to read more! Ms. MacKinnon has put together beautiful sentences, paragraphs and I'm confident a beautiful novel.
I can't think of any other novels with undertakers as the main character, although I'm sure there are some. Reading about something new is always a plus. The book's cover is intriguing. So far, I love everything about this new novel.
Wow, I've finished this haunting novel, but it...more
I can't think of any other novels with undertakers as the main character, although I'm sure there are some. Reading about something new is always a plus. The book's cover is intriguing. So far, I love everything about this new novel.
Wow, I've finished this haunting novel, but it...more
5 likes · like · see review
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This was a very compelling and multilayered novel with beautiful, damaged characters. The story was so intriguing that, much to my dismay because I had to get up early, I found myself reading into the morning hours because I couldn't close the book without knowing what happened next. I also found it fascinating because of my family history. My grandfather was an undertaker, and we grew up in an old Victorian house and played in the basement where the caskets were stored. My grandfather's profess...more
7 likes · like · see review
Dark, but not as sinister as Sharp Objects. When not tending to bodies, Clara tends her garden and hides from her painful past. But when a mysterious and lonely little girl begins to hang out at the funeral parlor, Clara becomes involved in saving her.
There is not an excess word here - it is sparse yet still rich. It has a touch of Margot Livesay (think Eva Moves the Furniture) but with a tinge of old school Patricia Cornwell.
I know, an odd mix, but it totally works.
I reserved mine at the librar...more
There is not an excess word here - it is sparse yet still rich. It has a touch of Margot Livesay (think Eva Moves the Furniture) but with a tinge of old school Patricia Cornwell.
I know, an odd mix, but it totally works.
I reserved mine at the librar...more
2 likes · like · see review
I received this book, and finished it within 3 days, while working full time. I was hooked from the first sentence, and the writing was great. The main character is an undertaker, who has flaws, and I came to know her and understand her. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Even when I wasn't reading, the book's characters and plots were on my mind. I have not been this "hooked" into a book for a long time. What a find this is, I hope it will not be too long before the autho...more
This is a spooky new novel about a young woman undertaker (you learn "more than you want to know" about the job of preparing bodies) and her relationship with a mysterious little girl who suddenly starts visiting her and then vanishing. You wonder if this is a ghost, but you are also caught up in the mysteries of the undertaker's own eerie past. Great writing and a gripping read!
I was lucky enough to snag a review copy at BEA. It's not what I normally read (I'm kind of wimpy when it comes to issues of child abuse), but this is a beautiful book. It will stay with you!
I'm realizing I'm terrible at updating my GoodReads picks...come to my website and listen to the interview with Amy and how I gush all over her about Tether--I loved this book!
4 likes · like · see review
A riveting debut, Tethered is a story about a quiet, reclusive undertaker, Clara Marsh, who unwittingly gets swept into an unsolved murder mystery involving Precious Doe, an unidentified little girl that Clara herself compassionately prepared for burial a few years earlier. As the mystery deepens, Clara is forced to confront her own doubts about God and what happens to a soul after a body has been buried. What I found truly remarkable about Tethered was MacKinnon’s respect for faith. While this...more
Tethered, is a debut novel (just 257 pages) by Amy MacKinnon; it was released last month. The premise intrigued me:
Clara Marsh, is an emotionally fragile woman who works as an undertaker in Brockton, MA. She does not believe in God. When asked what she does believe, she responds by saying "I believe it is important to breathe". She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts...more
Clara Marsh, is an emotionally fragile woman who works as an undertaker in Brockton, MA. She does not believe in God. When asked what she does believe, she responds by saying "I believe it is important to breathe". She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts...more
Sep 02, 2008
Staci
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone
Recommended to Staci by:
Mellymel
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
2 likes · like · see review
I don't usually read murder mysteries, as I a find reading about violent crimes disturbing. However, the setting and main character intrigued me and keep me interested in the story. About a third of the way into the story the mystery/suspense grabed me and I found myself staying up until the early hours of the morning to finish the story. It had a strong ending with a surprising twist.
Amy uses much description in Tethered and writes beautifully, however, I like things to move a bit faster and found myself skipping over many 'descriptive' paragraphs. I wanted to get to the bones of the story; but to do this, I had to remove layer upon layer of description.
I loved the premise for the novel; a great story line. I look forward to reading her next book.
I loved the premise for the novel; a great story line. I look forward to reading her next book.
This is one of my favorite reads this year. The book is beautifully written and filled with wonderful characters. I think I may have even fallen in love with Mike. I found myself thinking about this book during the times I was unable to actually be reading it and could not wait to get back to it again. I was actually sorry to finish it. I highly recommend it!
This book is riveting. Between the complex characters, the multi-dimensional plot and the wonderful writing with it's metaphysical twist, I could not put this book down. I loved the darkness of the book and the solitude of Clara, and Linus' compassion.
This was one of the most depressing books I've read in a while - not because of the subject matter, but the narrator's outlook was very bleak. I had the ending pegged from the beginning, but that was all right - it was still very worth the read.
A gorgeous book by my friend and member of my writers' group. MacKinnon is a brilliant writer, and her strong debut positions her as a writer to watch. Be prepared for Tethered to stay with you long after you read the last page.
Beautifully written with sympathetic characters and an imaginative story line. Although the novel does deal with child abuse, the squeamish can probably read it because the graphic parts take place off screen.
3 likes · like · see review
I loved the main character in this book - Clara Marsh. Incredibly complex, at once resilient and fragile, she is a wonderfully drawn character I will not soon forget. I loved Tethered!
2 likes · like · see review
Very good book! Very detailed writing and fooled me several times into believing one thing and it turned out to be something else. Quick read and worth reading.
I really enjoyed this, although it isn't a typical book I would read. I was intrigued by an author interview where she commented that undertakers were typically people of faith. In this case, the main character Clara, is an undertaker without faith. Most of the story reads very closely to The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold, but this one isn't as bleak.
Clara's faith is taken away from her by an abusive grandmother and a troubled childhood. That premise alone drives the book. It's a murder mystery o...more
Clara's faith is taken away from her by an abusive grandmother and a troubled childhood. That premise alone drives the book. It's a murder mystery o...more
For some reason I've been putting this book off for quite a while now. It surely started off intriguing, and the writing was really smooth and easy to follow, but still, I couldn't got myself to read more than a chapter in one sitting. Until yesterday, when I decided it was about time I get done with it. And then something happened; I was immersed into this book to the point where I had to finish it or else I wouldn't be able to go to sleep at all. It was that good. Tethered tells a story that i...more
I have high praise for this novel, not because it was published on my birthday, but because it exemplifies the best of what a praiseworthy novel must offer: character, setting, plot and language. MacKinnon combines these focuses in "Tethered" into art and artistry.
Clara, who is highly introverted from an unkind childhood, connects better with the dead than the living and finds her perfect peace among the bodies she prepares for burial at the funeral home where she works.
But there's a child pre...more
Clara, who is highly introverted from an unkind childhood, connects better with the dead than the living and finds her perfect peace among the bodies she prepares for burial at the funeral home where she works.
But there's a child pre...more
Great read! This book has got science, love, action and ghosts!! The main charactor is a women who had grown up a survivor. She has never had good reactions with men,
and was hurt as a child. She works at a mortuary and is often in contact with cops in regards to picking up bodys and giving them the details of her preparations in case she can help investigations. She is a lonely soul who finds herself though an investigation about a child who is also a victim.
and was hurt as a child. She works at a mortuary and is often in contact with cops in regards to picking up bodys and giving them the details of her preparations in case she can help investigations. She is a lonely soul who finds herself though an investigation about a child who is also a victim.
Wow, I loved this book! I read it in a few days, probably because I stayed up until 5:00 a.m. one day to finish it. As a bookseller, I will be recommending it to many of my customers.
It is beautifully written with wonderful characters and a fascinating plot...very layered and muti-faceted.
The main character, Clara Marsh, is an antisocial undertaker who does not believe in God. Clara is one of the more interesting characters I have read in a long time, although she, herself, feels and thinks of...more
It is beautifully written with wonderful characters and a fascinating plot...very layered and muti-faceted.
The main character, Clara Marsh, is an antisocial undertaker who does not believe in God. Clara is one of the more interesting characters I have read in a long time, although she, herself, feels and thinks of...more
Tethered is the story of a young woman,Clara, with a tragic past who becomes the undertaker for a funeral home in a run down little town on the east coast. Clara, lives behind the funeral home and lives a very quiet unassuming life. One day a young girl comes to visit Clara in the funeral home which leads to a spiraling chain of events which take a surprising turn into a storyline about Precious Doe, the little girl who was murdered and her body never claimed. I did not expect a book about an un...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was a disturbing book for me. While it is a novel, it is about a young woman with a childhood that haunts her adulthood, sexually abused children, the grief of death, murder, and the struggle to live normally with all of the above. That's real life for people, and it hurts my heart. The ending provides hope and healing. It was an engrossing story, if you are up for the sometimes graphic nature of the abuse described. I found myself sorrowing for all of those people who have and do live with...more
One of the best debut novels I've read! The haunting story of Clara Marsh, the undertaker, will grab you and you won't be able to put this book down. A little bit of mystery plus some love plus some compassion and faith=a bestseller!
This was a really good book. It was thought provoking and touching.
Excellent story with a fragile, damaged main character named Clara that works as an undertaker and keeps very much to herself. She fights a growing physical attraction to police detective Mike Sullivan as they investigate a cold case of a murdered girl who may be linked with a little girl Clara encounters playing in the funeral home. Along the way the reader is offered glimpses of Clara's past that shaped her into the closed-off woman she has become. I really enjoyed this story and felt moved by...more
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