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Forms of Shelter
Perched amid the leaves of the Osage orange tree in her stepfather’s backyard, Beryl Fonteyn observes the life around her—Mama’s desperate attempts to gain Jack’s approval by writing her novel, which he mercilessly critiques; her brother Stevie’s unhealthy fascination with acting out events from the Bible; and Jack’s obsession with his bees—all the while imagining that her
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Paperback, 336 pages
Published
October 30th 2007
by Dial Press Trade Paperback
(first published 1991)
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(showing 1-30)
Sad commentary on absent father, mental health and abused children.
Growing up without a father figure, Beryl Fonteyn struggles to find a real home, and desperately seeks the attentions of any male that looks her way. She, along with her mother and younger brother think they are "saved" when her mother re-marries, but the turbulence that follows through the years changes them all forever.
I found this book to be quite riveting and was surprised at feeling empathy for many of the characters in the book, good and "evil." Beryl's pain of not having her father in her ...more
I found this book to be quite riveting and was surprised at feeling empathy for many of the characters in the book, good and "evil." Beryl's pain of not having her father in her ...more
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Beautifully lyric writing, heavy in bee symbolism along with mythological references made by the professor step-father character, this book has a touch of North Carolina nature along with the development of an honest portrayal of familial best-intentions gone awry. While it's fiction, most of the book reads like it could be a memoir of the late 1950s. The characters are so well-developed and the dialogue so realistic, it's one of the best books I've read this summer.
I liked it and some of the insights and writing were lovely, but I don't think I've ever encountered so much crying! Almost every other page someone was weeping. A bit of a downer to say the least.
Good, but lots of terrible people. Good writer.
Nov 26, 2011
BK
marked it as to-read
not for the faint of heart
Well written. Lot's of bee symbolism
Another one by the author of Plum Wine.....
Wow! Powerful book. Written from the point of view of an adult woman telling of her troubled childhood and the ramifications.
Wow! Powerful book. Written from the point of view of an adult woman telling of her troubled childhood and the ramifications.
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