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I'd Know You Anywhere

Laura Lippman

Discussion: November/December 2010

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November/December 2010

Room - Emma Donoghue
By Stephanie · 7 posts · 23 views

last updated Mar 18, 2011 07:00PM

I'd Know You Anywhere - Laura Lippman
By Lisa · 8 posts · 11 views

last updated Mar 17, 2011 11:16AM

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Mar 31, 2011 Vanessa rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookmarks

The premise of this novel was enough to hook me (along with the good reviews and the reputation of the author): Elizabeth Lerner, now a suburban wife and mother, receives a letter from Walter Bowman, the man who abducted and raped her when she was a teenager and is now on death row. After seeing her picture in a Washington DC paper, his letter includes the strange and inappropriately familiar observation "I'd know you anywhere." Elizabeth is horrified, but also morbidly fascinated as she was his The premise of this novel was enough to hook me (along with the good reviews and the reputation of the author): Elizabeth Lerner, now a suburban wife and mother, receives a letter from Walter Bowman, the man who abducted and raped her when she was a teenager and is now on death row. After seeing her picture in a Washington DC paper, his letter includes the strange and inappropriately familiar observation "I'd know you anywhere." Elizabeth is horrified, but also morbidly fascinated as she was his only victim who survived. The rest, an unknown number of teenage girls, were all killed shortly after he abducted them, but Elizabeth was his hostage for 2 months before being rescued during a routine traffic stop. Through a series of events, including some badgering from a particularly odious prisoners' rights advocate, she is drawn into communicating with her kidnapper who is now facing down his looming death sentence for the rape and murder of his last victim, taken when Elizabeth herself was still his hostage.

This book in other hands (take your Jodi Picoult for example) could have turned into a Lifetime movie spec but Lippman, a former reporter and the wife of David Simon (the creator of "The Wire") has a lot more on her mind. This is a novel that covers topics ranging from the death penalty, the reliability of childhood memories and eyewitness testimony, the flaws and illogic of the justice system, and the unsavory but undeniable relationship between victim and perpetrator. Despite all of this, it's not a screed for or against the death penalty. What it is is a story about how that crime's effects progressively rippled out amongst a group of people including Elizabeth, her family, the parents of one of the murdered girls, and even Walter himself. There's also the question of what Walter wants from Elizabeth now, and exactly what happened on the night that the last girl died. This includes the uneasy question of what exactly was Elizabeth's involvement. As much as I disliked a lot of the characters in the book, I had to read the last 150 pages at once to find out.

If I had any complaints, it's that Elizabeth's character is at times almost too polite and too eager to avoid conflict. One event in particular involving someone essentially stalking and badgering Elizabeth as she walked her children to school made me think even someone that taciturn would be motivated at that point to pepper spray a bitch.

If you are looking for an action-packed thriller, look elsewhere and don't feel guilty. Come back to this novel when you are in the mood for a book that will make you keep thinking about it long after you are done. ...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it really liked it

Shelves: nov-dec-2010

With remarkable technique and unnerving insight (which she also exhibits in Life Sentences), Lippman probes the psychological aftermath of a crime and the fickle nature of childhood memories. Critics loved every minute of I'd Know You Anywhere, calling it "disarming and fascinating" (USA Today) and very, very creepy. In particular, critics praised Lippman's rich characterizations, which allow readers to delve deep into the minds of Eliza and Walter. The novel transcends its genre, noted the Wash ...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Sera rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, thriller-suspense, library

Another great read on audio. This book is my first one by Lippman, and I will doubtless read more of her work in the future. This book was a fascinating story about a woman who was kidnapped as a teenager and her tormenter reaches out to her in adulthood while he is on death row. Lippman did a great job telling the two stories in parallel (present day versus 1985 when the kidnapping occurred), setting up layer upon layer of what really happened in the past and what the kidnapper is seeking in th ...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Lisa Hickman rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-thrillers, book-club-picks, bookmarks-2010, nook-book

Lippman has written a provoking psychological mystery. Eliza Benedict is contacted by a voice from the past, which she has tried to leave behind. Walter Bowman is on death row for murdering two girls and is suspected in the disappearance of more; Eliza is the one who got away. The novel alternates between past and present as Eliza confronts the reentrance of Walter in her life and looks back on her kidnapping when she was a teen.

The story really makes you think about the effects a crime has on ...more

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Jul 17, 2010 Jamaie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-books, audio

This was my 1st Lippman. If this is anything like the others that came before it, I will be digging in to them sooner than later. It's so interesting...the cover of the book, I mean...you see this girl there. That girl is not the main character in the story, but she plays a huge part towards the end of the story. It makes sense that she's on the cover...but you won't know why unless you read the book. Interesting for sure! ...more

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