Available:*
Library | Shelf Number | Material Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Croftdene Library | DONO | English Fiction | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Montford Library | DONO | English Fiction | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Westville Library | DONO | English Fiction | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Keith Donohue's first novel, "The Stolen Child," was a national bestseller hailed as "captivating" (USA Today), "luminous and thrilling" (Washington Post), and "wonderful...So spare and unsentimental that it's impossible not to be moved (Newsweek. His new novel, "Angels of Destruction," opens on a winter's night, when a young girl appears at the home of Mrs. Margaret Quinn, a widow who lives alone. A decade earlier, she had lost her only child, Erica, who fled with her high school sweetheart to join a radical student group known as the Angels of Destruction. Before Margaret answers the knock in the dark hours, she whispers a prayer and then makes her visitor welcome at the door.
The girl, who claims to be nine years old and an orphan with no place to go, beguiles Margaret, offering some solace, some compensation, for the woman's loss. Together, they hatch a plan to pass her off as her newly found granddaughter, Norah Quinn, and enlist Sean Fallon, a classmate and heartbroken boy, to guide her into the school and town.
Their conspiracy is vulnerable not only to those children and neighbors intrigued by Norah's mysterious and magical qualities but by a lone figure shadowing the girl who threatens to reveal the child's true identity and her purpose in Margaret's life. Who are these strangers really? And what is their connection to the past, the Angels, and the long-missing daughter?
Angels of Destruction is an unforgettable story of hope and fear, heartache and redemption. The saga of the Quinn family unfolds against an America wracked by change. As it delicately dances on the line between the real and the imagined, this mesmerizing new novel confirms Keith Donohue's standing as one of our most inspiring and inventive novelists.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Tweaking some thematic elements of his previous novel, The Stolen Child, Donohoe now tells the story of Norah, a nine-year-old who appears on the doorstep of Margaret Quinn, a widow living a solitary existence in a small Pennsylvania town in 1985. Margaret eagerly takes in Norah to make up for the loss of her own daughter, Erica, who disappeared 10 years earlier after running away to join the Angels of Destruction, a West Coast revolutionary group. Margaret passes off Norah as her granddaughter and enrolls her in school, where Norah becomes friendly with a boy who's been abandoned by his father. Complications ensue when Margaret's sister arrives and has to be convinced that Norah is Erica's daughter. Sandwiched between the story of Margaret and Norah's unusual relationship is the flashback narrative of teenage Erica's road adventures with her boyfriend on their way to join the Angels of Destruction. Norah's unexplained origins form the enigmatic core of this story, and though she comes across as more of a novelistic conceit than a flesh and blood character, the novel movingly illustrates the quest for connection hardwired into every human heart. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
The unfortunate disappearance of one girl and the unexplainable arrival of another are not viewed as coincidences by those who believe in angels in Donohue's eerie follow-up to his acclaimed debut novel, The Stolen Child (2006). It's been 10 years since Margaret Quinn's teenage daughter Erica ran off with her boyfriend, Wiley two dewy-eyed, post-Vietnam War rebels bound for California to join the Angels of Destruction counterrevolutionary cult. Recently widowed, Margaret feels an abject loneliness for her lost family that makes her preternaturally disposed to take in the waif who suddenly appears on her doorstep one frigid night. Posing as Margaret's long-lost grandchild, nine-year-old Norah quickly enraptures her classmates with her otherworldly demeanor, and so solidly insinuates herself into Margaret's routine that the old woman shudders to think she may lose this child, too. Fused with spectral imagery and magnetic characters, Donohue's ethereal foray into the unexpected consequences of love, impenetrable depths of loss, and infinite possibilities of faith is a chilling yet affirmative experience.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2009 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Donohue follows his New York Times best-selling debut novel, The Stolen Child (2006), with this narrative centering on the uncertain identity of a young girl and spanning 30 years, with many back stories and surprises along the way. Actress/voice-over artist Cassandra Campbell keeps listeners engaged as each successive layer of the narrative is revealed, skillfully voicing characters of all ages and showing an extraordinary talent for pacing. The long literary tradition of enchanted children and angels in their many forms is alive and well in this irresistible production sure to be popular among older teens and adults alike. [Embeddable audio clip available through library.booksontape.com; the Shaye Areheart hc was described as "a dark and unsettling story that takes hold of the reader," LJ 2/1/09.-Ed.]-Barbara Valle, El Paso P.L., TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.