- Hardcover: 307 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group (12 Aug 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307265471
- ISBN-13: 978-0307265470
- Product Dimensions: 15.7 x 3 x 21.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,100,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Blessed Child
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Ullmann's sentences...are a pleasure to read and her deft modern sensibility is winning."
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Linn Ullmann's A Blessed Child is a like a fine, long evening of light. There are all sorts of colors on the horizon, and even when the darkness becomes visible, there is still a place to turn to. This is a book for fathers and daughters, and for anyone who's beguiled by the country of family. The language is clear and runs deep. The story is profound and touching. Together, they announce another great story telling feat by Linn Ullmann. She reminds me of Berger, of Aciman, of Toibin: no greater praise."
--Colum McCann, author of "Zoli: A Novel"
"A world-famous octogenarian father approaching death, three daughters, each of a different mother, a windswept island in the Baltic: of these, of fragments of recollection, and of a childhood summer when an event of unimaginable cruelty changed everything, Linn Ullmann has woven a memory novel of haunting power and grace."
--Honor Moore, author of "The Bishop's Daughter"
"A hauntingly beautiful novel of family ties, A Blessed Child takes on what it means to be old, what it means to have loved selfishly, deeply and - equally - to no longer love. Linn Ullmann has crafted an inescapably evocative novel about memory, about childhood, about the movement of life, the nature of grief and the enormous mystery of love."
--A.M. Homes, author of "The Mistress's Daughter"
"A Blessed Child is a tour de force of, for want of a better way of putting it, narrative memory. In this nuanced and subtle and smart novel, the past and its tragedies are supervening over the present and its tragedies in wait, andeven the living can seem to inhabit a kind of timeless island of familial memory. The folding of time upon time upon time, however complexly difficult for the writer to achieve, creates an effect that is sure and beautiful. This is a novel about how people think, and about the things we think, and about how, finally, the manner and content of our thoughts may very well be pretty much who we are."
--Donald Antrim, author of "The Afterlife: A Memoir"
"A novel of stark beauty that leaves moral issues tantalizingly open."
--"Kirkus Reviews" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Linn Ullmann's A Blessed Child is a like a fine, long evening of light. There are all sorts of colors on the horizon, and even when the darkness becomes visible, there is still a place to turn to. This is a book for fathers and daughters, and for anyone who's beguiled by the country of family. The language is clear and runs deep. The story is profound and touching. Together, they announce another great story telling feat by Linn Ullmann. She reminds me of Berger, of Aciman, of Toibin: no greater praise."
--Colum McCann, author of "Zoli: A Novel"
"A world-famous octogenarian father approaching death, three daughters, each of a different mother, a windswept island in the Baltic: of these, of fragments of recollection, and of a childhood summer when an event of unimaginable cruelty changed everything, Linn Ullmann has woven a memory novel of haunting power and grace."
--Honor Moore, author of "The Bishop's Daughter"
"A hauntingly beautiful novel of family ties, A Blessed Child takes on what it means to be old, what it means to have loved selfishly, deeply and - equally - to no longer love. Linn Ullmann has crafted an inescapably evocative novel about memory, about childhood, about the movement of life, the nature of grief and the enormous mystery of love."
--A.M. Homes, author of "The Mistress's Daughter"
"A Blessed Child is a tour de force of, for want of a better way of putting it, narrative memory. In this nuanced and subtle and smart novel, the past and its tragedies are supervening over the present and its tragedies in wait, andeven the living can seem to inhabit a kind of timeless island of familial memory. The folding of time upon time upon time, however complexly difficult for the writer to achieve, creates an effect that is sure and beautiful. This is a novel about how people think, and about the things we think, and about how, finally, the manner and content of our thoughts may very well be pretty much who we are."
--Donald Antrim, author of "The Afterlife: A Memoir"
"A novel of stark beauty that leaves moral issues tantalizingly open."
--"Kirkus Reviews" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Gloss
'Ullmann's excellent fourth novel, is a lyrical and unsettling story of complex family ties and the casual cruelties of childhood.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Summering with father Isak Lovenstad and her two half-sisters, Molly and Laura, on the Baltic isle of Hammarso, Erica forms a friendship with oddball Ragnar. When she reaches her teens and is worried about what her peers may think, she dumps Ragnar with tragic consequences for everyone.
Twenty-five years later, returning to visit their elderly father, the three women confront an old family secret whilst remembering the last summer of their childhood.
The fragility of human relationships is a strong theme running through this novel. The women try to recover some stability back into their lives by facing up to the events that took place during that last visit to Hammarso.
This book holds a wonderful story of childhood memories and unspoken family secrets.
Twenty-five years later, returning to visit their elderly father, the three women confront an old family secret whilst remembering the last summer of their childhood.
The fragility of human relationships is a strong theme running through this novel. The women try to recover some stability back into their lives by facing up to the events that took place during that last visit to Hammarso.
This book holds a wonderful story of childhood memories and unspoken family secrets.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A step backwards
17 Dec 2008
Format:Hardcover
Both GRACE and STELLA DESCENDING, Linn Ullmann's previous novels, were strange and compelling, and I read them at a gallop. This one took longer; I was constantly finding reasons to put it down and come back later. A BLESSED CHILD is more self-indulgent, I believe, drawing on the author's own experiences; more nostalgic; and more episodic and staccato, never really gathering steam and taking off. There are a few puzzles inside for those who care to solve them, part of the novel's appealing ambiguousness, but the characters remain fixed on the page and do not enter the reader's imagination. By all means authors should strive not to repeat themselves, but as an admirer of Ullmann's work I found A BLESSED CHILD to be a step backwards from the original voice of her earlier novels.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
"A Blessed Child" -- Gifted story from a gifted storyteller
11 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
"A Blessed Child" is an almost Rashomon kind of story, revolving around the perspectives of three sisters who return to a remote Swedish island to be with their aged father for what they believe may be their last time with him. Each daughter has a different mother, and each daughter experiences her own path to maturity in a different way. Author Ullmann weaves their stories together in a completely believeable way, making each's journey fascinating in itself. There is a seminal event which they all witness in unique ways, and deal with in equally unique ways. A satisfying book, well worth spending time with. The author makes the winter weather and the distant locale into "characters" in the story, giving a real feel for the remoteness and frigidity of a tiny Swedish island as the story builds compellingly to a surprising climax. One word about the translation, by a woman curiously named Death: it's first rate, colloquial and symbolic.
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