- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Avon Books (1 Jan 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0380790882
- ISBN-13: 978-0380790883
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.7 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 431,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Blue Place
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Product Description
Review
"A suspense novel. . .a character study. . .a love story. . .told in lush and potent prose."--"Seattle Times
"It's hard to overpraise the taut plotting and broad intelligence of this thriller. . .Smart narative moves. . .tartly modulated prose that moves fluidly. . .Griffith seems destined to add to her laurels with this swank turn on the detective genre."--"Washington Post Book World
"Griffith has a fine way with character and a sure talent."--"Los Angeles Times
"A hero as sexy and iconic as televion's Xena. . .At once appalling and awe-inspiring, Aud is a bracing amaigam of fire and ice, of the New South and the Old World. She's a stirring inductee into the sisterhood of lady law. Or lawless, as the case may be."--"Village Voice
Product Description
A police lieutenant with the elite "Red Dogs" until she retired at twenty-nine, Aud Torvigen is a rangy six-footer with eyes the color of cement and a tendency to hurt people who get in her way. Born in Norway into the failed marriage between a Scandinavian diplomat and an American businessman, she now makes Atlanta her home, luxuriating in the lush heat and brashness of the New South. She glides easily between the world of silken elegance and that of sleaze and sudden savagery, equally at home in both; functional, deadly, and temporarily quiescent, like a folded razor.
On a humid April evening between storms, out walking just to stay sharp, she turns a corner and collides with a running woman, Catching the scent of clean, rain-soaked hair, Aud nods and silently tells the stranger "Today, you are lucky," and moves on--when behind her house explodes, incinerating its sole occupant, a renowned art historian. When Aud turns back, the woman is gone.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous, Exciting, Complete,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Blue Place (Hardcover)
I read on and on into the night wanting to get to the end and yet knowing I would regret it's ending. I found this book to be exhilarating and moving. Aud was the ultimate "butch", strong and sexy. Her character was intelligent as well as open to suggestion. Having visited Altanta several times, it was interesting to walk through Atlanta one more time from the eyes of a woman such as Aud as well as explore the ice of Norway. Women struggle with feelings of inadequacy most of their lives. I applaud Griffith for confidently putting the characters, Aud and Julia down on paper in such a self-assured way. I must admit to finding some of the book lacking as the male characters seemed quite flat, but I attributed them to the pronounced quality of Aud Torvingen. Ms. Griffith's use of metaphor and carefully placed descriptions of biological functions were accurate as well as interesting. My hat's off to Nicola Griffith for putting together a book that should inspire many lesbian writers, women writers, to allow for the possibility of women as successful not throughly dependent on a man to survive. I enjoyed it very much and have recommended it to my friends.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Independant ex-cop finds heart,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Blue Place (Hardcover)
Destined to become a classic of the genre. This is a rip-roaring, unputdownable, cracking page turner. A stunningly well paced narrative, building from a slow burn start to an ending that delivers a devastating blow.Aud Torvingen - 6ft Norwegian Uberbabe. Ex-cop, and now bodyguard, self-defence expert, freefall skydiver, master carpenter, glacier climber and top horticulturist to boot(!!). A lethal killer. Super-cool, confident and in control. But becomes fallible as soon as she falls in love with Julia Lyons-Bennet, the woman whom Aud has been hired by, to protect. This is a bitter-sweet love story, with a strong central character that you care deeply about. In Aud Torvingen, Nicola Griffith has created the quintessential Lesbian Icon. Intriguing, complex and believable. By the very nature of the genre you know a tragedy is just waiting to happen. And the bad guy is screamingly obvious. But this doesn't matter. It is the journey that counts. The narrative takes you to places you don't usually come across in this genre, and has a beautiful sence of time and place. Very evocative of the Norwegian landscape, mixing as it does myth and fable, the fjells, local cuisine, character and temperament. The novel itself is reminiscent of David Lindsey's 'Requiem for a Glass Heart' in it's central Lesbian relationship, breakneck narrative thrust and killer ending. Like all great novels 'The Blue Place' leaves you desperate for more. But how can any future installments ever hope to compare with such an astonishing and accomplished work - and one that is so obviously a one off. A pleasure to read this outstanding novel. Extremely Highly Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Troll always gets you in the end,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Blue Place (Hardcover)
After devouring Griffith's first two well-written, well-researched works of speculative fiction(Ammonite, Slow River), I was looking forward to Blue Place. Even with the change of genre, I expected more intelligent and literary fiction. I was not entirely disappointed. As usual, Griffith researched the locations and the science well - and the writing was skillful. Her imagination, though - so prevalent in the first two books, seems to have taken a particularly dark turn. Aud Torvingen is an Aryan dream - monied, educated, strong,white - if only she weren't a lesbian. Except for her unsettling enjoyment of violence, she is too perfect - a kind of female Scharwzenegger. This kind of character deserves a satirical edge and there is none. And lastly, I didn't find the book much of a thriller in the traditional sense. There is intense action, violence, wild chases, etc - but, in the end you care less about "who done it" than about Aud herself and her personal evolution. And, in the end, the promise of such an evolution is dashed. Stick to speculative fiction, Nicola - you're MUCH better at it.
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