- Hardcover: 408 pages
- Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large Print edition edition (1 Mar 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0708943659
- ISBN-13: 978-0708943656
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 14.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,888,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Synopsis
Kirsty wakes in a strange house to be told she is not a 20-year-old photography student, but a 29-year-old married mother. As the devastating secrets of the present begin to reveal themselves, Kirsty understands why amnesia might be preferable to knowing the truth. A debut novel.
From the Publisher
Forgetting is terrifying - remembering might be worse
Kirsty wakes in a strange house. She is told it is her home, chosen and decorated by her. A little girl calls her 'Mummy' - but Kirsty has never seen her before. A man tells her they are married to each other. She dislikes him. He's not her type at all. They say she is not Kirsty Middleton, a twenty-year-old photography student. She is Kirsten Villiers, twenty-nine, married, a mother. She slipped, knocked herself out and lost nearly a decade of her life. The world is a frightening place for Kirsty, full of strangers who say they know her and familiar faces changed by time. Then the secrets of Kirsten Villiers' present begin to reveal themselves and Kirsty starts to understand why amnesia might be preferable to knowing the truth. 'Absolutely stunning - a really brilliant, unputdownable book' KATIE FFORDE; 'A good psychological thriller, pacily told...with echoes of Helen Dunmore, Morrison's debut proves her a superb storyteller' THE TIMES --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Kirsty wakes in a strange house. She is told it is her home, chosen and decorated by her. A little girl calls her 'Mummy' - but Kirsty has never seen her before. A man tells her they are married to each other. She dislikes him. He's not her type at all. They say she is not Kirsty Middleton, a twenty-year-old photography student. She is Kirsten Villiers, twenty-nine, married, a mother. She slipped, knocked herself out and lost nearly a decade of her life. The world is a frightening place for Kirsty, full of strangers who say they know her and familiar faces changed by time. Then the secrets of Kirsten Villiers' present begin to reveal themselves and Kirsty starts to understand why amnesia might be preferable to knowing the truth. 'Absolutely stunning - a really brilliant, unputdownable book' KATIE FFORDE; 'A good psychological thriller, pacily told...with echoes of Helen Dunmore, Morrison's debut proves her a superb storyteller' THE TIMES --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a story about changing friendships, growing up, the choices we make which turn us into the people we are, and the patterns in our lives that are repeated time and time again. It is about the secrets that exist within marriage, about sexual desire, and coming to terms with pain. The plot gradually unfolds with all the mystery of a detective story, except that corpse is still alive and locked in a world she doesn't understand, desperately seeking the unknown, yet half afraid of what she might find. The style is easy, highly readable, spellbinding from the first page. As the mess that appears to be the past life of Kirsten Villiers becomes untangled in her mind, the suspense grows like a tower of building blocks that partially tumble from time to time. The novel is compact, compulsive and moving, maintaining its tension until the last page. It explores in hauntingly beautiful prose, the unfolding of Kirsten';s missing years and the way the experience cleanses her and allows her to restart her life with at least a hint that she will be able to come to terms with the person she has become. I was totally mesmerised by the world of Kirsten, Clyde, and Janey - on the one hand dying to get to the end to find out the answers to all the questions about Kirsten's past and yet on the other unwilling to have to finally put it down for the last time.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Frozen Summer is a novel of extraordinary potency. It captivated me on page one and refused to let me go until I had finished the last line: even now, it lingers on, teasing my mind with thoughts of 'what if?'
Kirsty, or Kirsten, or . . ., has lost all memory of the last nine years of her life. She has a husband, a daughter and a whole group of friends: but they are all strangers to the twenty year old student that she feels herself still to be. Worse yet, she can't understand how that twenty year old could ever have evolved into the woman she is supposed to be: what happened to change her values so much? What aberration caused her to marry this man? What happened to her old friends? What really happened at the river that day when she fell and bumped her head?
Crysse Morrison takes you on Kirsty's journey of rediscovery with a lightness of touch which eerily balances the intensity of the psychological drama that unfolds. It is a journey fraught with fear and suspicion, beset by false hopes and, ultimately, heartrending truths.
A frighteningly believable and powerful first novel.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read this beautifully written novel when it came out in paperback 6 years ago and I was hooked from the start by the mystery of the narrator's frightening situation. I'd started reading at about 8.00 pm and I couldn't stop till I'd reached the end in the small hours of the morning. I'd then intended to go through it all again, slowly, but life took over and I've only just got round to doing so. In spite of `knowing what happens' I found the storyline itself just as compelling, and this time I was able to pay more attention to all its resonances and other qualities. It's structured in a highly original way, weaving back and forth between the narrator's present and her past, with the nine intervening years a total blank. This allows Morrison to explore, as an integral part of the plot, the timeless issues of identity and what it is that makes us the people we become.
The characters are all beautifully drawn, especially the narrator, Kirsty/Kirsten, as she gradually discovers less likeable aspects of her previous behaviour. Even apparently unattractive characters engage our sympathy as they reveal hidden depths and vulnerabilities.
It's a frightening, harrowing, humorous, tender and wise novel - the kind of book that sneaks its deeper insights into your brain while your conscious mind is held in the grip of a thrilling read. Be warned - this book will stay with you!
The characters are all beautifully drawn, especially the narrator, Kirsty/Kirsten, as she gradually discovers less likeable aspects of her previous behaviour. Even apparently unattractive characters engage our sympathy as they reveal hidden depths and vulnerabilities.
It's a frightening, harrowing, humorous, tender and wise novel - the kind of book that sneaks its deeper insights into your brain while your conscious mind is held in the grip of a thrilling read. Be warned - this book will stay with you!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sticks in the mind
Absolutely brilliant! Fantastic idea and very well executed! The character of Kirsten/Kirsty really helped to make you understand how terrifying it must be to loose your memory. Read more
Published 22 months ago by madaboutbooks
A compelling, easy read
I really enjoyed reading this. It might not be revolutionary and it won't set your world alight but the prose style is easy to read and engaging. Read more
Published on 8 July 2009 by Script Angel
Disappointing
Having read the other reviews I thought I was in for a treat but I was sadly disappointed. It started off promising then I found the plot slow but kept on going, hoping for the... Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2004
Just read it!!!
Kirsten wakes up in hospital with no memory of the last ten years of her life. She doesn't recognise the man who claims he's her husband, nor the child he says is her daughter. Read more
Published on 2 Nov 1999
The perfect summer escape!
Frozen Summer by Crysse Morrison
Imagine staring into the mirror to see a face which seems familiar but isn't the person you remember as yourself. Read more
Published on 19 July 1999
Compulsive reading, cinematic and convincing portrayal.
Crysse Morrison's first novel about Kirsty, a woman of 29 whose mind has blanked out nine years of her life after a fall, is compulsive reading. Read more
Published on 13 July 1999
Compelling, thought provoking and inspiring.
An excellent, compelling read. Thought provoking in the way it highlights how reliant individuals are on their memories and history for affirmation of their present day... Read more
Published on 5 July 1999
unputdownable
I think it is absolutely stunning - a really brilliant, unputdownable book. It wraps a psycholological thriller, a voyage of self discovery and a romance into an addictive... Read more
Published on 2 July 1999
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