- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Virago Press Ltd; First U. S. Edition edition (6 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1860496474
- ISBN-13: 978-1860496479
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,225,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Mapping the Edge
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Journalist Anna goes missing on a trip to Italy, and all her friends and child, Lily, can do is worry, and imagine. Stella rushes back to England from Holland to help Paul look after young Lily and the pair of them have to come to terms with what Anna's permanent loss would mean.
Dunant writes well about the new tensions implicit in new sorts of family and new ways of life; Stella's free life with a semi-detached lover, Paul's relationship with the younger Mike--can these survive having to bring up a child? And what has happened to Anna? Dunant plays games and tells us two very different thrilling stories of Anna's absence. Is Anna perhaps the victim of a drugged drink, and abduction, and is locked in a remote house, a woman in Gothic danger? Or is she caught up in a more modern fantasy--off having raunchy sex with a charming but unsatisfactory lover who talks to her about art and takes her to look at rare paintings? This is an intense book, all the more effective for its every element being provisional; Dunant uses thriller elements to invigorate a novel of loss and risk. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Journalist Anna goes missing on a trip to Italy, and all her friends and child, Lily, can do is worry, and imagine. Stella rushes back to England from Holland to help Paul look after young Lily and the pair of them have to come to terms with what Anna's permanent loss would mean.
Dunant writes well about the new tensions implicit in new sorts of family and new ways of life; Stella's free life with a semi-detached lover, Paul's relationship with the younger Mike--can these survive having to bring up a child? And what has happened to Anna? Dunant plays games and tells us two very different thrilling stories of Anna's absence. Is Anna perhaps the victim of a drugged drink, and abduction, and locked in a remote house, a woman in Gothic danger? Or is she caught up in a more modern fantasy--off having raunchy sex with a charming but unsatisfactory lover who talks to her about art and takes her to look at rare paintings? This is an intense book, all the more effective for its every element being provisional; Dunant uses thriller elements to invigorate a novel of loss and risk.--Roz Kaveney
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book with a purpose as I will be attending a 'reader's day' with the author and had been allocated this book. I would never have picked it up in a million years as it didn't seem like 'my sort of read'. How wrong can you be! Sarah Dunant creates a masterfully interwoven plot with her two story lines about the disappearance of Anna , was it choice or 'did someone do the choosing for her'.The edge is right because I was on the edge of my seat reading this, and trying to figure out just how it was going to end and how was Dunant going to weave it all back together in the final chapter. She does of course and I closed the book feeling as if this had been a very gratifying reading experience and also telling myself not to be so limited and superficially judgemental in what I choose to read in future!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked up this book whilst on holiday, and finished it within 3 days.
Mapping The Edge is a truly gripping tale of the two possible scenarios in which the main character is involved. But which one? In both, Alice is prevented from returning home after a short break in Italy. Both are highly believable, but quite different, although the two situations gradually seem to become interwoven, sharing crucial events,and eventually the more originally sinister story becomes the one we can empathise with, whilst what begins as a seemingly uncomplicated affair driven by mutial desires becomes increasingly menacing. Running through the story is the background of the main characters' daughter,6 year old Lily,and her perception of her abandonment by her mother, as well as the concerns of Alices friends, Stella and Paul, who are responsible for Lily in her ever more lengthy absence. This book draws you in and pulls you with ever increasing speed towards its satisfyingly apt conclusion. A great book, and I shall be reading more from Sarah Dunant.
Mapping The Edge is a truly gripping tale of the two possible scenarios in which the main character is involved. But which one? In both, Alice is prevented from returning home after a short break in Italy. Both are highly believable, but quite different, although the two situations gradually seem to become interwoven, sharing crucial events,and eventually the more originally sinister story becomes the one we can empathise with, whilst what begins as a seemingly uncomplicated affair driven by mutial desires becomes increasingly menacing. Running through the story is the background of the main characters' daughter,6 year old Lily,and her perception of her abandonment by her mother, as well as the concerns of Alices friends, Stella and Paul, who are responsible for Lily in her ever more lengthy absence. This book draws you in and pulls you with ever increasing speed towards its satisfyingly apt conclusion. A great book, and I shall be reading more from Sarah Dunant.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ms. Dunant delivers two different versions of the plot. What happens to Anna Franklin? She is thirty-nine, very attractive, "pretty was always too tame a word," a single mother and journalist, who goes for a short vacation to Italy, leaving her six-year-old daughter with friends in London. When she does not return, her friends are justifiably alarmed, but knowing Anna's reliability they invent rational reasons for her continued absence - until it becomes apparent that she may never return.
The two different accounts of Anna's adventures are cleverly interwoven with the narrative of what occurs at home with the daughter and friends who wait, as we wait, to discover just what is going on. The author also takes us on a journey into Anna's past to further develop her character. This chilling novel promises answers but never really delivers. Ms. Dunant's writing is taut and suspenseful. She is a three time finalist for the Golden Dagger Award. This is a novel you won't be able to put down - an engrossing read!
JANA
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mixed reaction
Whilst I enjoyed the writing and the story, the last page, no, the last 3 lines, totally confused me. Read more
Published on 2 April 2010 by AT
Easy read with some tension
As a night time reader it was easy. However one thread of the plot was scary and was not conducive to sleep. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2009 by Ruth
Take it or leave it
I have just finished reading this and I am left feeling "is that it?"
The protagonist, Anna, has disappeared off to Italy without telling anyone where or why (leaving... Read more
The protagonist, Anna, has disappeared off to Italy without telling anyone where or why (leaving... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2008 by Boof
Confusing
Although I will have to admit to not fully understanding therefore being confused by this story, it did not spoil my enjoyment of the novel. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2007 by LindyLouMac
A story that takes you right to the edge.,
Dunant is a real pro, subtly using every trick in the book to create a psychological novel of intense suspense, a novel that succeeds beautifully in keeping the reader involved, on... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2005 by Mary Whipple
Page-turning mystery
A slow-burner, this one, but once the mystery has a chance to grow, it's a page-turning read. I couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2005
A story that takes you right to the edge.
Dunant is a real pro, subtly using every trick in the book to create a psychological novel of intense suspense, a novel that succeeds beautifully in keeping the reader involved, on... Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2002 by Mary Whipple
A page turner
Mapping The Edge was a very enjoyable read, especially when the second dimension of mystery came into it. Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2002
Bedtime readers, beware -- but it's worth it!
Anna Franklin's "strategy for revitalization" involves an impulsive trip to Florence, Italy where she expects to rendezvous with her recently acquired part-time lover. Read more
Published on 21 April 2001
Couldn't put it down
Not having ever read any other books by Sarah Dunant I have can't wait to buy the next. Mapping The Edge is cleverly written entwining two stories into one - similar to Sliding... Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2000 by nicola@blackledge.screaming.net
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