- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate (21 Feb 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002259710
- ISBN-13: 978-0002259712
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 829,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Praise for ‘Wasted’:
‘A stunningly original and beautifully written book gouging deep into a gruesome subject which, by comparison, other writers have merely flirted with.’ Evening Standard
‘This factual account of a twenty-three-year-old’s experience of anorexia and bulimia is not just another confessional. It has not been written as an act of therapy or for financial gain. It is a prose poem…Like Plath, Hornbacher writes with a metaphoric intensity which at times seems tragically indistinguishable from the power of her drive to self-destruct. Her brutal honesty as to why it happened to her and her lack of special pleading only add to the essential pain of the book. If you want to understand anorexia, read this book.’ Scotsman
‘What marks “Wasted” out is the quality of the voice. Hornbacher is, simply, a good writer. Coolly vivid, there’s an edge to her prose…Her gift for description makes even the familiar aspects of the phenomenon newly real.’ Guardian
Product Description
A fascinating, highly unusual literary novel of love, obsession and powerful women by the author of the highly acclaimed ‘Wasted’.
'All the seasons here in the north move toward their own end, except winter, which moves toward its centre and sits there to see how long you can take it.'
At the centre of winter, in Motley, Minnesota, Arnold Schiller gives in to the oppressive season that reigns outside and also to his own inner demons and commits suicide, leaving a devastated family in his wake.
Claire Schiller, wife and mother, takes shelter from the emotional storm with her husband's parents, but must ultimately emerge from her grief and help her two young children to recover. Esau, her oldest, is haunted by the same darkness that plagued his father. At twelve years old, he has already been in and out of state psychiatric hospitals and now, with the help of his mother and sister, he must overcome the forces that drive him deep into himself. But as the youngest, perhaps, it is Kate who carries the heaviest burden. A precocious six year old who desperately wants to help her mother hold the family together, she will have to come to terms with the memory of her father who was at once loving and cruel.
Narrated alternately by Claire, Katie and Esau, this powerful and passionate novel explores the ways in which both children and adults experience tragic events, discover solace and hope in each other, and survive. 'The Centre of Winter' finds humour in unlikely places and evokes the north - its people and landscape - with warmth, sensitivity and insight. The story of three people who, against all odds, find their way out of the centre of winter, Marya Hornbacher's debut novel will leave you breathless, tearful, and ultimately, inspired.
'You cannot live with the past cluttering up the house. You cannot waste your love. You must love what is left, what has the will to live.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like many others I read Hornbacher's memoir 'Wasted' and was impressed at her vast talents as a writer. I was therefore very keen to read her first work of fiction, if a little nervous that it wouldn't match up to it's predecessor's standard.
As it turns out, my nerves were completetly unneccesary. 'The Centre of Winter' is, in a single word, breathtaking. Telling the story of a family in 60/70s Minnesotta, who have to learn to pick up the pieces of their lives after the suicide of the father, Arthur. Told from three different perspectives, that of Claire the mother, Esau the oldest son and young Kate, the daughter, each narrative provides a glimpse in the effect of the tragedy. Hornbacher's great skill is her abilty to create a truly convincing 'voice' for each narrator, making the entire story seen totally genuine and realistic. Her characters are very complex and interesting as well, with no cliches and stereotypical devices being used.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a deeply touching, thought-provoking read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well, this novell was mind blowing! I ordered it thinking it might be written as skillfully as 'wasted', the authers memoirs. And it was. It was VERY different from her original work, but manages to takle a, perhaps difficult subject, with ease. The simplicity with which the novell is narated, from three different perspectives no less, is honest, believable and at times, breath taking.
Told by the children and their mother it tells the reader of their loss and how they all come to deal with this emotionally. The parts narratted by the children are no less believable considering their age, just told as you would imagine they might feel.
It's not 'Wasted', but does a novell need to be the same as memoirs? It is in a leage of its own and for that i would advice you all to buy and try! Only do so with no expectations and a completely open mind! Its a wonderfull read and is highly believable! x
Told by the children and their mother it tells the reader of their loss and how they all come to deal with this emotionally. The parts narratted by the children are no less believable considering their age, just told as you would imagine they might feel.
It's not 'Wasted', but does a novell need to be the same as memoirs? It is in a leage of its own and for that i would advice you all to buy and try! Only do so with no expectations and a completely open mind! Its a wonderfull read and is highly believable! x
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