Lovesong (Hardcover)

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Review
Lovesong opens with a conundrum: a pregnant girl waits in her London home, accused of murdering an unknown man. Who is she? Is she guilty? Who are her accusers? Why is she not in prison? The opening pages lead us to expect a psychological thriller, though what unfolds is both more subtle and less comprehensible. This is the story of Lillie Bird, a girl born and raised in a religious fundamentalist American community. At the age of eight she takes a single opportunity to break free - with both liberating and, ultimately, tragic consequences. Lillie falls in love, and her growing understanding of the true nature of commitment and sacrifice is both her undoing and her salvation. Gemmell has a real feel for landscape, whether it's rural America, London or the Scottish Highlands. Here, though, frequent scene changes serve to dilute the brooding sense of place which dominated her earlier novel about the Australian outback, Cleave. As Lillie wanders from the community of her birth she encounters people, sights and sounds that develop her personality and her experience of the world, but somehow the picaresque aspect of this novel detracts from its basic power. As a coming-of-age novel and a subtle love story, the book is very successful. Gemmell writes beautiful, chiming sentences and inhabits her outsider heroine with sensitivity. But however engaging the characterization, the novel loses focus through episodic narrative and an awkward framing device which seems tacked on as an afterthought to give the story shape. Having encouraged its readers to expect a thriller, the story twists out of sight, only to return to the opening motif when we have almost forgotten its significance. The result is more jarring than subversive, and this is a blemish on what is otherwise a profound and moving evocation of love. (Kirkus UK)

Product Description
A heartbreaking and mesmerizing story of a young woman's search for love When Lillie Bird was thirteen years old she walked into her parents' home closing the door behind her, shutting out the condemning cries of the small town of Sunshine. With only an outing to Christmas mass once a year, this house was to be her world for the next eight years. On the day she turns twenty one this too-dazzling woman brims with imminent escape and longs to find the world that she has only read about: of men, of love, of brightness. But the town of Sunshine cannot hold Lillie and soon she is drawn to her mother's land, the cold dark English skies, and finally to the scuffed and tumbling London streets. There she finds the pleasure and the sadness in the world she so desperately seeks. This is Nikki Gemmell's finest work to date.

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5 Reviews 5 star:  (4) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   29 of 35 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Lovesong - casting it's spell, 3 Aug 2003 By  Elizabeth (London, England) - See all my reviews This review is from: Lovesong (Paperback) Wonderful to read. Lillie, the main character in the book, is a troubled youth trying to find life from one continent to another. It's romantic, yet displaced characters can be often identified with....A mother, uprooting herself from the country of her birth, to fall in love with a man from America and stay there, her daughter, Lillie, being sent to stay with her Grandfather, back in England, a man set in his ways, but with a rebel understanding in his heart....an aunt, so utterly British, A man, who uses women, another desperately in love...all entwined with the main character, who's lost in herself....and wants to discover life. A novel haunting, intense and beautifully written, different and set apart the author conveys this in her style of writing, that's so addictive. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   11 of 14 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book, 28 Oct 2004 By  "michelle_1" - See all my reviews This review is from: Lovesong (Paperback) This book was absolutely amazing. The writing style is superb and draws you in and made me not want to put the book down. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a book which is not instantly forgettable but stays with you. Fantastic. I will definitely be reading other books by Nikki Gemmell. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   10 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars GLAMOUR magazine must-read, 28 Aug 2001 By A Customer "A mesmerising read about the triumph of the human spirit, but there's no mushy sentimentality - Gemmell's third book has the heroine Lillie Bird discovering joy and pain in her new life. It's punchy but poetic and, above all, heartbreaking." Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 5 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Undecided I have just fiished this book, and Im not really sure how I feel about it. I thought it was very hard to get into, and found the style of writing difficult to read, as it didnt... Read more Published on 3 May 2006 by LMH 5.0 out of 5 stars ELLE magazine read-of-the-month: "Gemmell's third novel casts a siren-like spell; a lovely, lyrical creation that has melody and melancholy aching through its sentences ... Bewitchingly good." Published on 28 Aug 2001 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 5 customer reviews...

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