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Critical Injuries
 
 
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Critical Injuries (Paperback)

by Joan Barfoot (Author) "HOP IN" LYLE SAYS, and in Isla hops ..." (more)
4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 335 pages
  • Publisher: Women's Press Ltd,The (1 Feb 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0704347520
  • ISBN-13: 978-0704347526
  • Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.4 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 717,281 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
'This wise, funny, harrowing novel will be the book of the year. The writing is superbly in charge of itself. The subject of Critical Injuries is forgiveness, and at its moral centre is an intelligent, reflective consciousness we can admire, but also love' Carol Shields

Product Description
After years of disappointment, 49-year-old Isla is finally content in her second marriage to Lyle. 17-year-old Roddy, on the other hand, is a faltering student, and occasional shoplifter trying to make sense of his life. Their worlds collide one hot August afternoon when a fake robbery organised by Roddy and his friend Mike goes horribly wrong, leaving Isla with a bullet lodged in her spine. With Roddy 'immobilised' in gaol and Isla lying paralysed in hospital, they both have lots of time to reflect upon where it all went wrong. A book that explores the bad things that happen to good people - a hugely entertaining read about turning points, second chances, the human ability to adapt & survive.

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HOP IN" LYLE SAYS, and in Isla hops. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding novel by an author who should be better-known, 25 April 2002
By A. Craig "Amanda Craig" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Joan Barfoot is one of those novelists like Carol Shields you want to tell your friends about. She's just so good on people and the workings of the human heart- shrewd, generous, funny and wise.
The catastrophic collison between the worlds of Isla, a middle-aged woman, and Roddy, a drifter and would-be robber is more tragic than that in 'Getting Over Edgar' but deeper, too. Isla's family rage and despair, and her sufferings as the result of a broken spine are paralleled with those of Roddy in jail. Yet there is another link between them. Isla's beautiful daughter, who has been under the spell of a sinister guru, becomes Roddy's unexpected saviour. To say more would be to give away too much, but this is as good as Carol Shields, any day.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Healing, 13 Nov 2002
By Eric Anderson (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Simple pleasures lead to dangerous results in Barfoot's deeply compelling and emotional novel Critical Injuries. Isla, a middle aged women goes with her husband Lyle to get an ice cream cone as a small reward. This innocent act turns to tragedy when Isla finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Roddy is a teenage boy who makes a foolhardy plan with his close friend Mike to make some quick money in an attempt to escape the monotony of their small town. A thoughtless action at the dairy bar sparks a chain of events that will alter their lives forever. Gradually, as the heart wrenching struggles of the present unfold, the pasts of Isla and Roddy are related to give an unprejudiced view of their development. Each has had to deal with unexpected loss, disappointment and terrifying challenges. Extraordinary decisions need to be made by ordinary people. This novel is a tribute to that struggle. Slowly we are given a detailed picture of the nature of recovery and forgiveness. The brutal honesty of the ending creates a resounding impression.

The tremendous strength of this novel is in the power of Barfoot's prose to create a sense of immediacy. She does this through establishing powerful voices for her characters that comment upon situations as they occur letting their thoughts and memories leak out into the present moment. Her portrait of each character is deeply sympathetic to their struggle to live happily and thus the reader feels a strong connection to them. It is as if, through a slight alteration of fate, these moving characters could be us and their harrowing events might be ours. Each character is neither perfect nor evil. The author depicts with elegantly constructed prose the flaws of human nature using accuracy and profound wit. The intellectual conflicts the characters face are presented with emotionally rounded pictures lending depth and wisdom to their struggle. The novel makes a powerful impression.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A terrific book, marred by too neat an ending, 24 Sep 2002
By A Customer
I readily concur with the previous reviewer. I read this book with delight and awe as Barfoot wittily and truthfully delved under the surface of 'ordinary' lives with a scalpel's precision. I will certainly seek out all her other previous novels. However, I was a little disappointed by the final scenes which stretched my credibility to almost breaking point. I wished I could believe that such 'grace' as Barfoot calls it, is possible, but I can't. But this is a minor quibble about a novelist who deserves as much acclaim as Carol Shields, Anne Tyler and Anita Shreve.
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