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Search - A Map of the World
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Book Description:
Pen /Hemingway Award-winning novelist Jane Hamilton follows up her first success, The Book Of Ruth, with this spectacularly heartbreaking and haunting drama about a rural American family and a disastrous event that forever changes their lives. A Map of the World is the riveting story of how a single mistake can forever change the lives of everyone involved--in ways that are beyond imagination.Members who requested this book also requested:
The Goodwins, Howard, Alice, and their little girls, Emma and Claire, live on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Although suspiciously regarded by their neighbors as "that hippie couple" because of their well-educated, urban background, Howard and Alice believe they have found a source of emotional strength in the farm, he tending the barn while Alice works as a nurse in the local elementary school.
But their peaceful life is shattered one day when a neighbor's two-year-old daughter drowns in the Goodwins' pond while under Alice's care. Tormented by the accident, Alice descends even further into darkness when she is accused of sexually abusing a student at the elementary school. Soon, Alice is arrested, incarcerated, and as good as convicted in the eyes of a suspicious community. As a child, Alice designed her own map of the world to find her bearings. Now, as an adult, she must find her way again, through a maze of lies, doubt and ill will.
A vivid human drama of guilt and betrayal, A Map of the World chronicles the intricate geographies of the human heart and all its mysterious, uncharted terrain. The result is a piercing drama about family bonds and a disappearing rural American life.
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Genres:Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette (2 cassettes/3 hours), Audio Cassette, Hardcover
Top Member Reviews
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Beautifully written, but I have to agree with another reviewer on this list that I basically couldn't stand the main character here. She seemed to me to be self-absorbed and just plain weird. Her husband seemed nasty. Her friend Theresa was almost just a sketch of a character. Anyway, blah....I don't mind a depressing story, but give me something to grab onto to already......
Marleen B. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I thought this is a good, but very different book. I was engrossed in the story almost immediately, although I couldn't put my finger on why. The book starts in the perspective of Alice, an unhappy and persevering wife of a dairy farmer. Alice is an odd character; she sees things in a way that no one else does. Sometimes I couldn't decide whether she was just eccentric with a wide-ranging and vivid imagination, or whether she was just mentally ill. The events of the story could send anyone into a downward spiral of questioning all that you hold true in life. The perspective changes for the middle of the book to that of Alice's husband, Howard. The contrast is very interesting and gives much insight into Alice's character as well as the background of their lives. Then, for the last part the perspective is Alice's again. All in all, there valuabel themes of perseverance, love despite adversity, forgiveness, and respecting others. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys character-based stories. This is not a fast-moving story though, so if you enjoy action and lots of twists and turns in plot, this probably isn't the book for you.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
One of the top 10 books for 1994
Engrossing story that could happen to anyone.
Shows how one event can change everything.
Great reviews from New York Times, Newsweek,Washington Post Publishers Weekly.
Author also wrote The Book of Ruth
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This second novel by Hamilton (The Book of Ruth, LJ 11/1/88) is a stunning exploration of how one careless moment can cause irrevocable and devastating change. Alice Goodwin is caring for her best friend's children when two-year-old Lizzy Collins wanders to the pond on the Goodwin farm and drowns. The consequences of this tragedy reverberate through a small Wisconsin community, which never accepted Howard and Alice Goodwin. Theresa Collins, bereft at losing a child and a dear friend, draws on her Catholic religion and finds forgiveness. Alice, immobilized by guilt and grief and unable to function as a wife or mother to her own two daughters, is charged with abusing children in her part-time job as a school nurse. Lizzy's death is ever present-especially in the bond growing between Theresa and Howard while Alice is in jail-and the pain of it is echoed in Alice's primary young accuser and in Alice as a child, drawing her own map of the world after her mother died. Reminiscent of Rosellen Brown's Tender Mercies (1978), this compelling, multilayered fiction belongs in all collections.
April B. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Good read. One of the better reads from Oprah's list.
Kylee P. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Heart wrenching. One of the best books that I've ever read.
Brenda T. from SANDY SPRINGS, GA wrote on 8/15/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
So sad, what would happen if your neighbor's child died under your watch...
Lynn K. from KENMORE, NY wrote on 7/22/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Hamilton writes with a stunning grace, spinning an intensely real world with exquisitely human, multi-faceted characters that draw you in. I enjoyed this book immensely and am eager to read more by this author.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Written by one of my favorite authors. A very hard book to read (subject matter), yet hard to put down, in the end, I was left with a sence the I could survive anything, and was so happy and thankful to have not put it down, and finished reading such a very strong book by a gifted writer.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Intriguing read....a page turner.
Rate These Member Reviews
Sandra W. wrote on 3/28/2008...A very well-written book that is centered around a tragedy. I had to read this book slowly and absorb what the characters were feeling. This one is certainly literature.
Synopsis
A farmer's wife who is also a school nurse has possibly been responsible for the drowning death of a child--and then, in a separate incident, she is accused of molesting a child in her care. These horrifying events and their increasingly tense and thriller-like repercussions raise questions about life in the heartland of America.
I got about half way through the story before I had to quit because I was so frustrated by the main character. It still sits on my shelf with me hoping that one day I can get through it.
Kristen R. (A bit disturbing, I could'nt get the images out of my mind, a good book, but "heavy"
I could not get with this at all...
Terri F. from EPSOM, NH wrote on 4/16/2007...Excellent read - an Oprah book club choice
Joan R. from WALLINGFORD, CT wrote on 3/18/2007...fine novel with great characters
Annie H. from FORT WAYNE, IN wrote on 3/16/2007...While the book took me a while to get through, I did enjoy the story.