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Search - The Center of Everything
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The Center of Everything Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Book Description:
A dazzling debut in the tradition of Jane Hamilton and Mona Simpson.
In Laura Moriarty's extraordinary first novel, a young girl tries to make sense of an unruly world spinning around her. Growing up with a single mother who is chronically out of work and dating a married man, 10-year old Evelyn Bucknow learns early how to fend for herself.
Offering an affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, one in which the daughter is very often expected to play the role of the adult, the novel also gives readers a searing rendering of the claustrophobia of small town midwestern life, as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. Evelyn must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love -- that not all loves are meant to be -- and determine who she is and who she wants to be. Stuck in the middle of Kansas, between best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love, Evelyn finds herself . . . in The Center of Everything.
In Laura Moriarty's extraordinary first novel, a young girl tries to make sense of an unruly world spinning around her. Growing up with a single mother who is chronically out of work and dating a married man, 10-year old Evelyn Bucknow learns early how to fend for herself.
Offering an affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, one in which the daughter is very often expected to play the role of the adult, the novel also gives readers a searing rendering of the claustrophobia of small town midwestern life, as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. Evelyn must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love -- that not all loves are meant to be -- and determine who she is and who she wants to be. Stuck in the middle of Kansas, between best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love, Evelyn finds herself . . . in The Center of Everything.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Laura D. (
9 member(s) found this review helpful.
A delicious read. A touching, and compelling story told through the eyes of Evelyn Bucknow, starting at the age of 10. It shows that unquestioning love a kid has for their parent, and then the day a child realizes that parent is human, and in this case, a disappointment.
Melissa B. (
7 member(s) found this review helpful.
An engrossing novel. I enjoyed this immensely, but was sorely disappointed by the ending. It just sort of - ends. No resolutions or answers.
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
Though there are several anachronisms in the early eighties section, this is a decent, quick read. The foreshadowing is a bit heavy-handed and the protagonist is sort of humorless (despite the reader being told otherwise), this book is worth a look when you have nothing better to do.
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Evelyn Bucknow is the main character who is a young teenage girl. This book shows us her way through her adolescence. This is a wonderful story that anyone can read. Don't think because it's centered around an adolescent that adults shouldn't read it. It's a terrific book!
Valerie P. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I flew through this book. I really enjoyed it and it was engrossing. The main character is 10 in 1982, just as I was, and the author hit the nail on the head about growing up in that time period. I was amazed at the little things I forgot about that were oh-so-true back then! I related to the character, even though my circumstances were different. I didn't find this book depressing at all -- it is a bit predictable -- but the symbolism in it really stands out. I would recommend this one to a friend. :)
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is the story of a young Kansas girl who lives in the middle of nowhere, but also in the center of the United States (hence the title) in the Reagan years. She and her single, immature mother live in poverty, and their situation only gets worse as the book progresses. In spite of these grim details, this is an uplifting coming of age tale, with a smart and unforgettable heroine, Evelyn, telling her story. One of the best books I ever read.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
An extremely depressing book about relationships with friends and boys gone awry.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
I enjoyed this book, but it was nothing earthshattering. Having lived through the period in the book as a child a bit older than the protagonist, I found some minute plot details and vernacular in the dialogue to be a bit anachronistic--a policeman handing out bottled water in the late 1970s, for example.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this in a long time. A smart budding teenager surviving & struggling along with her strong loving but unconventional mother. Despite all odds they fight on each day. You find yourself cheering and crying and laughing along with Moriarty's beautiful writing. A winner- don't pass this one by.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This was a surprise for me, as I liked it very much even though it was told from a child's point of view, is about several touchy subjects and could have been a real drag you down book. Like the Glass Castle, this book is about a child who is the parent to a parent instead of the other way around. Yet, how the unmarried mother truly cares for her handicapped child and her own mother even though her father has made it clear he is insulted by her very presense is remarkable. Both tell stories of tragic childhoods where the heroines should have drowned in depression, but triumphed. I was left wondering what made the character's mother so afraid of her father--it hints at molestation.
Please Rate these Book Reviews
A great book - reads like a diary in some ways, but has Forrest Gump-like quality in how the story is told. I found myself rooting for the protagonist and hoping she would find her way through her story.
I enjoyed this one. It was a quick read and would be good for someone around high-school age.
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