Turtle Moon

STORY BRIEF:Karen is divorced with a baby. She is on the run from her ex-husband and moves to Verity, Florida. Twelve-year-old Keith is the meanest boy in town and lives with his divorced mother Lucy. Julian is a policeman who uses dogs for police work. Julian rarely uses words and believes that bees and mosquitoes don’t sting or bite him because he is too ugly. There is a murder. Keith runs off and may be a witness.REVIEWER’S OPINION:This book is fantastic for its unique, odd and mesmerizing characters. I loved reading about these odd people, but as a story, there were too many unanswered questions and too much sadness for me. Throughout the book, too many people lose loved ones. The worst part of the book was the death of a character at the end. Two days after reading the book, I was still grieving. Why must great authors do this? Why do authors want to depress their readers? On balance, I do recommend the book, but only if you think you can handle the sadness at the end.Please see VB's comment at the end of this review for some excellent points.CAUTION SPOILERS:Some of the things I liked about the book follow. I loved Julian’s and Lucy’s odd relationship. I’ve never seen anything like it. They never talked or acknowledged it. Julian always assumed she would leave him because he was ugly or for some other reason. I was intrigued that he was attracted to her because she was lying. I loved the way Julian just looked at the high school yearbook pictures of two people and could tell much about them, and he was right. I loved Julian’s oddities and perception. I loved the relationships between a boy and a baby, and also between the boy and a dog.I did not like that there were so many unanswered questions. Why did Karen leave her husband? What was so bad about him? Why did his parents want the baby so badly? Why was Lucy unhappy with a far away look in her high school yearbook picture? Why did she leave Evan and New York? Why didn’t she and Keith ever get along? Why did Julian decide not to pursue the man who had hired the kidnapper? I assume it was to keep the boy from having to testify. I could be wrong. The story around the character Angel was vague, confusing, and incomplete - especially his interaction with Shannon. That was so confusing that I’m not sure what my questions are. I’d be more willing to accept all the unanswered questions if the ending had been happier.DATA:Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 275 pages. Swearing language: moderate to strong. Sexual language: none to mild. Number of sex scenes 2. Total number of sex scene pages: 3. Setting: unspecified time, think 1980s, Florida and New York. Copyright: 1992. Genre: human relationships fiction with mystery and romance.

Good as always

Great story, intricate plotting, dark hunting atmosphere, sexy protagonist - loved it. Has a dose of magical and unknown that make the story that much more memorable. Very engaging and emotionally involving touching on feelings of self forgiveness, abandonment, love and belonging. Loved it!

I read this when it came out, and it was my first Alice Hoffman novel, my introduction to her blend of deep character development and magical realism, with a ghost and a mystical town in Florida. Hoffman defies storytelling conventions, simply laying out setting and people in her tale, people seeking something but not sure what, especially the young boy who finds a child and takes her with him after her mother's murder.

Kind of a divergence for Alice Hoffman in that 'Turtle Moon" is somewhat of a mystery – nearly a who-done-it. Fun for that reason and with deliciously complex and human characters in a series of challenging situations that are the meat of a good thriller. And the story's descent into the realm of the supernatural seems utterly believable and adds a wonderful element of pathos to the tale. Nothing like an unhappy ghost looking for closure to touch the heart of the reader. And Hoffman's description of the unbearably thick and oppressive heat of a Florida May makes me endlessly glad I live in the Pacific Northwest.

Reading Alice Hoffman is like a wonderful escape from the mundane into a magical world with a strong sense of place. She always captures me with her very first sentence. "The last major crime in the town of Verity was in 1958, when one of the Platts shot his brother in an argument over a Chevy Nomad they had bought together on time. Usually it's so quiet you can hear the strangler figs dropping their fruit on the hoods of parked cars, leaving behind pulp and tiny black seeds..." You know it's going to get even better. And it does. When I grow up, I want to be Alice Hoffman. Her interior life must be a wonderful and fantastic place. (Actually, I suspect I'm a tad bit older than Hoffman!)

I fell hard for this story about 25 years ago and have just finished a first re-read. Alice Hoffman writes with such skill and imagination. I fell hard all over again.

For me to give five stars it has to be a book that shouldn’t end; a book I can’t stop thinking about; a book that makes me cry. This is such a book. With an economy of prose, each word means something and each word is chosen with care so the reader knows exactly what to feel for her characters. Hoffman is an incredibly talented writer and takes the story of a handful of people, intertwines their lives and crafts a story so the meaning of life will never be the same.

I enjoyed this book which I would say was a top end holiday read (i.e. not your Captain Corelli's Mandolin but not simple like your Jackie Collin's novel). Had that slightly mystical southern american feel. It wove sad stories with an uplifting yet realistic ending and a little romance.Pretty good.

Creates a sense of place and smell from the beginning. Very well written characters carefully constructed. The type of book that once you start to reait you find it hard to put down Very good observations of small town U.S.A.

great book

Problems with story but still made me cry.

I took this on holiday with me and was quite disappointed. It's quite dark and serious and there is no humour atall which doesn't make it much of a fun read. Away from the beach, it's probably a good story and the characters are described in great detail so you can easily picture the scenes. it's also quite clever how the characters and situations are interweaved. Overall, a well written unusual story, but not an easy going light read for the summer.