From Bookmarks Magazine The Boston Globe describes Pictures of You “as part literary mystery, part domestic drama, and part psychological examination,” and, indeed, the novel kept most critics on their toes the entire time. A novel of loss, redemption, forgiveness, and self-discovery, the intertwining stories grapple not only with the tragedy but also with the mystery of April’s hasty departure from her family. Reviewers commented that what could have been a maudlin, predictable storyline instead becomes fresh with Leavitt’s direct, unsentimental writing; her you-are-here details; and her fully convincing characters. Readers who enjoy both fine storytelling and writing will be sure to savor this novel. Read more From Booklist In Leavitt’s (Girls in Trouble, 2005) compelling new novel, a car crash provides the catalyst for an examination of how well we know the people we love. April and Isabelle, both fleeing their marriages, collide on a foggy, deserted stretch of road. Only Isabelle survives, and though blameless, she is haunted by guilt. In search of healing, she finds herself drawn to Charlie and Sam, April’s grief-stricken husband and son. Complicated relationships develop, and Leavitt thoughtfully handles friendship and romance in scenes of emotional resonance. She understands the ache of loss, the elusiveness of forgiveness, and the triteness of words like “closure.” An expert storyteller, Leavitt alternates perspective among her three leading characters, providing insight into the thoughts, secrets, and dreams that they withhold from each other. Whether these individuals will arrive at happiness separately or together is the question that drives the narrative, and the reader, forward as Leavitt teases suspense out of the greatest mystery of all—the workings of the human heart. --Patty Wetli Read more Review "Caroline Leavitt is a splendid writer at the peak of her powers." --Robert Olen Butler (added by author)"I have long admired Caroline Leavitt's probing insight into people, her wit and compassion, her ability to find humor in dark situations, and conversely, her tenderness towards characters." --Dan Chaon (added by author)"Caroline Leavitt’s compelling new Pictures of You unfolds as part literary mystery, part domestic drama, and part psychological examination. Leavitt beautifully paces the book’s intertwining stories, meticulously unfurling bits of the back story, letting us put together the pieces just as the main characters do. Provocative and riveting.”--Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe"PICTURES OF YOU is a complicated and complex near mystery of a novel ... I found it impossible to put the book down until I finished it. Leavitt is a writer who can be trusted absolutely, and she's created a wonderful book that's as complicated, crushing, and joyous as life itself."--Robb Forman Dew, National Book Award winner"PICTURES OF YOU is the story of two women, both running away, whose fates intertwine forever. Leavitt writes straight into the heart of each scene to find its rich, emotional nuances and undercurrents."--Kate Christensen"Complex, contradictory characters. Leavitt's literary touch is so light, her hand so translucent on the page, that only when the mystery is finally solved does the reader realize how taut she's kept the tension all along. Hauntingly compelling."--San Francisco Chronicle, Editor's Choice, Lit Pick Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-alt:"Calisto MT"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-alt:"Devroye Extra"; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-520092929 1073786111 9 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} "Caroline Leavitt plumbs the depths of grief and forgiveness in the lovely Pictures Of You."Hot Type --Vanity Fair "Suspenseful...gripping. Leavitt is superb. Most impressive is how Leavitt deals head-on with well-meaning people who come to realize, too late, that even an imperfect life is irreplaceable."Jane Ciabattari --O, the Oprah Magazine "A white knuckle ride of love and longing.  The author exhibits the talent for nuance in human relationships so mercifully devoid of romanticism they are reminiscent of early-career Alice Munro.  A brooding, beautiful novel that sparkles with all the haphazard brilliance of broken glass upon the concrete."Andrea Hoag, Minnesota Star Tribune Read more From the Author Pictures of You began from a phobia.  My dirty little secret is I don't drive.  Oh, I have my license (all I had to do to get it was to drive around the block), but I'm anxious around cars. The novel began with an image of a crash, and I found myself giving my phobia to Isabelle, one of the characters.  Of course, it being fiction, I made things much worse for her! While she was working through her phobia, yet another piece of my past intruded: my childhood asthma, something I wanted to revisit as much as I wanted to have root canal without novocaine. But the character of asthmatic little Sam persisted, and by giving him compassion, I healed my own shame about my past--and I actually felt better for the four years it took me to write the book! A San Francisco Editor's Choice Lit Pick, Pictures of You is now out in the world.  I hope you'll read it.  Read more About the Author Caroline Leavitt is the award-winning author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Pictures of You and Is This Tomorrow. Her essays and stories have been included in New York magazine, Psychology Today, More, Parenting, Redbook, and Salon. She’s a book critic for People, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she teaches writing online at Stanford and UCLA. Read more
T**H
Many Questions with Surprising Answers...
Two women, one road and how a brief, tragic encounter alters the lives of so many. Meet Isabelle and April, each running away from their current lives by surreptitiously embarking on an adventure that, hopefully, will bring them the happiness they’re looking for. Fatefully, one doesn’t get to her destination. Where was she going and why was her sudden departure such a shock to her husband? How do those who are left behind and weighted with the chore of moving forward, create some semblance of a normal life with what remains? What ensues when unlikely paths cross? How does one reconcile the “if onlys”? Caroline Leavitt’s “Pictures of You” is filled with secrets, poignant moments, regrets, but, most importantly, love and hope. You will be compelled to turn the next page to find the answers to those questions and so many more. And you’ll ask yourself, “What would I do?” Cozy up, grab your favorite hot beverage on a crisp autumn day and immerse yourself in Caroline’s wonderful novel, “Pictures of You”.
K**R
What sacrifices we make for love
There's so many sides to love. It can be unconditional and it can be spiritual. It can consume us and it can hurt. This is a brilliant story of all those kinds of love and how they endure. A mystery that needs to be resolved and complicated relationships . My heart goes out to all these beautiful characters and I feel for the tough decisions they all had to make. It can be a sad story but also uplifting and hopeful. It's a good read but grab a box of tissues.
L**W
LIVES CAPTURED THROUGH A LENS....
Like capturing the world through the lens of a camera, the author shows us bits and pieces of the characters. We catch a glimpse here, with some shadowing; then we see something illuminated; and finally, when we see the whole, it is transformed. But then again, we see the focus shifting.In this extraordinary and mesmerizing tale, we first meet the women whose lives intersect tragically on a foggy night on the Cape, three hours from their homes. Coincidentally, the two women have been living in the same town, but like ships passing in the night, haven't connected. Then, out of nowhere, the driver of one car (Isabelle) comes upon another car stopped in the middle of the road, and the impact is unavoidable.April, the other driver, dies, but her son Sam lives. But the mystery that brought each of these women to that place continues throughout the story, and how Isabelle's "survivor guilt" motivates some of her behavior in the upcoming weeks is the thread that continues to connect these characters.What happens when Isabelle finally meets Sam and Charlie (April's husband)? Why does Sam feel the need to maintain the connection with Isabelle? How does Isabelle's photography cement the bonds between her and Sam? What effect do these connections have on the three of them? Will the events of one fateful night tie them together forever, or will the circumstances that follow sever those ties inexplicably? And will Charlie finally learn where April was going on that foggy night?In the final pages, surprising twists saved this story from any kind of predictability, and just when I thought I knew how it would end, I discovered how wrong I was. Throughout Pictures of You, I could almost feel a paranormal influence in some of the events. A nice segue that turned this tale into something unique and almost spiritual. Five stars.
L**R
Shockingly powerful and emotional novel...
One foggy day, about three hours from Cape Cod, two women's cars collide on the road. Both appear to be running away from their marriages. April dies in the crash, while Isabelle survives, and is left not only to pick up the pieces of her life in the town she had wanted to escape, but becomes entangled with April's devastated husband, Charlie, and their young son, Sam, who is riddled with guilt about the accident. Charlie can't understand why April wanted to leave, and what she was doing on that road far from home, Sam wants nothing more than to talk to or see his mother one last time, and Isabelle is torn between again wanting to escape and wanting to stay to take care of Charlie and Sam, despite her role in their misery. And as their lives unfold, they realize the impact of every decision, and how sometimes the "best" decision isn't always the right one.Pictures of You had moments of heartbreaking poignancy and moments when I wanted to shake each one of the characters into action, and both contributed to my enjoyment of the book. No character was drawn to be flawless; at times I sympathized with each of them, and at times I wished someone would just tell them to get a grip. The book definitely exceeded my expectations and surprised me in a number of ways, and that made me happy. And while I am, admittedly, a total sap, it was Caroline Leavitt's well-written story, combined with the emotional power it packs, that kept me reading this book well into the night in order to finish it. Very well done.
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3 days ago
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