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Hearts and Bones Margaret Lawrence 9780380788798 Books

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Hearts and Bones Margaret Lawrence 9780380788798 Books

The first couple chapters in I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. I thought it had some of the most beautiful writing I had ever come across. I thought the heroine had potential to be interesting, the side story of an adulterous affair, an illegitimate child, and the accused pining after the heroine, all seemed to point to a really good story.

Then somehow the beautiful prose began to overshadow the actual story. Half way through I had a hard time concentrating on what was actually going on and had to force myself to pick up the book to read it. I realized that I really didn't care "who done it", I just wanted to finish the book.

It may be that it just wasn't really a book for me but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad novel. However, since I rate books based on my enjoyment of them I had to give it only three stars. You may enjoy it more than I did though.


Tags : Hearts and Bones [Margaret Lawrence] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Hanna Trevor, a midwife in 1780s Maine, is drawn into the investigation into the rape and murder of a young woman when an honorable man--her former lover and the father of her child,Margaret Lawrence,Hearts and Bones,Avon,0380788799,General,Mystery fiction.,FICTION General,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction Literary,Fiction Thrillers Suspense,Literary,MASS MARKET,Mystery & Detective - Historical,Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths,Mystery fiction,Romance

Hearts and Bones Margaret Lawrence 9780380788798 Books Reviews

I so much admire this book. Beautifully written, evocative, stunning in its ability to draw character with simple details. One of the rare historicals that feels authentic in its bones. The author must have drawn on Ulrich's historical analysis of a Maine midwife, a wonderful study, but in this fictional treatment it really comes to life.
Was blown away by the characters and even though history can be dark, humans are resilient .
Set in post-revolutionary war America, this novel powerfully illustrates the daily struggle to survive in the unforgiving environment of the 18th century. The aftershocks of war still are being felt by the characters of this novel.Conflicting loyalties and a full range of human qualities, from unscrupulous and amoral to courageous and generous, are finely drawn by the author using the politically and economically uncertain times as the backdrop for relationships and interactions.

Hannah Trevor is a magnetic character. Through her we are given a glimpse of post-colonial household labors and herbal/midwifery practices. Her desire for artistic expression,even in this forbidding environment, is evidenced by her work on the quilt whose pattern name is also the title of the novel.

Yes, there is a mystery and many haunting historical references, but it is the rich atmosphere created by Ms. Lawrence that carries the novel, and allows the reader to have an empathic experience with the characters.
Hearts and Bones is beautifully written. I mean this with all of my heart; Margaret Lawrence is a fantastically talented writer. Every word she writes has a glow of ethereal beauty about it. Her work is beautiful the same way a snowflake is magically and fragilely. In fact, she's such a good writer that her book suffers a little from it.

Margaret Lawrence manages to express the truth of madness, the horror of war and the beauty of love in such a way that you begin to forget about the story these passages belong to. This is a mystery novel. It has a good story, the mystery is intriguing. But the writing is so beautiful I forgot I was on the lookout for a murderer at times.

That said, the mystery is good. I was genuinely surprised by the end of the book, and Hannah Trevor makes a great sleuth as an unconventional midwife. But if you're reading this book because it's a mystery you may be disappointed, the story just isn't focused around the crime. It's much more centered on Hannah's relationship with Daniel Josselyn, the father of her deaf and mute seven year old daughter, and the history of the period.

So here's the scoop on the crime. Anthea Emory is discovered strangled in her cabin in Rufford, Maine on Valentines Day, 1786. She leaves behind a letter under a salt cellar to her husband, who off in the woods surveying land and has been for months. In the letter she says three men have broken into her home three nights in a row and raped her. She believed one is coming back and will kill her soon.

This letter, of course, fascinates the reader, since the prolog to the book was a point of view of the killer, and we know from this prolog that everything said in the letter doesn't make sense.

I won't say any more, because that could spoil the story. Read this if you like historical fiction, or mysteries, but you'll enjoy it the most if you love both, and are a romantic at heart.

I give this book a solid four stars, not five, only because the gorgeous writing distracts from the reading.
Ten years after the Revolutionary War, life is not a paradise of liberty and equality for the residents of Rufford, Maine. Many are dead, others are traumatized by the war, and still others are embittered by a poor economy and widening disparity between the haves and have-nots. Midwife and healer Hannah Trevor lives on the fringe of respectability here, and that's pretty much where she wants to be. This first in the series paints a bleak but realistic picture of the times and the people, and the reader will learn effortlessly about such things thanks to skillful writing and an intriguing story. Being the tale of a murder-rape in the aftermath of war, this novel is not for the squeamish; there's a fair bit of brutal violence, sex and situations, though if you can watch cable television you should be okay. A bit depressing but a worthwhile read and a good mystery. I will definitely read others in the series, though I'll probably read a comedy or two in between.
The first couple chapters in I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. I thought it had some of the most beautiful writing I had ever come across. I thought the heroine had potential to be interesting, the side story of an adulterous affair, an illegitimate child, and the accused pining after the heroine, all seemed to point to a really good story.

Then somehow the beautiful prose began to overshadow the actual story. Half way through I had a hard time concentrating on what was actually going on and had to force myself to pick up the book to read it. I realized that I really didn't care "who done it", I just wanted to finish the book.

It may be that it just wasn't really a book for me but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad novel. However, since I rate books based on my enjoyment of them I had to give it only three stars. You may enjoy it more than I did though.