Friday, August 21, 2015

Beginning ~ by breaking the window

The Reconstructionist ~ by Josephine Hart, 2001, fiction (Ireland and England)
Afterwards ... we were asked to reconstruct the event.  Much detail was required of us concerning how the hours had been spent between midday, when we had been seen to return from church, and four-thirty that afternoon when they broke the window and entered the house.
Okay, I'm curious about what's going on.  Who is "we" and who broke in?  And specifically, what happened?  Here's a summary of the story.
This novel explores the reckless quality of exclusive love, the damage done in families, and the way we build our lives from the fragments of memory, half-truths, compromise, and desire.  Jack Harrington is a psychiatrist, dedicated to others, to the examination of their pasts and the reconstruction of their lives.  But he has so absorbed himself in the problems of others that he has not quite come to grips with his ownto the detriment of his marriage and his own unexamined past.  When Jack is summoned to Ireland for the sale of his family home, however, the burdens of his family's heritage return in full force. Though he has successfully suppressed the anguish of his past, the present threatens to unravel around him.  In the house in Ireland terrible truths emerge about what happened years ago in a family tragedy that left indelible marks on those who survived it. The past may have been reconstructed many times, but the appalling truth has not.


Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.

5 comments:

Juli Rahel said...

I am equally intrigued! I really now want to know what happened at the time as well and it feels like it'll take the whole novel to really figure out what happened and how it affected everyone! Thanks for sharing :) I hope you have a great weekend!
My Friday post
Juli @ Universe in Words

Unknown said...

This makes me think they are being questioned because of a crime occuring.

Kathy Martin said...

Sounds interesting. I'm curious too. My Friday memes this week come from What Angels Fear by C. S. Harris which has been on my TBR mountain for years. Happy reading!

sherry fundin said...

I wonder how many different versions of the story were told. Seems like we all see something different in the flashes of events.

sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

Sandra Nachlinger said...

That's a great beginning. It makes me curious about what terrible event has happened and how it has affected the characters in the story.
My Friday post features Key to Love.