Interpretations of Love
Interpretations of Love
Interpretations of Love
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Description
Description
debut novel that explores complicated love, secrets, and familial
misunderstandings from the celebrated octogenarian author of the
"trail-blazing" (Oprah Daily) collection Cat BrushingIt's the week
of Dr. Agnes Stacey's only daughter's wedding, and each of the eleven attendees
of the small family gathering is bringing their own simmering tensions to the
event. Agnes' uncle, Professor Malcolm
Miller, has harbored a family secret since her parents - his sister and brother
in law - died in a car crash when she was a young girl. Dr. Joseph Bradshaw,
who distantly married into the family, has nursed a secret obsession with Agnes
since his brief stint as her therapist. Agnes herself will be returning to her
ex-husband's home for the first time, just as she's trying to extricate herself
from a potent love affair. Each of them
has the tools to analyze the love lives of others, yet find themselves unable to
recognize the love in their own lives. And though they've each muddled through
painful years in emotional isolation, only Malcolm knows that the origins of
their thwarted attachments all lie in the same English seaside town. Where
better to lay bare the failures and secrets of one's advancing age than at an
intimate celebration of love? In this incisive
and involving debut novel, Campbell parses the fraught inner lives of ordinary
people doing their best to process the aftershocks of war, the parenting they
do and don't receive, and the many different forms love can take in one family.
About the Author
About the Author
Oxford. She has worked as a Group Analyst, teaching and training and lecturing
internationally, for nearly forty years. Her debut collection, Cat
Brushing, debuted in her 80th year, and was a New York Times Editor's
Choice. She lives in Bermuda and Oxford, England.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
Praise for Interpretations of Love
"Each character slowly comes to feel the force of loss, the way the past 'tends to leak into the present all the time, ' and the deep mystery of love and connection. Campbell probes these complicated ideas in clear, shimmering prose, turning the characters' engagement with their psyches into something quite intoxicating . . . A heady and heart-filled debut." --Kirkus Reviews
"Campbell gives visibility to an often invisible generation of women who were shaped by the world wars and the social conventions of the 20th century." --Toronto.com, "20 Best Books for the Sunny (and Shady) Days Ahead"
Praise for Cat Brushing
"It's not every day--or every year--that you encounter a debut as fresh, assured and fun as Jane Campbell's Cat Brushing from a writer of any age... [An] excellent, pathbreaking collection."--New York Times
"A no-holds-barred collection of 13 dirty, doughty and often wickedly funny stories...Jane Campbell's commanding voice -- and wise insights about female empowerment, about embracing one's twilight years and about feeling seen no matter how old you are -- is one damn well worth listening to."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Challenging the stereotypical narrative of older women as weak or feeble, Campbell, an octogenarian herself, gives life to 13 women in stories centering on their passions, libidos and sense of self. Denying that invisibility arrives with wrinkles, these women experience a range of emotion -- joy, heartbreak, trauma, regret and satisfaction -- while living the lives they want on their own terms."--Washington Post
"If you would expect an 80-year-old, first-time author's story collection to be mild and nostalgic, think again. In this trail-blazing, provocative-in-the-best-way volume, Campbell upends expectations."--Oprah Daily
"Strikingly original... These are characters rarely focused on in fiction, variously mischievous, wistful and unabashedly sensual. Campbell, 80, opens a much-needed portal into how it feels to approach life's end."--People Magazine
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
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