True Places Free Pdf

ISBN: B07C227DVB
Title: True Places Pdf A Novel

“True Places is a beautiful reminder that though we may busy ourselves seeking what we want, what we need has an uncanny way of finding us.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences

A girl emerges from the woods, starved, ill, and alone…and collapses.

Suzanne Blakemore hurtles along the Blue Ridge Parkway, away from her overscheduled and completely normal life, and encounters the girl. As Suzanne rushes her to the hospital, she never imagines how the encounter will change her—a change she both fears and desperately needs.

Suzanne has the perfect house, a successful husband, and a thriving family. But beneath the veneer of an ideal life, her daughter is rebelling, her son is withdrawing, her husband is oblivious to it all, and Suzanne is increasingly unsure of her place in the world. After her discovery of the ethereal sixteen-year-old who has never experienced civilization, Suzanne is compelled to invite Iris into her family’s life and all its apparent privileges.

But Iris has an independence, a love of solitude, and a discomfort with materialism that contrasts with everything the Blakemores stand for—qualities that awaken in Suzanne first a fascination, then a longing. Now Suzanne can’t help but wonder: Is she destined to save Iris, or is Iris the one who will save her?

A complicated novel, sometimes too much so THE STYLE -- reminds me of 19th century novels such as those by Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters. They feature women as central characters, striving to find their identity and meaning in life. Suzanne in TRUE PLACES certainly fits that category.ALMOST GAVE UP READING -- here’s the problem for me and why about a third into the book I was ready to give up on this novel. I got tired of too much non-essential and static descriptions about characters, things like furniture and cooking, scenery, even the simple act of driving from one place to another. Sure, some of these descriptions were brilliant and even mood-setting, but they really slowed the story down.ARTIFICIAL SUSPENSE -- I also was annoyed with the author’s attempts to build curiosity and suspense by withholding reportage information – the five w’s of a good story: who, what, when, where, and why. I didn’t learn the girl’s name until page 37. The author writes from the omniscient point-of-view (POV), so she should’ve known the girl’s name from the start. This POV gets confusing as the author often seems to interject her own philosophies into the characters’ experiences.ACCEPTANCE --As much as the premise of the story is hard to accept, I went along with it – a girl isolated in the woods, escaping all notice from the public even after her father and mother are “gone” by the time the girl is 12 years old. How could she fend for herself for four years? She had “Ash,” but again all identifying information about him was withheld until near the end of the book.MY REWARD -- I stuck with this book all the way through. And somewhere about two-thirds into the book, the plot and characters grabbed me. Now it centered mostly on only two central characters, the girl and Suzanne, and their search for the girl’s cabin. From there on I was engrossed in the story. This part of this novel was exceptionally good.SOME GOOD TAKEAWAYS, such as: “Sometimes leaving was the best solution, even if the main result was realizing you could come back.” “Sometimes it takes a stranger to show you what should be obvious, how far you’ve drifted from who you want to be, from what’s right for you, your true place.”I see most readers enjoyed this book. It has some very good insights and resolutions of family conflict with which many readers will identify.Gripping and though-provoking “Sometimes it takes a stranger to show you what should be obvious, how far you’ve drifted from who you want to be, from what’s right for you, your true place.” Suzanne is living a life filled with the busyness of being a mom, a wife, a volunteer....all the things that keep her scrambling to keep up with everything that seems vital to her family...but there are cracks everywhere, and Suzanne doesn’t recognize herself in the person she’s become. When she finds a young girl on the side of the road, a girl who is sick and alone, a girl who has lived in the woods, Suzanne feels as if she’s found a purpose...but will helping Iris shatter the family she is desperately trying to hold together? The relationships in this book are fraught with conflict and this book is a gripping peek into the challenges, expectations and disappointments. As a reader, I felt like a voyeur, peeking into this honest, many times uncomfortable, portrayal of a family. There is such incredibly beautiful language in each sentence, a delight to read and often a wonder. Woven within the story of this modern family are the most beautiful images of nature and the sights and sounds of the woods, the animals, and especially the plants and flowers. Just as I felt placed in the center of the house, I was equally present in the wilderness. I felt every emotion, every angrily spoken word, every gesture of love and kindness, every feeling of desperation and conflict and hope. Gripping, thought-provoking, and powerful, this book asks as many questions as it answers.A remarkable novel I’ve been following Sonja Yoerg since her debut, and have loved seeing her evolve as an artist. I was gripped from her very first sentence and loved every moment of Suzanne and Iris’s journeys. This stunning, beautiful work is not to be missed.