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類別：小說
(繁體agent
:
Mingming)
THE CONDITION
那年夏天
作 者：Jennifer Haigh
Format: 精裝, 390頁, 2008年7月出版
Summary
本書甫出版一周即登上紐約時報暢銷書榜. AMAZON網路書店讀者五顆星佳評. 美國獨立書店Indie Bound七月推薦; Youtube 作者訪問http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=aOaidnOwDxQ; 作者官方網站 http://www.jenniferhaigh.com/
本書作家Jennifer Haigh 於2004年以一部探討婚姻意義的處女作Ms. Kimble 獲得Pen／Hemingway獎. 該書描述三名女子先後嫁給同一個男人—Kimble先生, 一位深不可測的投機分子. 她們原以為可將終生託付此人, 到頭來卻無不失意而散.
The Condition描寫McKotches家族, 一個典型新英格蘭家庭, 因著宿命造成分崩離析. 父親Frank McKotch為傑出的科學家, 妻子Paulette出身名門, 三名人見人愛的孩子. 那是1976年的夏天, 依照慣例, 全家前往鱈魚角度假. 某日在沙灘的一幕光景, 讓Frank無法從記憶中抺滅. 他的13歲女兒Gwen,
異乎尋常的身著幼時的比基尼泳裝, 站在比她年幼的堂妹Charlotte身旁, 卻整整矮了一個頭身. 這使得Frank 再也無法忽視他唯一的女兒異於常人的事實, 世界再也不同.
被診斷為透納氏症(1938 年由 Turner 醫師第一次描述，將身材矮小、第二性徵不明顯、蹼狀頸與肘外翻的婦女稱之為Turner syndrome）後的20年, Gwen因著基因缺憾被孩童般的身型所限; 全家人仍苦於這樣的結果. 有人認為該為家庭的不全負責. Frank和妻子激烈爭吵後離婚. 長子Billy是一位英俊的曼哈頓心臟科醫師, 盡責但與家庭保持距離. 次子Scott 住在郊居, 有著一段遺憾的婚姻. 沈默而感情疏離的Gwen, 在三十而立之際, 第一次墜入愛河, 再一次, 漸趨平靜的家庭因此掀起漣漪.
本書探索了家庭神話的力量, 自欺, 自我否認和永遠束縛著父母手足的真相.
Tom
Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of Little Children and
Election
"The ailment at the center of this remarkable novel is the human
condition itself. Jennifer Haigh has written a sprawling,
emotionally gripping account of one family’s troubled history,
enlivened by her formidable intelligence and deep insight into her
characters’ hearts and minds."
Kirkus Reviews
"Filled with genuine insight and touching lyricism."
Andre Dubus III, New York Times bestselling author of the National
Book Award finalist House of Sand and Fog
"Jennifer Haigh illuminates the dark tangle of desire and deed that
is the family, that crucible we so often yearn to flee yet keep
coming back to again and again. THE CONDITION is unsentimental,
compelling, and moving, and I urge you to read it!"
作者
About the Author
Jennifer Haigh
is the author of the New York Times bestseller Baker Towers, winner
of the 2006 PEN/L. L. Winship Award for outstanding book by a New
England author, and Mrs. Kimble, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award
for debut fiction and was a finalist for the Book Sense Book of the
Year. Both novels were number one Book Sense picks. Her fiction has
appeared in Granta, Ploughshares, Good Housekeeping, and elsewhere.
She lives in the Boston area.