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Jan
25
Book Review: The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
2011 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
In an effort to capture my favorite booksellers’ magical ability to boil a book down to its essence and pitch it to readers in a way that entices without giving too much away, I’m forgoing my usual format in favor of something that I hope packs the same Book Lady punch in a smaller package. Think of it as my version of the handsell.
Published January 25, 2011 by Ecco Books
A sixteen-year-old girl from an upscale suburban town goes missing, and the neighborhood boys she leaves behind—who narrate the book collectively—become obsessed not with finding her but with imagining what could have happened. They dream Nora Lindell into scenarios that range from predictably horrific to surprisingly romantic, and they do it with a mix of teenage wanderlust and middle-aged “If I knew then what I know now” nostalgia that reveals Pittard as a major new voice in contemporary fiction.
But the real beauty of The Fates Will Find Their Way does not lie in Pittard’s skillfully crafted narrative (undeniably influenced by Jeffrey Eugenides’s phenomenal The Virgin Suicides) or the way in which she weaves the six boys’ fantasies about Nora into their collective voice, but in the fact that she pulls off the neat trick of making us think that the book is ever really about Nora at all.
Pittard pulls us in with a familiar plotline—this is hardly the first time a novel has opened with the apparent tragedy of a teenage girl gone missing—and she makes us feel comfortable just long enough to get us to let our guard down. Then it’s the old switcheroo, and in the best possible way.
Because of course the book isn’t about the missing girl. Why write in such a unique, demanding narrative voice if it is? Like most great stories, this one is about the people who are telling it, and while the boys are busy telling us and each other about Nora, Pittard unveils their character, bit by bit, through the memories and secrets and mistakes the grown men divulge as they reflect on the story that defined their adolescence and continues to creep into the quietest moments of their adult, domestic lives.
The Fates Will Find Their Way is tightly wound, perfectly paced, and magically wise. Pittard makes a subtle but poignant statement about the power of story and what the stories we tell say about us. And the ending? WHOA NELLIE.
(And that, folks, may just be the first time I’ve ever reviewed a book in fewer than 350 words.)
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Dawn at Too Fond of Books review this yesterday and I was super excited then, just as I am now. Wow! Two raves!
This sounds wonderful. Great review!
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This sounds great- hearing lots of good buzz about this one!
And in less than 350 words, you convinced me I want to read this book.
Kerry´s last [type] ..On Breaking My Rules for Among Others
Another bookseller and I were shelving new releases last night and came across this one – we both thought of “Virgin Suicides”. I’m glad to see that you thought it was only an influence and that it’s a great story. Will put on the TBR
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The English paperback cover for this almost had me sold, but I needed a push. This review is the push – book soungs awesome, ordering it now!
I am intrigued. This sounds to me like a ‘must read’ book. Thank you for your review!
Your less than 350 word review makes me want to read this book! I can’t wait until my holds list at the library has some free space…(we’re limited to 10 holds, it’s just awful!)
Melissa´s last [type] ..Oscar Nominations!
I have heard a lot of great things about this book..I am going to have to check it out.
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So glad you enjoyed this one — I have a copy in my TBR and need to move it to the top. I remember reading The Virgin Suicides in high school (totally as contraband, by the way) and being simultaneously horrified and moved.
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Great review! Can’t wait to read it.
I want to read this SO BAAAAAD (as I weep into my beer). After I read Dawn’s review, I skipped on over to my library website praying it was on audio but noooooo. And I am under the parameters of The Dare, so that means no Fates until April 1st. Okay. Well, I will just buy in on my Kindle so I don’t forget.
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i love this book so so much. but now i can’t remember the ending!
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Well said my dear! I reviewed this one yesterday as well…loved it! Wonderful twists, superb ending, and the collective male POV…wow!
Shelly Burns´s last [type] ..Review- The Fates Will Find Their Way
Great handsell. You and @Rundpinne sold me on this. Plus I love the jacket.
NovelWhore´s last [type] ..New Author Discoveries
I am reading this now, hope to finish tonight or in the morning … probably will end up staying up tonight to finish it and then it will actually be tomorrow morning … LOL! Anyway, all that rambling sentence to say that I am hooked and can’t wait for the whoa nellie ending!
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This book sounds so wonderful! I can’t wait to read it.
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I totally agree with you! I was completely sucked in by this book and was amazed how she balanced the fantasies of Nora with the very ordinary lives the men ended up leading. Great review.
iubookgirl´s last [type] ..Review – The Fates Will Find Their Way
[...] ~ The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard, reviewed by Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog [...]
Writing short reviews is always difficult – especially when it is a book that is rich in possible conversation books and when you happen to really love the book. This sounds like a really great book full of great character development and is definitely something I hope to pick up in the future.
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Just downloaded the audio book version. Will let you know how I liked it.
By the way…..great blog
Thanks! I’ll look forward to hearing about how it is on audio.
Just finished listening to “The Fates Will Find Their Way” via audio media. First, let me say a think the book was good. (not great) I had no idea where the author Hannah Pittard was going with the story, and in this case, that kept me in tune to find out more. The only down side was it struck a small similarity to a personal event in my life – nothing dramatic, I have a friend from teen years that I rarely see, who always brings up a funny event that embarrassed only me years ago… That brings me to the boys in Nora’s short life. They could NOT move on… they could only speak of events that actually happened or were invented to fulfill a need to know.
Now as for audio…this format is great for people on the run. I listened to most of the story during my commute to work and back home. The reader (in this case was Scott Sheppard) made me feel like one of the boys in the story with his voice inflections and talent at adolescent vocalisms.
I look forward to reading more of your picks.
Thanks for this. I’d been wondering how this would work on audio, and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.