Sheryl O. (Everett-Reader) reviewed on + 216 more book reviews
Oprah's Book Club selection.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the backwoods of Mississippi, a land of honeysuckle and grapevine, Jewel and her husband, Leston, are truly blessed; they have five fine children. When Brenda Kay is born in 1943, Jewel gives thanks for a healthy baby, last-born and most welcome. Jewel is the story of how quickly a life can change; how, like lightning, an unforeseen event can set us on a course without reason or compass. In this story of a woman's devotion to the child who is both her burden and God's singular way of smiling on her, Bret Lott has created a mother-daughter relationship of matchless intensity and beauty, and one of the finest, most indomitable heroines in contemporary American fiction.
SYNOPSIS
Each of Jewel Hilburn's six children is a blessing. But her youngest, Brenda Kay, who was born with Down syndrome, is also a burden. The smallest accomplishments are milestones in Brenda Kay's life, and Jewel must devote her complete attention to the child. Set in 1943 in backwoods Mississippi, Jewel is a haunting tale of heartbreak and the redemptive powers of love. Drawing from the real-life experiences of his grandmother and aunt, author Bret Lott spins a masterpiece of truth and triumph, capturing the joy of Brenda Kay's first steps and the strain the dependent child puts on the rest of the Hilburn family.
FROM THE CRITICS
Chicago Tribune
Bret Lott's Jewel is a beautifully crafted first-person epic of one poor southern woman's personal duel with God....This is a voice we don't want to stop hearing....Some of the tenderest scenes of family love since those in Dickens....
Judith Freeman - The New York Times Book Review
In this sweeping and beautifully written book, Mr. Lott has given us something unusual -- an unsentimental account of the life of a woman from rural Mississippi who transcends poverty and ignorance to become part of a pioneering movement in the treatment of children with Down syndrome. . . .He has written a story that portrays one family's devotion to the weakest of its members, and in the process he has created a parable for our age.
Boston Globe
Bret Lott has a gift for making the ordinary seem luminous. In Jewel, he applies his art to a broad canvas and produces what may stand as his masterpiece....Lott matches the honest strength of his characters with that of his prose. His Jewel is a force of nature, her story rising out of a perfect, seamless union of teller and tale.
LA Times Book Review
Lott is one of the most important and imaginative writers in America today. His eye for detail is unparalleled; his vision -- where he looks -- is like no one else's in this country.
Publishers Weekly
Jewel Hilburn, the strong-willed narrator of this haunting novel set in rural Mississippi, lavishes the parental love she never received upon her own child, who is afflicted with Down's syndrome.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the backwoods of Mississippi, a land of honeysuckle and grapevine, Jewel and her husband, Leston, are truly blessed; they have five fine children. When Brenda Kay is born in 1943, Jewel gives thanks for a healthy baby, last-born and most welcome. Jewel is the story of how quickly a life can change; how, like lightning, an unforeseen event can set us on a course without reason or compass. In this story of a woman's devotion to the child who is both her burden and God's singular way of smiling on her, Bret Lott has created a mother-daughter relationship of matchless intensity and beauty, and one of the finest, most indomitable heroines in contemporary American fiction.
SYNOPSIS
Each of Jewel Hilburn's six children is a blessing. But her youngest, Brenda Kay, who was born with Down syndrome, is also a burden. The smallest accomplishments are milestones in Brenda Kay's life, and Jewel must devote her complete attention to the child. Set in 1943 in backwoods Mississippi, Jewel is a haunting tale of heartbreak and the redemptive powers of love. Drawing from the real-life experiences of his grandmother and aunt, author Bret Lott spins a masterpiece of truth and triumph, capturing the joy of Brenda Kay's first steps and the strain the dependent child puts on the rest of the Hilburn family.
FROM THE CRITICS
Chicago Tribune
Bret Lott's Jewel is a beautifully crafted first-person epic of one poor southern woman's personal duel with God....This is a voice we don't want to stop hearing....Some of the tenderest scenes of family love since those in Dickens....
Judith Freeman - The New York Times Book Review
In this sweeping and beautifully written book, Mr. Lott has given us something unusual -- an unsentimental account of the life of a woman from rural Mississippi who transcends poverty and ignorance to become part of a pioneering movement in the treatment of children with Down syndrome. . . .He has written a story that portrays one family's devotion to the weakest of its members, and in the process he has created a parable for our age.
Boston Globe
Bret Lott has a gift for making the ordinary seem luminous. In Jewel, he applies his art to a broad canvas and produces what may stand as his masterpiece....Lott matches the honest strength of his characters with that of his prose. His Jewel is a force of nature, her story rising out of a perfect, seamless union of teller and tale.
LA Times Book Review
Lott is one of the most important and imaginative writers in America today. His eye for detail is unparalleled; his vision -- where he looks -- is like no one else's in this country.
Publishers Weekly
Jewel Hilburn, the strong-willed narrator of this haunting novel set in rural Mississippi, lavishes the parental love she never received upon her own child, who is afflicted with Down's syndrome.
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