How to Be Lost: A Novel

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Author(s):

Amanda Eyre Ward

Label: Ballantine Books
Publisher(s):

Ballantine Books

Studio: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Binding: Paperback
List Price: $6.00
Our Price: $6.00
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Joseph and Isabelle Winters seem to have it all: a grand home in Holt, New York, a trio of radiant daughters, and a sense that they are safe in their affluent corner of America. But when five-year-old Ellie disappears, the fault lines within the family are exposed: Joseph, once a successful businessman, succumbs to his demons; Isabelle retreats into memories of her debutante days in Savannah; and Ellie s bereft sisters grow apart Madeline reluctantly stays home, while Caroline runs away.

Fifteen years later, Caroline, now a New Orleans cocktail waitress, sees a photograph of a woman in a magazine. Convinced that it is Ellie all grown up, Caroline embarks on a search for her missing sister. Armed with copies of the photo, an amateur detective guide, and a cooler of Dixie beer, Caroline travels through the New Mexico desert, the mountains of Colorado, and the smoky underworld of Montana, determined to salvage her broken family.

Amazon.com

Sometimes an off-key phrase in a soulful song can wrench at the heart, nay, the soul and send one off into that same far-away place that a great book can take you to. Amanda Eyre Ward's second novel, How to Be Lost, provides for the reader with a finely-tuned ear, a nicely wrought, syncopated, octave-changing story. Featuring a hard-living, almost down-on-her-luck narrator, How to Be Lost isn't lost at all when it comes to telling a literary mystery wrapped in the arms of a strong woman's tale. Ward's story bounces between New Orleans and New York, taking her protagonist, Caroline, into steely encounters with her somewhat-estranged family, especially her older sister and mother, as they continue, many years after the fact, to deal with the wrenching effects of the unresolved disappearance of Ellie, the youngest of the Winters family. Readers may find uncanny similarities between the eerie tone and dark nature of Deborah Schupack's The Boy on the Bus but won't be disappointed at all with the story that unfolds and the clever, darkly humorous nature of Ward's pitch-perfect voice. --E. Brooke Gilbert

Customer Reviews

I must have missed something...

I kept trying to be interested in the characters but simply could not bring myself to really care what happened to any of them. I know so many readers have rated this novel as inspiring, suspenseful, exciting,..all those adjectives that intrigue readers...but..sorry ..none of those applied to my idea ....I actually gave up about 3/4 of the way through which is unheard of for me.

FANTASTIC READ!

I started this book about a year ago and could not get into it. This weekend with nothing to do and a bit of insomnia I picked it back up right where I left off, about 20 pages into it. I could not put it down and I am still thinking about it. At first the letters from Agnes were annoying and I almost skipped right over them. I kept thinking that Agnes was some old lady who was an Aunt of Caroline's ( I don't know why). But as I read more and more, I realized that she sounded ( and actually was) very young and somewhat sheltered. I agree with some of the reviews that the last page left a lot to be desired. I wish that the author would've finished it with the sisters speaking, something, anything! All in all a fantastic read though, I am going to order her first book because I was so impressed with this one. Definitely recommend.

Different, but engaging

This book was unlike anything I'd read in the past. It realistically depicted family and sibling relationships, and the narrator, Caroline Winters, was at once deeply troubled and hysterical. I was engaged in this book from cover to cover, mostly because I really wanted to know what happened, not so much because the writing was anything extremely memorable. But the story was engrossing and the ending did not disappoint. A quick summer read.

...then found!

If you were troubled by "At the deep end of the ocean," then "How to be lost" will make you smile. I won't say how. Yes, I will. Take two pencils, one in each hand with a large sheet of paper under them. Set them on the paper and move them around, especially the one in your right hand--up and down and around. The left hand just kind of stays there until you arc it to the left then sweep all the way across and let it meet with the pencil in your right hand. There, that's it--that's how the two main characters meet at the end. Does that make sense? Not a lot? OK, let's start over.

When she was fifteen, Caroline Winters lost her five year old sister. She disappeared and is never found. The already dysfunctional family falls completely apart. Fifteen years later, Caroline is still lost. Yes, Caroline. Everyone becomes stuck in the past when Ellie disappears. Mother Isabella, and middle sister Madeline. Father drinks himself to death.

Then one day Isabella shows Caroline a picture in a magazine. It's Ellie, they both are convinced. Caroline leaves her home in New Orleans and heads to Montana to find her. That's where the photograph is taken.

Meanwhile, Amanda Eyre Ward, the author, uses a literary technique similar to something out of Faulkner by switching narrative voice to Agnes Fowler, a librarian in Montana, who finds a match in Johan from Alaskahunks.com, a singles service. She begins a correspondence with him to which the reader is privy.

Back and forth from Agnes to Caroline, then sometimes Ms Ward tells the story of Isabella. Faulkner kept up with this switching back and forth by keeping a paper chart tacked to his wall. Ward uses index cards with plot snippets and lays them out as it pleases her.

"How to get lost" is a wonderful book to find yourself with on vacation --it is the perfect vacation read. One concept Ward uses in this story is having the reader part of the story. How so? The intertwining of the three stories demands the reader's participation. Ask: Who is Agnes and why is she part of this story? Why does Ellie disappear? And the ending! What does the ending mean? Now there's a real demand of your imagination.

Are you up for it? Yes, you will be glad. It's an excellent story!

you can't always get what you want...

No offense to the hoards of people who love this book, but... I thought it got off to a good start but then the horrible writing killed it. It was like proof reading the work of a talented 8th grader.I only hung in there as long as I did because the story sounded interesting. I would have liked to see this great plot in the hands of a more capable writer. But as Mick Jagger says, "You can't always get what you want."

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