Forgive Me: 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: $13.00
Our Price: $10.40
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From the acclaimed author of How to Be Lost comes a gorgeous new novel about love, memory, and motherhood.

Nadine Morgan travels the world as a journalist, covering important events, following dangerous leads, and running from anything that might tie her down. Since an assignment in Cape Town ended in tragedy and regret, Nadine has not returned to South Africa, or opened her heart?until she hears the story of Jason Irving.

Jason, an American student, was beaten to death by angry local youths at the height of the apartheid era. Years later, his mother is told that Jason?s killers have applied for amnesty. Jason?s parents pack their bags and fly from Nantucket to Cape Town. Filled with rage, Jason?s mother resolves to fight the murderers? pleas for forgiveness.

As Nadine follows the Irvings to beautiful, ghost-filled South Africa, she is flooded with memories of a time when the pull toward adventure and intrigue left her with a broken heart. Haunted by guilt and a sense of remorse, and hoping to lose herself in her coverage of the murder trial, Nadine grows closer to Jason?s mother as well as to the mother of one of Jason?s killers?with profound consequences. In a country both foreign and familiar, Nadine is forced to face long-buried demons, come to terms with the missing pieces of her own family past, and learn what it means to truly love and to forgive.

With her dazzling prose and resonant themes, Amanda Eyre Ward has joined the ranks of such beloved American novelists as Anne Tyler and Ann Patchett. Gripping, darkly humorous, and luminous, Forgive Me is an unforgettable story of dreams and longing, betrayal and redemption.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Another exciting novel from this talented writer

This is a remarkable novel from Amanda Eyre Ward. If you have read her previous books, you will not be disappointed with this offering. In this novel, Ms. Ward ponders themes of forgiveness, redemption and regret. From the first page when we are thrown into the action, until its final conclusion, you will find this book hard to put down. Ms. Ward has an amazing ability to not only pull the reader into the story, but into the minds of the main characters as well.

Perhaps Nadine is not the most likable individual and at times makes questionable choices, but nevertheless, you will find her fascinating and want to know what compels her and motivates those decisions.
As the end of the story unfolded, I was completely surprised by the "twist" at the very end. I think this is what makes Ms. Ward such an amazing writer - this ability to surprise and astonish the reader when you would not have expected it. Yet this never takes away from the story or diminishes one's enjoyment of it. I find Ms. Ward's style refreshing and wonderful. She knows how to convey loss and sadness and profoundly difficult situations without ever being sappy or cliche. If you have not already, please give Ms. Ward's books a chance and you will be a fan.

"Ten years after Nadine's departure, South Africa was still testing a fragile peace."

Ward tackles two disparate themes in Forgive Me: the psychological depths of motherhood and the ugly face of apartheid in South Africa. Journalist Nadine Morgan has long sought comfort by chronicling the problems of others. After her mother's early death from cancer, she is rudderless, dependent on a devastated father for the marginal emotional support he can offer. While best friend Lily becomes a wife and mother, remaining in Cape Cod, Nadine escapes into her work, arriving in Cape Town, South Africa, during the tumultuous days of rage that erupt in black townships (slums). Exhilarated by the danger all around her, Nadine falls impulsively in love with a photo-journalist, Maxim, the two tracking the violence as it erupts throughout Cape Town, years of oppression coming to fruition.

It is there that tragedy strikes in the death of a young American, Jason Irving, who is killed by an angry group of young people, one of whom is only a girl, the sister of one of Nadine's new township acquaintances. A more personal tragedy follows and Nadine flees South Africa, beginning a long pattern of fear of commitment and self-knowledge. Ten years later, Nadine is left for dead in Mexico after a severe beating by members of a local drug cartel. She wakes at her father's place in Cape Cod, childhood memories stalking her every waking moment, confined by her injuries but yearning to flee. As a local doctor treats Nadine's injuries, he also offers a measure of calmness, giving Nadine a short respite from the drive that has so fueled her life until now. But an article in a local paper send Nadine skittering back to South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about to hear the case of the American volunteer so brutally killed. In a coincidence that feels like fate, Nadine is on the same plane as Jason's parents, his bitter and defeated mother unwilling to forgive her son's murderers or grant Nadine an interview. As soon as Nadine lands in Cape Town, the old days come rushing back, along with the guilt she has carried since her first visit.

But there are two levels to this novel, a subtle sub-plot contained in the diary of a young boy dreaming of stardom, his difference from others only endurable as he considers the future. Interspersed with Nadine's agonizing journey to the past, this new thread is woven into an intricate melding of personal demons, motherhood and the harsh realities of a cruel world. Torn between her old habits and the promise of a secure and loving future, Nadine revisits a world she has successfully avoided until now, the adrenaline-charged days of apartheid and its consequences and the reality of her own identity. Horror is unveiled during the TRC hearings, society attempting to move past its blood-soaked history. Inhabiting a lifestyle that allows her to avoid introspection, Nadine is finally face to face with how she has limited her own happiness. Courageously, this flawed young woman finally comes home to herself. A surprise twist threw me for awhile; upon reflection, although it does not enrich an already powerful tale, Ward's unique talent is validated in gifted prose ("They told each other ribbons of stories.") and a vision that transcends the ordinary. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

Hoping for more

Confusing to follow in some places, and I didn't really enjoy Ward's stark-bare-bones writing style. The middle of the book was really great, the plot had great potential, but I just was lost for the first and last parts of the book. I was hoping for so much more.

interesting morality drama

Thirtyish international journalist Nadine travels the hot spots of the globe in pursuit of the story. However, when she journeyed to a small village outside Mexico City to interview the parents of twelve recently murdered young boys, two thugs battered her breaking ribs and more. When Nadine regains consciousness she finds herself in the Cape Cod B&B owned by her estranged father and his fiancée. Dr. Duarte provides her needed medical care.

Nadine feels this is the last place she wants to be while healing. She reads in the paper an article on a local couple traveling to Cape Town, South Africa to attend the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. The pair needs to hear why a black woman killed their white son in 1988. Nadine feels a deep need to cover the story so without official backing, she flies to Cape Town, a place where she lost the love of her life. She meets grieving Americans; who give her their late son's boyhood journal.

FORGIVE ME is an interesting morality drama starring an interesting protagonist who believes the story comes before her safety although her Mexican incident has left her with doubts. The tale cleverly uses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings to spotlight Apartheid, but could have been any prejudicial ism especially state sponsored. The journal that the parents give Nadine leads to her reflecting back on her failed relationships with her father and her soulmate. Although some spins feel forced and false, fans will appreciate Amanda Eyre Ward's deep look at motivation of individuals and countries.

Harriet Klausner

Emotional African Intelligence

Nadine Morgan is a woman who can't pass up a fresh, vital new story! Her best friend, Lilly, tells her she's just running away, escaping from fear of eventually settling down. Even after Nadine is seriously injuried while covering a story in Mexico, she still feels the compulsive call of another story. For Nadine is very, very good at what she does and right now she's got a choice to make. Will she return to South Africa where Bishop Desmond Tutu's amesty trials, better known as the Truth and Reconciliation Committee hearings, are in full swing? Will she remain with Harold, the first man she could possibly see herself marrying, having children, in all settling down with?

There's one particular story that's demanding her attention, the story of an American boy, Jason, who was murdered in broad daylight during a riot of furious native Africans reacting after years of apartheid brutality. Contrived as it may seem, his parents share his journal spanning his teens and young adult years with Nadine. The combination of his aspirations and the questions, fears, dreams and violence she meets on her second arrival makes for riveting albeit predictable reading.

The ending, however, will leave every reader shocked and silent with the essence of just what all this contemporary violence is really about. While there may not be so much unusual in the plot line, Amanda Eyre Ward does a superb job at plumbing the depths of fury, misunderstanding, forgiveness and shared grief! The result changes Nadine's life and choices forever! Unforgettable and all too real!!!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on February 25, 2008

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