Announced on December 3, 1999
About the Book
One unremarkable June morning, Alice Goodwin is, as usual, trying to keep in check both her temper and her tendency to blame herself for her family's shortcomings. Six years ago, when the Goodwins took over the last dairy farm in the small Midwestern town of Prairie Center, they envisioned their home as a self-made paradise. But these days, as Alice is all too aware, her elder daughter Emma is prone to inexplicable fits of rage, her husband Howard distrusts her maternal competence, and Prairie Center's tight-knit suburban community shows no signs of warming to "those hippies who think they can run a farm." A loner by nature, Alice is torn between a yearning for solitude coupled with a deep need to be at the center of a perfect family.
On this particular day, Emma has started the morning with a violent tantrum, her little sister Claire is eating pennies, and it is Alice's turn to watch her neighbor's two small girls as well as her own children. She absentmindedly steals a minute alone that turns into ten: time enough for a devastating accident to occur. Her neighbor's daughter Lizzie drowns in the farm's pond, and Alice — whose volatility and unmasked directness keep her on the outskirts of acceptance — becomes the perfect scapegoat. At the same time, a seemingly trivial incident from Alice's past resurfaces and takes on gigantic proportions, leading the Goodwins far from Lizzie's death into a maze of guilt and doubt culminating in a harrowing court trial and the family's shattering downfall.
About the Author
Jane Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin.
Her short stories have appeared in Harper's Magazine, and her first book, The Book of Ruth, was awarded the 1989 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel. Seven years after its publication, The Book of Ruth was chosen for Oprah's Book Club, giving it a second life.
In 1994 Hamilton published A Map of the World, which became an international best seller, and in 1998, The Short History of a Prince, which won the Heartland Prize for Fiction, and was shortlisted for Britain's Orange Prize.
Book Reviews
"Jane Hamilton has removed all doubt that she belongs among the major writers of our time."
— San Francisco Chronicle
"Like a lot of books singled out for praise, A Map of the World can be described as a page-turner. But in this case, the pages are turned with trembling hands."
— People
"This beautifully written story follows the form and function of all great literature: it assembles a gripping cast of sinner, sufferers, and opportunists, then gives them the settings and self-perceptions to hang or redeem themselves."
— Glamour
"Few writers have the courage to attempt a truly adult novel or the skill to produce one. Thankfully, Jane Hamilton is among them. A daring writer."
— New York Daily News
"The book is exquisite in its individual passages, compelling as a whole." —
Women's Review of Books
"Unforgettably, beat by beat, Hamilton maps the best and worst of the human heart and all the mysterious, uncharted country in between."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Hamilton's special genius lies in blending the quotidian and the mythic."
— U.S. News & World Report
"A beautifully developed and written story reminiscent of the work of Sue Miller and Jane Smiley... one wants to read this power novel at one sitting."
— Publisher's Weekly
"Stunning prose and unforgettable characters... an enthralling tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying ways our lives can spin out of control.
A+" — Entertainment Weekly
"It takes a writer of rare power and discipline to carry off an achievement like A Map of the World. Hamilton proves here that she is one of our best."
— Newsweek
"Ms. Hamilton has done a nimble job of showing us how precarious the illusion of safety and security really is."
— New York Times
"Hamilton's chillingly accurate prose keeps her fine novel buoyant. She is superb in her observation of the natural world and in her examination of psychological nuance."
— Washington Post
Get more resources on A Map of the World, an Oprah's Book Club selection.
View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
One unremarkable June morning, Alice Goodwin is, as usual, trying to keep in check both her temper and her tendency to blame herself for her family's shortcomings. Six years ago, when the Goodwins took over the last dairy farm in the small Midwestern town of Prairie Center, they envisioned their home as a self-made paradise. But these days, as Alice is all too aware, her elder daughter Emma is prone to inexplicable fits of rage, her husband Howard distrusts her maternal competence, and Prairie Center's tight-knit suburban community shows no signs of warming to "those hippies who think they can run a farm." A loner by nature, Alice is torn between a yearning for solitude coupled with a deep need to be at the center of a perfect family.
On this particular day, Emma has started the morning with a violent tantrum, her little sister Claire is eating pennies, and it is Alice's turn to watch her neighbor's two small girls as well as her own children. She absentmindedly steals a minute alone that turns into ten: time enough for a devastating accident to occur. Her neighbor's daughter Lizzie drowns in the farm's pond, and Alice — whose volatility and unmasked directness keep her on the outskirts of acceptance — becomes the perfect scapegoat. At the same time, a seemingly trivial incident from Alice's past resurfaces and takes on gigantic proportions, leading the Goodwins far from Lizzie's death into a maze of guilt and doubt culminating in a harrowing court trial and the family's shattering downfall.
About the Author
Jane Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin.
Her short stories have appeared in Harper's Magazine, and her first book, The Book of Ruth, was awarded the 1989 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel. Seven years after its publication, The Book of Ruth was chosen for Oprah's Book Club, giving it a second life.
In 1994 Hamilton published A Map of the World, which became an international best seller, and in 1998, The Short History of a Prince, which won the Heartland Prize for Fiction, and was shortlisted for Britain's Orange Prize.
Book Reviews
"Jane Hamilton has removed all doubt that she belongs among the major writers of our time."
— San Francisco Chronicle
"Like a lot of books singled out for praise, A Map of the World can be described as a page-turner. But in this case, the pages are turned with trembling hands."
— People
"This beautifully written story follows the form and function of all great literature: it assembles a gripping cast of sinner, sufferers, and opportunists, then gives them the settings and self-perceptions to hang or redeem themselves."
— Glamour
"Few writers have the courage to attempt a truly adult novel or the skill to produce one. Thankfully, Jane Hamilton is among them. A daring writer."
— New York Daily News
"The book is exquisite in its individual passages, compelling as a whole." —
Women's Review of Books
"Unforgettably, beat by beat, Hamilton maps the best and worst of the human heart and all the mysterious, uncharted country in between."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Hamilton's special genius lies in blending the quotidian and the mythic."
— U.S. News & World Report
"A beautifully developed and written story reminiscent of the work of Sue Miller and Jane Smiley... one wants to read this power novel at one sitting."
— Publisher's Weekly
"Stunning prose and unforgettable characters... an enthralling tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying ways our lives can spin out of control.
A+" — Entertainment Weekly
"It takes a writer of rare power and discipline to carry off an achievement like A Map of the World. Hamilton proves here that she is one of our best."
— Newsweek
"Ms. Hamilton has done a nimble job of showing us how precarious the illusion of safety and security really is."
— New York Times
"Hamilton's chillingly accurate prose keeps her fine novel buoyant. She is superb in her observation of the natural world and in her examination of psychological nuance."
— Washington Post
Get more resources on A Map of the World, an Oprah's Book Club selection.View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
Published 12/03/1999
