With “incantatory prose” that “sweeps over the reader like a dream,” (Philadelphia Inquirer), Hoffman follows her celebrated bestseller The Probable Future, with an evocative work that traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years.In a rare and gorgeous departure, beloved novelist Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird … of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family’s lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House.
These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home.
From the writer Time has said tells “truths powerful enough to break a reader’s heart” comes a glorious travelogue through time and fate, through loss and love and survival. Welcome to Blackbird House.
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When Halloween and the crisp air of fall rolls around, I always turn to my collection of Alice Hoffman novels. Blackbird House–a collection of stories centered around residents of an old house and spanning many generations–is rich in Hoffman’s always-beautiful imagery, with characters both haunting and haunted, who are invariably moved by the …
Somewhat tedious by the end… and then leaves you hanging.
This book was entertaining enough but not easy to follow.
Didn’t want it to end.
I am a great fan of Alice Hoffman’s novels
Told in eleven short stories, Alice Hoffman incorporates her gift for unique characters and charming prose with “Blackbird House.” Colors play a big part in the narrative, and a white black bird, be it albino or the spirit of one of the early residents of the Cape Cod property, visits many of the characters. The land is a common thread. The place …
My first taste of alice Hoffman, I’ve never been disappointed. Loved this story today as much as years ago when I first read it
Can’t remember a lot about this I read so long ago, but remember I liked it. It is not my all time favorite and Hoffman is a top
Great vehicle for introducing a cast of fascinating characters.
Well crafted scenes and characters threaded together in an imaginative story form. Another winner from Alice Hoffman.
As always, Alice Hoffman’s writing is excellently absorbing!
A collection of short stories centered around a house and the families that lived there. It begins in colonial times up to modern days. Very interesting. A good read
Not my favorite Alice Hoffman book. No common thread with the characters, just the house.
Everyone should read AliceHoffman. I usually don’t like short stories but, with the connection to one house, this one rocked
Very mystical, I felt like I was reading a fairytale. But the book was beautifully written
I enjoyed this unusual group of short stories which were connected by locale and familial generations. Like the author’s many other books, there are layers to uncover and ponder. A good read.
Alice Hoffman is a wonderful writer. It was clever the way the stories wove together.
Excellent book. Alice Hoffman is an incredible writer.
I love that it was a series of short stories all connected to the house.
A good read. Each section had an unenticipated twist that kept you reading and wondering what was going to happen next. There was only one section that I did not understand how it all fit in. The characters were all interesting and very different from what might have been expected.