Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
You could conserve the soft file of this book Coming Of Age At The End Of Days: A Novel, By Alice LaPlante It will depend upon your downtime and activities to open and also review this e-book Coming Of Age At The End Of Days: A Novel, By Alice LaPlante soft file. So, you could not be scared to bring this book Coming Of Age At The End Of Days: A Novel, By Alice LaPlante almost everywhere you go. Merely include this sot file to your device or computer disk to let you read each time and anywhere you have time.
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Best PDF Ebook Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Alice LaPlante's acclaimed psychological thrillers are distinguished by their stunning synthesis of family drama and engrossing suspense. Her new novel is an affecting foray deeper into the creases of family life―and the light-and-dark battle of faith―as LaPlante delves into the barbed psyche of a teenager whose misguided convictions bear irrevocable consequences.
Never one to conform, Anna always had trouble fitting in. Earnest and willful, as a young girl she quickly learned how to hide her quirks from her parents and friends. But when, at sixteen, a sudden melancholia takes hold of her life, she loses her sense of self and purpose. Then the Goldschmidts move in next door. They're active members of a religious cult, and Anna is awestruck by both their son, Lars, and their fervent violent prophecies for the Tribulation at the End of Days. Within months, Anna's life―her family, her home, her very identity―will undergo profound changes. But when her newfound beliefs threaten to push her over the edge, she must find her way back to center with the help of unlikely friends. An intimate story of destruction and renewal, New York Times bestselling author LaPlante delivers a haunting exploration of family legacies, devotion, and tangled relationships.
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante - Amazon Sales Rank: #6692887 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-15
- Formats: Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.75" h x .50" w x 5.25" l, .15 pounds
- Running time: 9 Hours
- Binding: MP3 CD
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante Review Praise for Coming of Age at the End of Days"Seductive." —Vanity Fair"LaPlante crafts prose that cuts to the quick and is the perfect vehicle for this dark tale. . . . A compelling read." —Seattle Times"Spare and trenchant, as if purified by fire. . . . [LaPlante's] swift plot, combined with a few stunning twists, keep the story skipping along. . . . A crisp meditation on the deadly mixture of mental illness and religious charlatanism." —San Francisco Chronicle"Readers were captivated by the imaginative plot and cast of characters—each of whom, as one writes, 'plays a crucial role as Anna wrestles with melancholy, faith, salvation, and whether or not love can possibly trump the end of days.'" —Elle, Winner of the Readers' Prize"[Coming of Age at the End of Days ] raises questions about mental fragility, vulnerability, and a variety of paths toward wholeness, many of which will find resonance among readers." —Bookreporter"LaPlante masterfully weaves a distressing plot in which complex, sympathetic characters, each with a complete and absorbing past, are brought to the brink of destruction . . . [a] brilliant, thought-provoking and memorable novel. It perfectly captures the dynamics of family relationships and friendships, loyalties and priorities, and the nuanced workings of an unusual mind." —Shelf Awareness"A thought-provoking bildungsroman. . . . LaPlante’s rich themes of faith and doubt, vision and blindness, emerge compellingly." —Publishers Weekly"Tension and suspense are heightened through short chapters, terse matter-of-fact prose, and what is left unsaid." —Library Journal"[With] fleet, insightful prose, LaPlante delivers gratifying . . . twists in one girl's search for salvation." —Kirkus Reviews"LaPlante has a talent for depicting family dynamics and for making the environments her characters inhabit reflect their inner states." —Booklist"An electrifying and beautifully rendered page-turner, Coming of Age at the End of Days is a richly evocative look at what it means to find yourself in a world that can feel so hopelessly lost." —Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia
About the Author Alice LaPlante is an award-winning and bestselling author of numerous books, including A Circle of Wives and the New York Times bestseller Turn of Mind, which was a B&N Discover Award finalist and the winner of the Wellcome Trust’s Book Prize.
Where to Download Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Coming of Age at the End of Days By Maryellen Alice LaPlante is a brilliant author. Her previous two titles, Turn of Mind and A Circle of Wives were what piqued my interest in this latest work, COMING OF AGE AT THE END OF DAYS. Though I would like to say that the latter title equaled in brilliance the previous two titles, I simply cannot do that. Though this book, COMING OF AGE, has glimpses of the amazing author, Ms. LaPlante, overall it seems to me that the author stepped so far outside of her comfort zone that this reader felt almost UNcomfortable.Just sixteen years old, Anna is suffering from depression. Though Anna prefers to use the term ‘melancholia’ to describe her condition. Without a strong Christian upbringing, Anna’s mother is completely against religion yet she reads the Bible with Anna each night, Anna’s ideals become muddled when she meets a new neighbor named Lars who along with his parents are deeply embedded in a religious ‘cult’ whose purpose is to bring about the end of days. Having strange dreams about a red heifer that Anna and a religious sect deem prophetic, Anna becomes obsessed with the Book of Revelations and as such, the coming of the end of days.Anna’s parents, her mother a piano teacher and her father an earthquake obsessed lawyer, are probably two of the most clueless parents ever written. Their near hands-off approach to their daughter’s upbringing finds them completely unable to both relate to their daughter and to reach their daughter. Though they live in the same house, they may as well be from two different planets.Anna’s small circle of friends includes Lars; Jim Fulson, a mid-twenties neighbor who is in the middle of his own breakdown; and Clara, Anna’s science teacher. After a completely and devastating live-changing event, Anna will come to rely on each of her friends in a new way.COMING OF AGE AT THE END OF DAYS left me a bit confused and curious. At the end of the book I still feel no real resolution to Anna’s life. And maybe that’s the point, maybe there never really is a resolution and all we really have are the questions more than the answers.✰✰✰
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. COMING OF AGE AT THE END OF DAYS is the kind of book that will inspire fierce debate By Bookreporter You probably have a pretty good idea about the topic of Alice LaPlante's new novel just by looking at its rather lengthy title. And in many ways you'd be right; it’s about a teenager growing up in a time of uncertainty and potential apocalypse. But COMING OF AGE AT THE END OF DAYS is, of course, far more complicated than its title would suggest on the surface, and it marks a new direction for its author, whose previous two books were more easily recognizable as literary thrillers --- unique ones to be sure, but thrillers nonetheless.LaPlante’s latest is more of a character study of the teenager Anna, 16 when we first meet her. Anna lives in Sunnyvale, California, a Silicon Valley suburban community where nothing particularly notable ever happens. It's not even that close to potential fault lines, Anna's earthquake-obsessed father notes with more than a hint of regret, although he has optimistically packed their cellar with canned goods and bottled water regardless.Anna's parents are loving and supportive, even if they have a complicated history of their own and even if they are sometimes too busy pursuing their own passions to pay attention to Anna. When, at age 16, Anna succumbs to a deep depression accompanied by periodic hallucinations, they try to do the right thing --- taking her to therapy, encouraging her to talk with them --- but they seem largely clueless and ineffective at reaching out to her, leaving her to feel increasingly alone.That is, until Lars Goldschmidt and his parents move onto their insular suburban street. Lars, not shy about proselytizing, approaches Anna right away and encourages her to join his family at worship services. Anna, who had previously enjoyed reading the Bible aloud with her secular humanist mother, accepts the invitation --- and is sucked into a doomsday sect bent on hastening the end times.Almost immediately, Anna becomes a passionate convert, believing her own dreams and visions to have real relevance for the church's projects. Others seem to believe that she might be Chosen as well, and she is encouraged to devote her life to the mission --- as soon as she is old enough to be emancipated from her parents.Complicating Anna's single-minded pursuit of her new religious fervor (about which her parents seem, at least at first, oddly unconcerned) are her feelings for her across-the-street neighbor Jim, a few years older than her, and by her reluctant admiration for her beautiful and enigmatic chemistry teacher (who also happens to be involved in a relationship with Jim). When a tragedy upends Anna's small world, she begins to think about the end times in a different light. But will she continue to pursue Lars' vision, or will she find her own path?Certainly vulnerable young people land in cults all the time, so Anna's story shouldn't feel as far-fetched as it sometimes does, but her immediate switch from depression and agnosticism to single-minded religious fanaticism seems more than a bit of a leap. Her tendency to spout Scripture at the drop of a hat also strains credulity, as does the novel's second half, which finds a slightly older Anna on the run from the law.Where LaPlante's novel makes up for these shortcomings is in its complex consideration of religious faith as a sort of obsession, one that is mirrored in Anna's parents' passions for music and seismology. Put in these terms, Anna's rapid conversion might not seem so unlikely, and LaPlante raises questions about mental fragility, vulnerability, and a variety of paths toward wholeness, many of which will find resonance among readers. The Epilogue seems tacked-on and largely unnecessary, raising more questions than it answers. But despite its at times melodramatic bent, COMING OF AGE AT THE END OF DAYS is the kind of book that will inspire fierce debate, not only about its merits but also about its content.Reviewed by Norah Piehl
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Eerie and Surreal By CG I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Alice LaPlante’s Coming of Age at the End of Days is the story of a 16-year-old girl named Anna who lived in Sunnyvale, California, with her piano teacher mother and her earthquake-obsessed father. Anna falls into a deep depression that begins to abate after her mother, who is quite anti-Christianity, reads the Bible to her in hopes of lifting her spirits. Anna is most intrigued by the Book of Revelations, which she sees as mirroring her own feelings of impending doom. Not long after that she is introduced to the apocalyptic religious organization of her neighbors, the Goldschmidts. This group seeks to bring about the end of days, and Anna is enthralled almost immediately. However, after experiencing a life-altering tragedy, Anna must confront her quest to help bring about the rapture.Coming of Age at the End of Days depicts depression and the seeking of death and destruction in a very realistic way. During the beginning Anna reminded me of Justine from Melancholia, as she was looking forward to the end of it all. She became more active than Justine once she believed that through her actions she could help bring about the rapture.The way Anna comes to her obsession with death is somewhat inconsistent with the characterization of her mother. I felt that the author did not satisfactorily explain why her mother would read Anna the Bible when she was strongly opposed to Christianity.Nevertheless, Coming of Age at the End of Days was a very satisfying read. Not only was I not able to put it down, but Ms. LaPlante’s writing did what I love for writing to do—it transported me into Anna’s mind, complete with the feelings of unease, devastation, and utter loneliness. Mrs. LaPlante also does a masterful job of creating three-dimensional characters in the world around Anna, each of whom plays a major part in her growth during the course of the book.I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to people looking for an eerie and surreal read that is morally and psychologically complex.
See all 19 customer reviews...
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante PDF
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante iBooks
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante ePub
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante rtf
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante AZW
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante Kindle
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
Coming of Age at the End of Days: A Novel, by Alice LaPlante
