Tags
2013, Alice Hoffman, Amkaer, Book review, Fairy tales, Family saga, Fiction, Magic, Secrets, Skylight Confessions, Social Realism
Family saga in three parts: Ghost wife, A house made of stars, and The red map.
After the death of her father, 17-year-old Arlyn vows to love the next man, who comes down the street. This self-afflicted curse results in an unhappy marriage to John Moody, who for all his architectual creativity has lost or never had an open emotional life. Arlyn is trapped in their home called the Glass Slipper with the light of her life – her son Sam and later her daughter Blanca.
Meredith, who finds herself in a lull in her life, sees John Moody followed by the ghost of his dead wife and tracks him back to the Glass Slipper, where he lives with the now teenage and troublesome Sam, 10-year-old Blanca, and his new wife. Meredith has a rapport with Sam, who sits on the glass ceiling of the house, high on drugs and low in everything else and she is employed as a live-in nanny. She tries to pull Sam back from the brink.
John Moody dies and the now adult Blanca is persuaded to come home from London for the funeral. During the reading of his will, Blanca learns that Sam had a son before he died.
The Glass Slipper, an architectual pearl, designed by John Moody’s father plays a prominent role in “Skylight Confessions”. It is a house, home, cage, and one of the many fairy tale accents included in “Skylight Confessions”. Also, The Glass Slipper shows the duality between glass structures and the many secrets of the characters.
In comparison the other Alice Hoffman novels, “Skylight Confessions” seems weightier, slightly darker, and less magical. My recommendation goes to readers, who are more interested in social realism than Hoffman’s trademark everyday magic.
I saw Practical Magic before I read the book and although I liked the book…I loved the movie (a rarity!), probably because Sandra Bullock is a favorite of mine and Aidan Quinn looked delicious
This one sounds interesting…another one for the TBR Shelf.
I too loved the movie and it was my introduction to Alice Hoffman. Midnight margueritas have become an essentiel part of my life!
Thanks for the comment.