Fragile Beasts
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Growing up in hard-scrabble coal country with a drunk father and a runaway mother hasn't been easy for teen brothers Kyle and Klint. And when their dad smashes his truck and dies after a few too many beers, the boys are shocked that their often-absent mother plans to take them back to her new home out West. After all, their mom hasn't cared for Kyle and Klint for years. She still doesn't. Their mom quickly hands the boys over to 75-year-old Candace Jack, a curmudgeon with an acidic tongue who surprises herself in agreeing to take the boys. Living together isn't easy, but the boys discover that Candace has a tragic, passionate past and the three discarded souls help each other to heal. With Tawni O'Dell's trademark tenderness, vivid sense of place, and complex characters, Fragile Beasts is a beautifully crafted novel told from two very different points of view: a fourteen-year-old boy's and a seventy-five-year-old woman's. It's a wonderfully touching novel with two fascinating narrators who will wholly capture readers' hearts.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her fourth outing, novelist O Dell returns to Pennsylvania coal country for more dysfunctional family drama. When teenage brothers Klint and Kyle, having already been abandoned by their mother, are left orphaned by the death of their father, they re unexpectedly taken in by an elderly, filthy rich recluse named Candace Jack, known for her family s mining company, J&P Coal. Taking in the two working-class kids, Candace is reminded of her own emotional wounds (a heart long-broken by the violent death of her bullfighter fianc ), and the damaged trio grope their way toward healing amid heated cultural and generational clashes. Under Candace s roof, likable and inquisitive Kyle begins to develop artistic skills, while sullen baseball prodigy Klint immerses himself even further in sports. When Kyle and Klint s cold-hearted mom appears, looking to get at Candace s money, a series of near-tragic events and terrible revelations ensue. O Dell can overdo the sentiment, but she s a pro at capturing dialogue, and some characters wisecracks are laugh-out-loud funny. Though predictable, this gritty novel is a memorable read.
