Long Division
A Novel
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2.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A winsome novel-as-memoir about what happens to a young teacher left by her boyfriend to her own devices
Annie Harper is a twenty-four-year-old elementary school teacher when her soldier-boyfriend, David, is sent overseas. Determined to record her desolate and devoted hours, she begins a memoir that she imagines will be a tender homage to "all the women at home." Instead, Annie misses David but finds herself. Told through Annie's memoir-in- progress, Long Division vividly renders the inner life of a quirky young woman stuck between what she really feels and what she thinks she should.
Readers of Curtis Sittenfeld and Marisa de los Santos-as well as the many real-life women left awaiting a soldier's return-will be captivated by Jane Berentson's quirky and wonderfully refreshing debut novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Third-grade teacher Annie Harper pines for boyfriend David Paterson, who's been deployed to Iraq, while she tends the home fires in Tacoma, Wash., in Berentson's cutesy debut. Annie's got plenty to keep her busy: a precious memoir-in-progress, a best friend whose relationship takes a surprising turn, a few pals in a nursing home, a long-lost brother and a growing uncertainty about where her 24-year-old heart might be settling. Sweet and manic Annie chronicles her ever-changing points of view of life, love and loyalty, and while the occasional interesting aside sneaks in, Berentson breaks no new ground on the battleground of modern love: a smart and sassy gal who needs more than safe and sane to make her heart sing discovers the love of her life right in front of her nose. Annie's yearlong slog through loneliness and self-doubt all comes down to a rather underwhelming conclusion.
Customer Reviews
Fresh Voice
Hip hop smoothed out on an O & B (Octavia Butler) tip, with a major commentary on race and generational issues. To sum it up, DOPE! Fresh voice in literature akin to those on the 1985 Fresh Fest tour! ;-)