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Title: Cracks by Sheila Kohler ISBN: 1-58195-026-8 Publisher: Zoland Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.61 (18 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Incredibly creepy for such a small book
Comment: Compare this with Lord of the Flies, but with girls instead of boys. Set in South Africa and told in Sheila Kohler's inimitable elegant and dark style of writing, it's the story of a swim team in a remote boarding school, a story in which the girls' "coming of age" doesn't turn out as expected.
Cracks is full of memorable characters, including an Italian princess, but most memorable is the shadowy 1st person narrator who somehow manages to be within the story but without at the same time.
Wonderful writing.
Creepy story.
Rating: 5
Summary: Diabolical !
Comment: What evil lurks in the hearts of adolescent girls? Not exactly what you'd expect when you first open the covers of this book. On the surface it seems to be about some rich older women coming back to the boarding school of their youth for a reunion. It quickly turns into a reminiscience of some truly diabolical deeds committed by twelve young girls, their sexually depraved swimming coach, and their seemingly senile and doddering old headmistress. The ending was totally not what I expected; it kept me guessing right up until the last chapter. I won't spoil the story by telling you the rest of the plot, but I still had one question about where Fiamma (one of the main characters) had disappeared to when I finished reading the book. I went back to the very first couple of chapters and reread them immediately. In a very subtle way the answer is revealed on the first few pages! Oh, My, God! It makes you realize how truly evil these girls and their teachers were. The depth of what's really going on is astounding. This is a quick read, very suspenseful, and well worth your time.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good book marred by an unlikely ending
Comment: Reading this book was like seeing several familiar elements mixed together in a new way. Lord of the Flies meets Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Walkabout meets the Wildfire Club. I found Kohler's portait of girl-crushes at a remote boarding school evocative and compelling. She uses setting well - the stiffling African heat followed by chaotic rain. I was also intrigued by the 2nd person plural narration, and by the fact that one of the characters shared the author's name. However! The ending - oh the ending. I didn't believe it for a second, not for those characters. It was as if the author felt she had to have something appalling up her sleeve for the book to be worth it or didn't believe that less graphic betrayals can be deeper and more believable.
Ultimately, I found this an intriguing novel, but I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it because of the disappointing ending.
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Title: Stories From Another World by Sheila Kohler ISBN: 0865381100 Publisher: Ontario Review Pr Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee ISBN: 0140296409 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 31 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: One Girl: A Novel in Stories by Sheila Kohler ISBN: 1884235298 Publisher: Helicon Nine Editions Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Children of Pithiviers by Sheila Kohler ISBN: 1581950322 Publisher: Zoland Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: The House On R. Street by Sheila Kohler ISBN: 067942606X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 26 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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