Author: Christina Baker KlinePublisher: William Morrow Paperbacks;
Date of publication: Reprint edition
(August 12, 2014)
Originally pubished in 1996by
Originally pubished in 1996by
On the night of her high school graduation, Kathryn Campbell
sits around a bonfire with her four closest friends, including the beautiful but
erratic Jennifer. “I’ll be fine,” Jennifer says, as she walks away from the
dying embers and towards the darkness of the woods. She never comes back.
Ten years later, Kathryn has tried to build a life for
herself, with a marriage and a career as a journalist, but she still feels the
conspicuous void of Jennifer’s disappearance. When her divorce sends her
reeling back to the Maine town where she grew up, she finds herself plunged
into a sea of memories. With nothing left to lose, she is determined to answer
one simple question: What happened to Jennifer Pelletier?
Desire Lines was originally published in 1996 and has been recently re-issued. I have to say that I was expecting more of a mystery with this book. While there is a mystery to be solved, I felt like the story was more about Kathryn and her friends and how their lives were affected by the disappearance of Jennifer. She has returned to her home town following a divorce and is putting her life back together.
What I liked most about the story was the way it dealt with memories and the hindsight one has years after an event. How well do we really know even our best friend? Does time in a way romanticize someone's life and do we unconsciously choose to forget the bad stuff in favor of the good memories? It was interesting how, as Kathryn interviews friends and family, she sees that Jennifer portrayed herself very differently to different of people. So who was Jennifer really? In figuring that out, Kathryn slowly begins to figure out own issues.
The mystery was pretty easy to solve and would have been solved years before had one person spoken up to the police. So, in a way that as a little disappointing. But the rest of the book made up for it. I do recommend this throwback. It's actually the first book I have read by this author. I am intrigued enough to check out some of her other books.
What I liked most about the story was the way it dealt with memories and the hindsight one has years after an event. How well do we really know even our best friend? Does time in a way romanticize someone's life and do we unconsciously choose to forget the bad stuff in favor of the good memories? It was interesting how, as Kathryn interviews friends and family, she sees that Jennifer portrayed herself very differently to different of people. So who was Jennifer really? In figuring that out, Kathryn slowly begins to figure out own issues.
The mystery was pretty easy to solve and would have been solved years before had one person spoken up to the police. So, in a way that as a little disappointing. But the rest of the book made up for it. I do recommend this throwback. It's actually the first book I have read by this author. I am intrigued enough to check out some of her other books.
About Christina Baker Kline
Christina Baker Kline was born in England and raised in
Maine. The author of five novels, including the runaway bestseller Orphan
Train, Kline has taught literature and creative writing at Yale, New York
University, and Fordham. She lives outside of New York City.
Purchase Links
Christina’s Tour Stops
Tuesday, August 12th: Kahakai
Kitchen
Thursday, August 14th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Monday, August 18th: BoundbyWords
Wednesday, August 20th: Kritters
Ramblings
Thursday, August 28th: A Bookish Way of Life
Tuesday, September 2nd: From the TBR Pile
Monday, September 15th: Jorie Loves a Story
I hope that you are inspired to pick up some of Christina's other books!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.