In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke
Release date: 2009 / 309 pages
First Line: “If you are READING this you are going to DIE!”
Synopsis: This is the way the world ends… It was a fairy tale come true when Mark Dorn — handsome pilot, widower, tragic father of three — chose Jiselle to be his wife. The other flight attendants were jealous: She could quit now, leaving behind the million daily irritations of the job. (Since the outbreak of the Phoenix flu, passengers had become even more difficult and nervous, and a life of constant travel had grown harder.) She could move into Mark Dorn’s precious log cabin and help him raise his three beautiful children. But fairy tales aren’t like marriage. Or motherhood…
Review: I’m so excited to share this novel with you all — especially those of you who like fiction that is a bit on the dark side. I did not know a thing about this novel when I began, but noticed in the supplemental materials that the writer considers herself a poet first, and novelist second, so my excitement and anticipation peaked before I even read the first page. Listen to this quote about why the author loves poetry: “I love the sort of athletic mysticism of it.” Isn’t that perfect?! “Athletic mysticism” — ah, to be a poet and have those sort of phrases as your fingertips…
So, I began the novel and quickly found myself on a strange, haunting, foreboding, yet beautiful journey into a world different enough from our own to be alluring, but similar enough to be frightening.
In a sense, the novel has two worlds — a private narrative that involves a thirty-something woman falling in love with and marrying a dashing widower who she really doesn’t know very well. Her new stepchildren are desperate for a mother’s love, fearful of her permanence, and uncomfortably adolescent. Since their father is a pilot, Jiselle has a lot of alone time with her new stepchildren and this storyline is very interesting and quite relateable.
However, the public sphere of this novel slowly becomes apocalyptic… A form of flu is ravaging the U.S., causing the rest of the world to shun Americans, and the weather seems to be changing, but almost imperceptably. The outside narrative is so believable that the chill is penetrating. Yet, the family getting to know one another saves this novel from the desperation and nihilism of something like McCarthy’s The Road.
And the prose… so lovely! Here are a few samples:
“In a bit of shade there, a tangled circle of violets was hidden — pale blue and purple. Small, tender, silky, blinking. If they had voices, she thought, they would be giggling.”
“She raised hers to his, and they touched the glasses together just lightly enough to make the faintest of sounds — the muffled sound of a very tiny glass bell ringing on the collar of a cat, which might have been rolling in some lush green grass under a warm sun in a country far away.”
Both of these excerpts come from the very first few pages, because once I was fully engaged in the novel, I did not surface until I was finished. The novel reads very quickly — like a gasp! — and melds plot, characterization, and theme exquisitely.
I wondered if I would feel a pressured sense of foreboding upon finishing this novel — this world truly, very quickly could become the future of the U.S. However, instead I finished with an increased sense of gratitude for my own “perfect world” — my lovely home, the ease of air flight, my patient dog, my wonderful husband, my family’s health and accessibility even though a few states away.
This novel truly is a gift that I look forward to passing along to another lucky reader… Interested? Please drop me a comment and I’ll choose a winner by Saturday!
Ooh, great first line! I would love the chance to read this book. Thanks.
fitz12383(at)hotmail(dot)com
I completely agre about the first line
.
Count me in, please.
I really need a new book to read!!
me, me, me! pick me!
Thanks for another great opportunity!
~Renee
You totally have me convinced! Count me in for the giveaway.
Sounds like an interesting book! I’d love to try for it!
I am really enjoying your reviews. I could use a book that leaves me more appreciative of the goodness in my own life. Please count me in for the giveaway.
I was also interested to read about your teacher kits. I will have to pass on the info to my husband who is an English teacher and particularly enjoys teaching novel units.
Warm regards!
I’m so glad to see so many readers interested in this novel! My review must have done it justice to a certain extent! I am happy to report that I have TWO copies to give away, too!!
Thank you, Kjersti!! I really appreciate your kind words… Your comment was a bright spark in my day!
This sounds like a wonderful book! Please add my name into your drawing!!!
I’d love to read a novel I could finish “in a gasp!” Please enter me!
Oh man, this book sounds amazing! I could definitely use a new book to devour.
Sounds very absorbing, I’d love to read it!
That is a FANTASTIC first line!
You’ve made me really excited about this book! I think I’ll be picking it up soon!
Thanks for being on this tour, Kristen!
I’m usually not a huge fan of books with a love story as one of the central plots, but the combination of personal and global story lines sounds wonderful.
Why have I not heard of this book? I love darker stories. Please enter me.
sounds like an interesting book! i love darker stories
That book sounds pretty awesome. I’d love to give it a read!
I would love to be included! Thanks!
This book looks so good. I’d love to be considered – thanks
Michelle
This book sounds amazing and I’d love to have a copy!
This sounds like a good book…. nice and dark!
me pls! thanks
This sounds like a great book – please enter my name in your drawing!
Hi Sue — My giveaways are only open until the following Saturday, so unfortunately you are too late to win any of the books you requested yesterday. However, I give away books every week — usually on Wednesdays — so be sure to stop back again soon!
I would love to read this book. If I win it, I will read and then pass it along to our small library.
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