An Act of Love

by Nancy Thayer

Book Overview

Linda and Owen McFarland have been happily married for seven years. During that time, Owen's son Bruce has grown into a handsome high school senior, and Linda's daughter Emily has come to love her new family. Both children are at a boarding school they love; Owen and Linda, novelists, work at home on Owen's beautiful Massachusetts farm.Just before Thanksgiving, Emily attempts suicide and is taken to a local psychiatric ward. Emily confesses that in...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312154712
• ISBN13: 9780312154714
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

It Can Happen

I enjoyed this book. People don't realize that this kind of thing does happen, and yes, with step-families. I thought the parents did the best they could with this situation. The plot leaves you not knowing what really happened, and that is the point of it. In real life when such tragedies occur, especially teen rape, who knows who's telling the truth. I admire both of these parents for not siding with either or child, and they still continued to support their children the best they could. I felt that both Bruce and Emily needed guidance and love during this, I never really knew what exactly happened. The characters seemed so real. This book is about a modern day step-family with a major crisis.

Nancy evinces a lively and intense understanding of people.

Author Nancy Thayer Brings Us A Mystery of Sorts.By: Sheila Coffin This is an interview with Nancy Thayer, author of "An Act of Love." Me: Tell us about "'An Act of Love,' the book not an actual situation that might come to mind." We laughed. Nancy: "Well, this is a more serious book than my last few. An Act of Love is about a step-family in crisis." Me: It's a modern setting, with modern concerns?" Nancy: "Yes. The novel concerns a step-family, a mother and her daughter, a father and his son. The parents believe they have done a good job raising their children until their daughter ends up in a psychiatric ward." Me: "It sounds like a bit of an intrigue." Nancy: "This is a sort of mystery. Neither the characters nor the reader know what has really happened. The children are pitted against each other testing the loyalties of the parents, threatening the foundations of the family. I wanted to write about adolescents and crisis not just because I am a mother and have two children of my own but also because of what I have seen with other parents and their children. If the parent has done a good job, if they have managed to let their child learn to be self-sufficient there is a time when the parent looks at their child and says, 'Who is this person?' because their child is a total stranger to them. This is very traumatic. It is an acute time, an intense time. You realize that this person is not "your" creature, "your" creation. The parent realizes that they have given over the control for the child's life to the child. A parent cannot keep their child safe." I asked, "Do we have the mystery solved, who really did what, by the end of the novel?" "Yes," Nancy replied. "But I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to read the book." What Nancy was also not quick to volunteer was that the day after An Act of Love was finished she had five offers for movie options. I found "An Act of Love," to be everything Nancy had promised, and more. If you are already one of Nancy Thayer's fans, you'll want to hurry and get a copy of "An Act of Love." If you haven't read Nancy Thayer's books you will find that her humor, her vitality, her kindness, and her concern for people is both gripping and calming. You will feel like you have a friend who knows and cares.

Compelling and realistic portrayal of a family crisis

Thayer has been one of my favorite novelists for many years--I'm always surprised that her books are not on the bestseller lists--or at least more widely discussed. Her new book is a page-turner and explores the perils of family life and the challenge of sustaining a marriage during a crisis. In the this case, the crisis revolves around the two children, who are step-siblings. An accusation of rape of one sibling by the other begins a nightmare that isn't likely to ever be resolved and "put behind them." Thayer's writing shines as she describes the struggle each parent faces in supporting his or her child while keeping the marriage relationship strong. (As always, she explores marriage beautifully.) I found the ending filled with hope and resolve. Would be interested to know what other readers thought of the way Thayer handled this nearly impossible dilemma. As always, I eagerly await her next book. My mother and my daughter feel the same way--we're a three generation Thayer fan club.

Thayer has produced a book that is difficult to put down.

An Act of Love by Nancy Thaler is a very intense novel. The four main characters fall from what appeared to be comfortable lives to excessive pain. The author is extremely successful in communicating that pain to the reader. A happy marriage becomes difficult and then impossible to endure when each parent realizes that he/she must put the mental health of his/her child first. The actual act of love is when Owen and Linda take steps to live apart from each other in order to give their respective children the love and support needed to heal. Thayer has produced a book that is difficult to put down. I'm anxious to read more of her work.

She's as easy to "listen" to as a good friend

Hey, Nancy Thayer is my favorite author, well Robert Anderson also. I haven't read her new book yet, but I bet it is captivating, can't wait. She is very READABLE