Angel Angel

by April Stevens

Book Overview

Telling her husband to leave and then falling into a depression, Augusta finds herself surrounded by her loud and complicated family members, including her two radically different sons and her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670858390
• ISBN13: 9780670858392
• Release Date: February 1995
• Publisher: Viking
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Descriptions that completely REVEAL the Human Spirit

This novel is about a family that falls apart in the midst of a father leaving his wife for another woman. The book explores the emotional reactions and the events that follow for the mother, Augusta and her two sons Henry and Matthew. As the summer turns into fall and the seasons change, so do the characters and their relationship with each other.April Steven's character descriptions are believable and beautifully revealing. She seems to understand human emotions and reactions extremely well. There are character descriptions that are so good, I'd read them 2 or 3 times. Also, this book has an unusual format that really works: each chapter alternates perspectives between Augusta, Henry and Matthew.This novel is a page turner in every sense. There some good (but believable) surprises along the way too. overall, an extremely refreshing novel!!

A brilliant book to help anyone through a breakup!

Ms. Stevens does a wonderful job portraying personable characters. I read this book at one of the most difficult times in my life, and I grew to heal my heart as the mother of this story did. As I see friends go through separations I now extend this book to them. It will make you cry, and extend your deepest sympathy to the maladjusted family we can all sometimes relate with. (read it!! :)

A beautifully hopeful book -- wonderful characters and story

I read Angel Angel two years ago and it keeps coming back to me. I've recommended it to friend after friend and everyone loves it. Its early portions trick the reader into expecting the typical story of a suburban family's collapse (think Ice Storm), but with the arrival of a spirited local named Bette, all that changes. She becomes the life of their lives and the path she takes in reigniting the spirits of the family is thoroughly inspiring. Mrs. Stevens writes with a fluidity and grace that seems almost out-of-place among many current writers. Her book is my favorite secret and I can't wait for more from her.

incredible insight into mental illness

April Stevens managed to hit remarkably close to home with this book. As an observer of an eerily similar situation, this book managed to reveal the dysfunction that a family can manage until a real crisis approaches. These people lived in the same home together without ever realizing who or what anyone was about. The depression and paranoia that became so evident after the divorce, existed side by side everyday as they attempted to function. Nobody grew emotionally until the outsider came and taught them to look outside of themselves and cope with the mental illness