Fortunate Lives

by Robb Forman Dew

Book Overview

In 1982, Robb Forman Dew burst upon the literary scene with her American Book Award-winning first novel, Dale Loves Sophie to Death. Her second novel, The Time of Her Life, established her as a novelist of the first rank.--Publishers Weekly. Now she returns to the lives of the characters of her first novel in this mother-teenage son drama.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688107818
• ISBN13: 9780688107819
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Family Deals with Loss

This novel explores themes of loss, individuation, family and friendship. The story is told with low expressed emotion built on the premise that still waters run deep and what is felt does not always have to be communicated. There are several plot lines in this book. A family deals with loss after their son dies in a tragic accident. Years later, their oldest child gets ready to leave for college and these wounds open again. Meanwhile, a truly gross holier-than-thou nymphomaniac professor enters their lives and 'adopts' them. The mother for some reason is unable to set limits or boundaries with this woman. The woman soon drags the son into a preposterous affair. Superimposed on this is dad's attempt to make peace with the young man responsible for their son's death. It all doesn't quite work but it was thought-provoking, very tender at times, and definitely worth reading.

A son's last summer at home is detailed with charm and humor

Dew's story of a son's last summer before entering Harvard University is charmingly detailed by a master storyteller. It speaks of a mother's devotion and care for a son who must inevitably separate from her. This is a book every mother of a son should read before he leaves for school. Indeed, the main character is fortunate to have a mother such as Dew describes.