Four Corners

by Diane Freund

Book Overview

"I was ten the summer we drove my mother crazy." And so starts this captivating debut novel, narrated by ten-year-old Rainey Dougherty. It's August 1953 in Four Corners, New York, when Rainey's mother... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156026929
• ISBN13: 9780156026925
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Spell binding story telling

This book is one of those " It hurts to read on, but you can't put it down" books. The characters are so real you miss them when the story is over.

An emotional experience

A book that is hilariious, beautiful & deeply sad. This book carried me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I was laughing out loud one second and almost crying for the children the next. The children in this book will stay with you for a long time. This is a book well worth reading. You won't be sorry if you do.

Heartfelt and Hilarious

Diane Freund's "Four Corners" is a compelling, poignant, and beautifully-written novel. Feisty, lovable Rainey Dougherty's first words, "I was ten the summer we drove our mother crazy" grab you by the scruff of the neck, drag you into her offbeat world, and hold you captive until you've finished the last page. "Four Corners" is a heartfelt, hilarious read - one I highly recommend.

A Mesmerizing Must-read

Diane Freund has created a world so real, you feel the characters sitting next to you when you close the book. The elegent, lyrical writing makes Rainey's world view all the more pragmatic. She is at once wise, innocent - and compelling. This family saga is folk art, a piece of Americana that avoids sentiment, yet clutches your heart and won't let go. I can taste those sugar sandwiches - and recommend them highly.

Well-written, enjoyable, quirky!

I've read far too many novels recently in this genre - the smart aleck young girl coming of age in a difficult, quirky family - to rave about FOUR CORNERS, but I must say I enjoyed reading it. Freund has created a fictional world peopled by dysfunctional, often hilariously so, characters. Ten year old Rainey (okay - she doesn't seem ten, but she's lovable) and her four siblings lose their mother to insanity one summer. Their foul-mouthed, cynical, no-nonsense aunt Merle arrives from the Bronx to care for them since their father, who works long hours as a bartender and who doesn't have much emotional backbone, cannot. But the real gift to Rainey is her cousin Joan, a headstrong troubled teen who shows Rainey a side of life she has not known. As the summer wears on and still Rainey's mother does not return, a series of crises, some small and some not, convince Rainey that it was she who drove her mother mad. Merle is a brilliantly wrought character, especially as her voice begins to merge with Rainey's. Her character and Joan's are the true triumphs of this novel; they are both vibrant and sad portrayals of strong women who struggle against the odds of their limited futures. The men and boys tend to be either creepy (Joan's brother and father, Harold the cruel burn victim, even Eddie Birdseye who comes across as kind and happy at first) or nondescript (Rainey's father and her brothers.)If you like character-driven fiction with an offbeat mix of humor and pathos, this book is for you. You won't find suspense or plot twists, but you'll find yourself engrossed in Freund's fictional world, turning page after page until you're done.