The Ghost at the Table: A Novel
by Suzanne Berne
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Book Summary Information
Author: Suzanne BerneEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-27
ISBN: 1565125797
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: A Shannon Ravenel Book
Book Reviews of The Ghost at the Table: A Novel
Book Review: Ghosts of two families: Fiskes and Twains.
Summary: 3 Stars
Unreliable narrator Cynthia leaves her relatively quiet and predictable life in San Francisco to return "home" to Concord to her older sister Frances' house for Thanksgiving. She plans to keep her visit short and sweet, spending part of the time driving to Hartford to visit the Mark Twain house, since her latest book project is about Twain's daughters. But her plans are turned upside down by a non stop chain of events that seem almost planned by her older sister.
There are many twists and turns in this novel, involving flashbacks and a series of misunderstandings. Cynnie is usually the last one to know, and you can sympathize with her constant confusion about the situations that continually present themselves regarding her elderly and infirm father, his soon to be ex wife, her sister's odd behavior, and even her mother's death.
The Twain theme is used as a parallel throughput the whole book: his own dysfunction and his sad family, hidden away under the cloak of his immense success, mirrors Frances' attempts to save her own family. I enjoyed the well researched "discussions" by Cynnie and Frances about the Twains, as they enlivened an otherwise bleak novel. But this novel also seemed vaguely familiar, and it wasn't until I reached the final scenes that I realized what previous novel I had read that this book so reminded me of: Anna Quindlen's One True Thing.
Overall, I found this to be an entertaining read, but I was expecting more, after partially hearing a discussion about this novel last year on the Diane Riehm show. It just wasn't quite what I expected. Aside from the Twain parts, I really found the novel was lacking heart and soul. I never felt I connected with any of the main characters, least of all Cynnie, and I think the author really wants you to feel her pain. All the characters seemed shallow and selfish, especially her. Not that one couldn't identify, but does the reader really want to?
Summary of The Ghost at the Table: A Novel
Strikingly different since childhood and leading dissimilar lives now, sisters Frances and Cynthia have managed to remain "devoted"?as long as they stay on opposite coasts. When Frances arranges to host Thanksgiving at her idyllic New England farmhouse, she envisions a happy family reunion, one that will include the sisters' long-estranged father. Cynthia, however, doesn't understand how Frances can ignore the past their father's presence revives, a past that includes suspicions about their mother's death twenty-five years earlier.As Thanksgiving Day arrives, with a houseful of guests looking forward to dinner, the sisters continue to struggle with different versions of a shared past, their conflict escalating to a dramatic, suspenseful climax.
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