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Description edit see section history

Hoffman brings us 200 years in the history of Blackwell, a small town in rural Massachusetts, in her insightful latest. The story opens with the arrival of the first settlers, among them a pragmatic English woman, Hallie, and her profligate, braggart husband, William. Hallie makes an immediate... read more

Characters edit see section history

  • Blackwell: Blackwell, Massachusetts is the main character in this book. From the day the Brady's first camped in the trees to the present, this book follows the people who make it a town.
  • Louise Partridge: Studied in Radcliffe but never finished. Sets out to replant the red garden. She is Kate's daughter. She was 22 when her mother died. Great niece of Hannah.
  • Carla Kelly: works at gas station, befriends Tessa Cooper
  • Frank Mott: had an accident, lost his memory. Twin brother of Jesse.
  • Kate: Add a description of this character.
  • Jesse Mott: Frank's twin brother. Went to Califonia to make a fortune.
  • James Mott: The son of Louise and Johnny Mott. Was accident prone and thought he was cursed. Moved from Blackwell to NYC where he lived three years.
  • Tessa: Ava Cooper's daughter. Best friend of Carla Kelly.
  • Harry Partridge: One of the settlers. Later, was married to Josephine (Beatrice)
  • Hallie Brady: Born in Birmingham, England. Orphan. One of the first settlers of Blackwell.
  • Yaron: Gypsy and horse trader who helps one family find their missing daughter.
  • Mary: Oldest daughter and big sister to little Alice, who died in the river. It is suggested that Mary ran off with Yaron.
  • Johnny Mott
  • Sara
  • Hannah Partridge: Famous for her garden. She was 35 in 1945. She was Azurine's sister.
  • Brian
  • Charles
  • Minette Partridge.: Daughter of Harry and lover of John Chapman.
  • William Brady: Headed the forst expedition to Hightop Mountain. Hallies's husband. He was 40 when he married Hallie, who was then 17.
  • Ben Levy: a newspaperman who wrote fot The Herald Tribune and was writing a novel. He grew up in The Bronx.
  • Ava Cooper: Tessa's mother. She loved to bake and give names to the cakes she bakes. She had a terrible secret that Tessa knew.
  • Josephine (Beatrice, Bee): Hallie's daughter, Harry's wife.
  • Rene
  • John Mott
  • Evan
  • Horace Kelly: An old fisherman (at least 70) who lived (married) with Susan, who was 17.
  • Ruth Starr Carson: She was a very old woman that had been de curator of the Museum.
  • Rebecca
  • Jack Kerouac: Tessa was infatuated with this writer that lived in California.
  • Matthew James: A "monster" according to the people who saw him because he was very ugly. He was in love with Kate Partridge and wrote poems to her.
  • Arthur
  • Mattie
  • John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed)
  • Susan
  • Hattie
  • Henry
  • Amy: daughter of Rebecca and Ernest Starr. She disappeared in 1816 when she was 6 years old. She was found dead in the river.
  • Jack Straw
  • Billy
  • Azurine Partridge: Sara's sister. Narrator of a chapter.
Show all 40 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “They say that dogs may dream, and when Topsy was old, his feet would move in his sleep. With his eyes closed he would often make a noise that sounded quite human, as if greeting someone in his dreams. At first it seemed that he believed Sara would return, but as the years went by I understood that his loyalty asked for no reward, and that love comes in unexpected forms. His wish was small, as hers had been-merely to be beside her. As for me, I already knew I would never get what I wanted.”
    Sara's sister -Principles of Devotion
  • “A burying ground was the true mark of an established town”
    narrator
  • “I hadn't understood that love could be visible, as real as the grass or the river”
    Sara
  • “Luck has nothing to do with good fortune”
    Abby
  • “John understood that some boys had to be pulled back from the brink. They might curse you, even despise you for doing so, buy it took strong measures to ensure that a boy lived long enough to become a man”
    narrator
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • A story can still entrance people even while the world is falling apart.
    Highlighted by 47 Kindle customers
  • That was the country she was in most of the time, a place where people heard what she said but not what she meant. She wanted to be known, but no one knew her.
    Highlighted by 46 Kindle customers
  • his loyalty asked for no reward, and that love comes in unexpected forms. His wish was small, as hers had been—merely to be beside her.
    Highlighted by 42 Kindle customers
  • Sara had told me that a woman who could rescue herself was a woman who would never be in need.
    Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers
  • The only way to fight evil is with joy, Azurine had written. Forget everything we’ve ever been taught.
    Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers
  • From then on when she thought of anguish, Mattie would think of the way he had dipped his head to glance away, as if the world was much too vast and wide, and the only thing contained within it was loneliness.
    Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers
  • This is what ten meant to me: I would never sit on a bench and wait for what happened next. I would never look into the crowd, searching for someone to save me.
    Highlighted by 21 Kindle customers
  • Minette laughed and hugged her father. He couldn’t begin to know what had been revealed to her. He had no idea that the universe could be found in a single instant, a drop of water, a blade of grass, a leaf of an apple tree.
    Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers
  • She said she wanted a man like that, someone who understood sorrow, not someone who caused it.
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • Contents Cover Other Books by This Author Title
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

  • Blackwell, Massachusetts: Fictitious town in the Berkshire Mountains of western MA. Although Blackwell is not real, it is implied that it is near the communities of Amherst and Lenox.

First Sentence edit see section history

The town of Blackwell, Massachusetts, changed its name in 1786.

Table of Contents edit see section history

The Bear's House
Eight Nights of Love
The Year There Was No Summer
Owl and Mouse
The River at Home
The Truth about My Mother
The Principles of Devotion
The Fisherman's Wife
Kiss and Tell
The Monster of Blackwell
Sin
Black Rabbit
The Red Garden
King of the Bees
Acknowledgements

Glossary edit see section history

  • galumphing: moving about or behaving in an awkward manner
  • traipse: to walk from one place to another, often feeling tired and bored

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Alice Hoffman (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-39387-6
Page Count: 270

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3558O3447R43 2010
  • Dewey: 813.54

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Blackbird House
  • The Woodsman's Daughter
  • The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay

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