How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly
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3.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly is the transcendent story of a young woman who, in a twenty-four hour period, journeys through startling moments of self-discovery that lead her to a courageous and life-altering decision.
Set amidst the lush pine forests and rich savannahs of Florida's Northern Panhandle, HO W CLARISSA BURDEN LEARNED TO FLY tells the story of one woman whose life until now has been fairly normal. She is 30-something, married, and goes about her daily routine. But as readers will soon discover, Clarissa's life has been burdened by ghosts and an indifferent husband-and like a butterfly in a chrysalis, she is poised on the precipice of great change. Today, for the first time in her predictable existence, she has awakened to the realization that she has had enough! Clarissa Burden is mad as hell and she's not going to take it any longer. Suddenly, wanting nothing more than to spread her wings and set her heart free, Clarissa will have to find a way to do the unthinkable. This is a remarkable novel about an unexpected mid-life awakening, a story that women will share and discuss in book clubs for years to come.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this gloomy novel, Fowler (Before Women Had Wings) presents a day in the life of writer Clarissa Burden, stuck in a loveless marriage and preoccupied with a joyless childhood. Memories of a cruel mother aren't the only things haunting Clarissa; a number of ghosts, including the 19th-century biracial family who had lived in Clarissa's Florida home, also weave themselves into Clarissa's story. Plagued by writer's block and suspicious of her photographer husband (and the nude models he employs), Clarissa leaves home for a day filled with spooky cemeteries, near-death experiences, life-altering conversations, exhilaration, and frustration. The plot tends to meander, incorporating not just incorporeal spirits but occasional jaunts into the minds of Florida's animals; still, Fowler produces some singularly memorable characters. By the time Clarissa stands up to her husband, readers will have suffered mightily through a sweltering Florida solstice, listening to the heroine's witty, sometimes whiney, internal monologue, and wishing for some real action. Fortunately, Fowler delivers on that wish, bringing together all her characters dead, alive, and imagined for an explosive conclusion.
