Blue Diary

Alice Hoffman's "Blue Diary" is so extraordinarily brilliant, it is hard to know what aspect of this deeply human, gorgeously crafted novel is most deserving of praise. Its narrative drive absorbs the reader, and its excruciating dramatic tension makes "Diary" a compulsive page-turner. Ms. Hoffman's considerable understanding of the human heart in conflict with itself generates a series of tormented, bewildered and haunted characters, all of whom share a humanity that leaves one gasping with admiration at the author's compassion and love for the human condition. The novel is thematically rich; existential questions vie with emotional quandries. Hoffman investigates the very core of human nature in this novel, often with such subtlety that one mujst read sentences and paragraphs several times to appreciate the nuanced talent. On top of all this, her imagery is lucious, sensual, provocative.The plot of"Blue Diary" draws on the themes of change and transformation -- within individuals, friendships, marriage and a community -- when one man, a genuine stalwart in his small town discovers that his seemingly successful attempt to deny his past and recreate a new life unravels when he faces accusation of a particularly heinous crime perpetrated some fifteen years earlier. The novel permits us to explore how much humans choose to remember, or forget, about their beloved's past. To what degree do we owe commitments to take precedence above truth? What occurs when love, trust, dedication, tolerance and honesty compete for our affirmation? How do we really know what is real, whom to trust, where the limits of acceptance and repudiation lie?Not only does Alice Hoffman fully integrate her complex themes in the tapestry of the narrative, each of her significant characters come to symbolize some transcendent idea. Ethan Ford, at one a model husband/citizen and an accused murderer, personifies the author's investigation of the possibility and limits of self-creation and transformation. Ethan's singularly perceptive and increasingly introspective wife Jorie compels us to question the very definition of love, fidelity and marriage. Their bruised, conflicted son, Collie, and his marvelously-etched friend Kat discover new dimensions of frienship, and, inadvertently, betrayal. Two seemingly mismatched characters, a forlorn unhappy attorney and a despairing baker, burdened by the desolate emotional landscape of their respectively unfulfilled lives, ponder the possibilities of love and friendship as redemptive acts.Hoffman's descriptive talents are fully on display in "Diary." She accords love such sensuous, lyrical qualities, readers may be tempted to call their own beloved and share passages. She writes with such ardor that even cynics may be transformed into believers. Hoffman is so skilled that she is able to make a backyard garden resemble Eden, the nighttime sounds of insects into a symphony."Blue Diary" will reconfirm Alice Hoffman's place in contemporary American literature.

I have long looked to Alice Hoffman's novels for quick, enjoyable reads, and taken special pleasure in the hyperbolic descriptions that border on magic realism. Typically, she turns ordinary suburban or small-town America into a place where magic happens.Blue Diary starts out that way, but becomes something else, as the ideal marriage presented in the novel's first chapter turns into a nightmare: the husband, Ethan, is accused of, and admits to, the rape and murder of a teenage girl 15 years before, and the wife, Jorie, has to determine whether his claim that he's not the same person as that murderer-rapist anymore--that he remains the wonderful guy she fell in love with--has any meaning.By focusing at first on their happy marriage, and Ethan's heroic role in the town's life (as a volunteer fireman, he has repeatedly saved his neighbors' lives at risk to his own), Hoffman puts us in the same position as his adoring Jorie: we don't know how to reconcile the past with the present. As the story goes on, we learn (with Jorie) more about the brutality and sad legacy of the crime, as well as how Ethan--not so admirably--copes with his new circumstances.This is a story that challenges your ideas about whether people can really change, how responsible we are for past behavior, and what it means to repent. At the same time, it remains an enjoyable and quick read.

I found the fact that a woman could marry a man she knew absolutely nothing about to be somewhat unbelievable thus putting a damper on the book as a whole. I think the author could have developed a more realistic background of what Jori believed about his previous life. Also, since she accepted him sight unseen without any explanation of a past, then she could have shown a little more compassion when she found out the truth. I kept wondering if it were not possible for a man to have a wild, reckless moment where he made a horrible mistake including an accident that he regreted and wanted to move away from. I thought he should have suffered the consequences of his act, but the actions of his devoted wife didn't seem reasonable. I struggled with this book and all the implications. It was certainly thought provoking, well written and extremely interesting. I did wonder why all the subplots where more developed than the main plot. All in all I found it a good read and a good book for discussion.

That's how I felt on reading this. Shocked. Having read, and enjoyed, many Hoffman books before, I was really shocked at the language and graphic detail she used when describing the murder/rape of a 15 year old girl. I found it totally unnecessary. I also think the book was over-long but I stuck it out to the end and was gratified when it turned out as it should have, in my opinion. I agree that the story does stay with one long after it's been read but not in a particularly nice way. Had I been the editor, I would have changed quite a lot of the content and I'd have ensured that the description of the crime was toned down. Nobody needs all that detail, most readers do have imaginations. I was also a bit puzzled as to why we had to go through the cancer scare with Jorie's friend Charlotte, it seemed quite unnecessary and in fact Charlotte seemed superfluous altogether. But perhaps that's just me! I couldn't warm to that character at all. Not one of my favourite books by a long shot but it won't stop me reading Hoffman again.

A beautifully written story interwoven with much tragedy that really has the reader gripped and left with a sense of empathy. Love all books by this author.

Long winded, unbelievable story. Characters weird.

good quality as described