About this item
Highlights
- National best seller and Today show Book Club selection, Broken for You is the story of two women in self-imposed exile whose lives are transformed when their paths intersect.
- Washington State Book Award (Fiction) 2005 1st Winner
- About the Author: Stephanie Kallos spent twenty years in the theatre as an actress and voice teacher, and her short fiction has been nominated for both a Raymond Carver Award and a Pushcart Prize.
- 400 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Literary
Description
About the Book
Funny, heartbreaking and alive with a potpourri of eccentric and irresistible characters, this fresh debut novel is about two women in self-imposed exile whose lives intersect, transforming both their worlds.Book Synopsis
National best seller and Today show Book Club selection, Broken for You is the story of two women in self-imposed exile whose lives are transformed when their paths intersect. Stephanie Kallos's debut novel is a work of infinite charm, wit and heart. It is also a glorious homage to the beauty of broken things. When we meet septuagenarian Margaret Hughes, she is living alone in a mansion in Seattle with only a massive collection of valuable antiques for company. Enter Wanda Schultz, a young woman with a broken heart who has come west to search for her wayward boyfriend. Both women are guarding dark secrets and have spent many years building up protective armor against the outside world. As their tentative friendship evolves, the armor begins to fall away and Margaret opens her house to the younger woman. This launches a series of unanticipated events, leading Margaret to discover a way to redeem her cursed past, and Wanda to learn the true purpose of her cross-country journey. Both funny and heartbreaking, Broken for You is a testament to the saving graces of surrogate families and shows how far the tiniest repair jobs can go in righting the world's wrongs.
Review Quotes
"There is a message here about creating family in the most unusual places....I promise you this; you will not be sorry you read this book...there is a wisdom and soulfulness there....It's a wonderful, engaging story." -Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees
"A compelling, richly layered story reminiscent of works by John Irving and Anne Tyler in its bittersweet humor and well-drawn characters." -Library Journal (starred review)
"Moving and endearing, painful and satisfying, put together in just the right shape." -Detroit Free Press
"A novel of redemption." -The Washington Post
"Broken for You is a romance for the Eleanor Rigbys of the world, those lonely people who find unexpected happiness by creating a surrogate family." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"Theater veteran Kallos debuts with a dazzling mosaic of intersecting lives and fates. . . . Kallos has a rare, deft way with whimsy, dream sequences and hallucinations. Comparisons to John Irving and Tennessee Williams would not be amiss in this show-stopping debut." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Well-crafted plotting and crackling wit make this debut novel by Seattle author Kallos a delight to read and a memory to savor. The compelling story highlights the losses and disjointedness of life and the many paths back to healing for those who seek the way. . . . The clever plot and luminous characters are not all that place this novel at the head of the class. Ghostly characters only Margaret sees and heaps of broken porcelain provide powerful metaphors for the sins of the past and the need for personal sacrifice. Book groups will enjoy discussing the layers of meaning, the stylistic nuances, and the powerful message of hope secreted in these pages." --Jennifer Baker, Booklist (starred review)
"Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means 'repair the world, ' and this imperative serves as the narrative catalyst of Broken for You. . . . This is a novel of redemption."--Susan Coll, Washington Post
"This is ultimately a work of repair and redemption. . . . Kallos has given us a compelling, richly layered story reminiscent of works by John Irving and Anne Tyler in its bittersweet humor and well-drawn characters. Carol Shields also comes to mind for the sharp attention to domestic detail and insight into the tenuous relationships of contemporary life. . . . Recommended for all fiction collections."--Jenn B. Stidham, Library Journal (starred review)
"Sweetly rich with detail, and when romance sneaked into the book, I was sure it was a story of redemption and second chances. . . . Broken for You is moving and endearing, painful and satisfying, put together in just the right shape." --Susan Hall-Balduf, Detroit Free Press
"A story of growth and redemption filled with a delightfully offbeat cast of characters. . . . Kallos writes in a chatty, breezy style that fits the quirkiness of the characters. . . . There's an almost magical feeling to this story." --Ann M. Colford, Pacific Northwest Inlander
"Refreshing and delightful . . . sincere in its originality, fun in its engagement. . . . In her acknowledgements, Kallos states that the novel took her seven years to finish, and there is a definite sense that this is a book that has been well-raised. Care has been taken in its telling. . . . Nothing feels rushed, the timing and pace just right." --Lacey Galbraith, Nashville Scene
"Kallos . . . has taken well-developed and honestly imperfect characters who were once strangers, and intertwined them lovingly in a beautiful mosaic that may forever hang in readers' minds and remind them of why some thing
About the Author
Stephanie Kallos spent twenty years in the theatre as an actress and voice teacher, and her short fiction has been nominated for both a Raymond Carver Award and a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two sons. Broken For You is her first novel.