Life Sentences - by Laura Lippman (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Past and present, truth and memory collide in this searing novel from the award winning, New York Times bestselling author

A successful memoirist returns home to Baltimore searching for inspiration for her next book. When she discovers an old classmate is accused of a heinous crime, she decides to braid this tragic story with reminiscences of her grade school years. To the writer's dismay, her friends--motivated by anger, perhaps jealousy--seem determined to sabotage her efforts, leaving her to persevere alone.

As she digs deeper into the tragedy surrounding her old classmate, the writer begins to see that everything she thought she knew about her life might be quite different. And if she wants to pursue the truth in this modern-day story, she may have to pay the price of living with uncomfortable truths, about her father, her past, and herself.

With her deep intelligence, unerring eye for detail, and unwavering compassion, Laura Lipmann raises difficult, illuminating questions about the nature of memory and truth. Life Sentences explores the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, asking whether anyone can truly own any story--even their own.

From the Back Cover

Author Cassandra Fallows believes she may have found the story that could become her next bestseller. When she was a girl growing up in a racially diverse middle-class neighborhood in Baltimore, a shy, quiet, unobtrusive child named Calliope Jenkins orbited Cassandra's circle of friends. Later Calliope would be accused of an unspeakable crime and would spend seven years in prison for refusing to speak about it. But by delving too deeply into Calliope's dark secrets, Cassandra may inadvertently unearth a few of her own--forcing her to reexamine the memories she holds most precious, as the stark light of truth illuminates a mother's pain, a father's betrayal . . . and what really transpired on a terrible day that devastated not only a family but an entire country.

Review Quotes

"Unlike many mystery novels, What the Dead Know manages to maintain its suspense until the end... she's a graceful writer.... Truth, identity and the quintessentially American impulse toward self-reinvention are all smartly explored." - Time Out New York

This razor-sharp mystery nails Baltimore and the reader to the page... The false leads and twists and turns wind up in a surprising, satisfying finish. - Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Succeeds brilliantly... Lippman is in total command of her material, weaving strands about race, family myths and self-deception into a mystery so taut the reader is nearly afraid to keep going--and simultaneously powerless to stop. - People

"Lippman is a pro at finding fresh ways to tell compelling stories." - Orlando Sentinel

Life Sentences is an original and intricately woven whydunnit, with characters as real as the Baltimore streets they live on.With Laura Lippman's unique storytelling and love of the genre, mystery awards will surely keep pouring in. - Madison County Herald, Mississippi

"Lippman knows exactly what she's doing." - Seattle Times

"Lippman, a Baltimore native, skillfully brings the racial and economic tensions of her middle-class neighborhood to life in this poignant page-turner." - Daily News

"Theirs is a strong and vivid story, one that will intrigue many readers--especially, I suspect, women who find echoes of their own lives and friendships in this drama." - Washington Post

"Lippman . . . is an author willing to take risks in both writing an storytelling." - Publishers Weekly on Every Secret Thing

Lippman has enriched literature as a whole. - Chicago Sun-Times

"Laura Lippman has exploded the boundaries of the mystery genre to become one of the most significant social realists of our time." - Madison Smartt Bell

"Lippman takes an imaginative leap and exercises a considerable amount of narrative ingenuity. . . . Lippman pulls off something more ambitious than a high-wire act of technical virtuosity. with great thought and compassion, she uses her fractured narrative style to delve into the ways in which every serious crime tears to shreds the lives of its victims." - New York Times Book Review

"Laura Lippman's stories aren't just mysteries; they are deeply moving explorations of the human heart. She is quite simply one of the best crime novelists writing today." - Tess Gerritsen, author of THE MEPHISTO CLUB

"Lippman is a writing powerhouse." - USA Today

"Nail-biting suspense." - Booklist

"Smartly plotted and paced... Baltimore itself is the book's most compelling character, its uneasy mix of aspiration and decay perfectly suited to Lippman's ironic voice." - Publishers Weekly

"Razor-sharp." - Entertainment Weekly

"Spectacular. . . . A fast, cleverly ellusive story." - New York Times Book Review on Butchers Hill

"The best mystery writing around." - Village Voice Literary Supplement

Lippman has not only expanded the frontiers of genre fiction, she has enriched literature as a whole. - Chicago Sun-Times

Mystery fans can anticipate an engrosising series. - Publishers Weekly