The Goddesses
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
"A haunting story of betrayal and forgiveness" (Kirkus) about a woman who moves her family to Hawaii, only to find herself wrapped up in a dangerous friendship, from the celebrated author of We Could Be Beautiful.
When Nancy and her family arrive in...
When Nancy and her family arrive in...
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"A haunting story of betrayal and forgiveness" (Kirkus) about a woman who moves her family to Hawaii, only to find herself wrapped up in a dangerous friendship, from the celebrated author of We Could Be Beautiful.When Nancy and her family arrive in Kona, Hawaii, they are desperate for a fresh start. Nancy's husband has cheated on her; they sleep in separate bedrooms and their twin sons have been acting out, setting off illegal fireworks. But Hawaii is paradise: they plant an orange tree in the yard; they share a bed once again and Nancy resolves to make a happy life for herself. She starts taking a yoga class and there she meets Ana, the charismatic teacher. Ana has short, black hair, a warm smile, and a hard-won wisdom that resonates deeply within Nancy. They are soon spending all their time together, sharing dinners, relaxing in Ana's hot tub, driving around Kona in the cute little car Ana helps Nancy buy. As Nancy grows closer and closer to Ana-skipping family dinners and leaving the twins to their own devices she feels a happiness and understanding unlike anything she's ever experienced, and she knows that she will do anything Ana asks of her. A mesmerizing story of friendship and manipulation set against the idyllic tropical world of the Big Island, The Goddesses is a stunning psychological novel by one of our most exciting young writers.
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1We came here to escape. Escape our mistakes, our boring selves. Escape the constant feeling of being half-asleep, escape our house--the tedious moan of that garage door, the roof we promised to fix every time it rained. Escape dry heat and coyotes and the roads we knew by heart--we knew where those would take us. In paradise there would be new roads and new routines. Different friends, a different house. A different life. In paradise we would be different.
Chuck had cheated on me with his assistant manager. That was the main reason we left. Her name was Shelly and Shelly was blond and Shelly was everywhere. Every blond woman in San Diego was Shelly until something confirmed it wasn't--wrong car, wrong walk, wrong face. The real Shelly--I never saw her again after the affair, but it was bound to happen at some point. She lived close by.
I probably never would have found out if Shelly hadn't called to confess. She just had to get this off her chest, she said; it was eating her alive. She swore it had only happened that one time. She'd quit the job right afterwards to make sure it would never happen again. She was so so so so sorry and she was crying very hard.
Chuck was sorry, too. He hadn't been thinking clearly. They'd been drinking; one thing had led to another. He actually said, "It's almost like someone else did this, not me. It's hard to explain." I said, "But it was you, Chuck. You did this. After eighteen years, this is what you did."
When the transfer opportunity for Costco Kona came up and Chuck was elected for it, he said, "Maybe Hawaii will remind us why we love each other."
When he said that, it was hard not to imagine Hawaii in the way it's always advertised--a fit couple at sunset under a neon-pink sky--and this was very stupid. I also wondered if it could be us. Later, after the anger passed. Later, after I forgave him. Later, after I could trust him again. If any of that was possible.
The twins were stoked. That's how they said
... mehr
it, one right after the other. "Stoked," Jed said. "Stoked," Cam said. They'd miss their friends, but their friends could visit. They'd miss their team, but the incoming coach that year was supposed to suck anyway. Kealakehe's water polo coach had been a big wave surfer--that was rad. And they could start surfing. And when their friends came to visit, they could take their friends surfing. It was all just going to be totally sweet. "Plus, Mom," Cam said, "you love mangoes."
There were reasons other than Shelly to leave. I did love mangoes. And I'd only been to Hawaii once, when I was ten, which barely counted anymore. I'd lived in San Diego my entire almost fifty years of life, and my days had begun to feel like the same spin in the same hamster wheel. Same postman at the same time delivering the same bills. Same grocery store, same place I always parked. Same minivan under the same tree. I'd been trying to lose the same five pounds for the last thirty years. When had I become so redundant? And joyless? Was it normal that everything I did had the same tone as flossing? I don't want to do this, but I should do this. I wasn't ready to call myself depressed--my mother had been depressed and killed herself, and I was nowhere close to that--but I strongly felt I could be happier. Still, a part of me wanted to say no, wanted to hang on, wanted to clutch my little hamster claws to the familiar wheel and stay. But I knew I couldn't do that. If I said no, it would prove I had truly lost hope that life could be better than this.
"One year," Chuck said. "If things aren't going well in a year, we can always come back."
We rented a place up on Kaloko where the land was green and lush. Two acres with a house and a guesthouse, which people called an ohana here. With the money we'd make renting the San Diego house, it was a wash. Brad, who'd also transferred from San Diego, knew someone who knew someone who knew the owner who gave us a good deal. Brad a
There were reasons other than Shelly to leave. I did love mangoes. And I'd only been to Hawaii once, when I was ten, which barely counted anymore. I'd lived in San Diego my entire almost fifty years of life, and my days had begun to feel like the same spin in the same hamster wheel. Same postman at the same time delivering the same bills. Same grocery store, same place I always parked. Same minivan under the same tree. I'd been trying to lose the same five pounds for the last thirty years. When had I become so redundant? And joyless? Was it normal that everything I did had the same tone as flossing? I don't want to do this, but I should do this. I wasn't ready to call myself depressed--my mother had been depressed and killed herself, and I was nowhere close to that--but I strongly felt I could be happier. Still, a part of me wanted to say no, wanted to hang on, wanted to clutch my little hamster claws to the familiar wheel and stay. But I knew I couldn't do that. If I said no, it would prove I had truly lost hope that life could be better than this.
"One year," Chuck said. "If things aren't going well in a year, we can always come back."
We rented a place up on Kaloko where the land was green and lush. Two acres with a house and a guesthouse, which people called an ohana here. With the money we'd make renting the San Diego house, it was a wash. Brad, who'd also transferred from San Diego, knew someone who knew someone who knew the owner who gave us a good deal. Brad a
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Autoren-Porträt von Swan Huntley
SWAN HUNTLEY is the author of We Could Be Beautiful. She earned her MFA from Columbia University and has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Ragdale Foundation. She lives in California and Hawaii.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Swan Huntley
- 2017, 320 Seiten, Maße: 13,1 x 20,3 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Doubleday
- ISBN-10: 0385542984
- ISBN-13: 9780385542982
- Erscheinungsdatum: 10.07.2017
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
"An addictive fictional saga in which a jilted wife goes to the mat to save her marriage and her morale."-O Magazine, "10 Titles to Pick Up Now"
"A dazzling story of manipulation, unexpected connections, and answering your heart's true desires, The Goddesses is one of the boldest reading experiences of 2017 (oh, and you'll finish the book with major Hawaii wanderlust)."
-Brit+Co., "7 Thrilling Summer Reads with Fierce Female Leads"
"An engrossing portrait of female friendship, Huntley's sophomore novel explores the risks and rewards of finding an unexpected soul mate. Huntley lets the idyllic Hawaiian setting wash over the reader, the volcanoes and starry skies the perfect background for Nancy's self-discovery. Readers who enjoyed Camille Pagán's Life and Other Near-Death Experiences and the works of Meg Wolitzer will savor the slow burn of this expressive and electric novel."
-Stephanie Turza, Booklist (Starred Review)
"As in her first book, Huntley is a keen social observer, empathetic and biting at once... [A] gripping psychological portrait of a woman at a personal crossroads. A haunting story of betrayal and forgiveness that packs an unexpectedly emotional punch."
-Kirkus
"If Swan Huntley's 2016 bestselling suspenser, We Could Be Beautiful, grabbed you and wouldn't let you go, hold on to The Goddesses, about a woman who has just moved to Hawaii with her family an develops a friendship with a yoga instructor that gets close-and then way too close-for comfort."
-Lisa Shea, Elle
"An engaging account of a middle-aged woman's journey for an identity apart from her family... Readers will be pulled along by the quick-moving story."
-Publishers Weekly
"A woman tries to start over in Kona, Hawaii, with the help of a mysterious yoga teacher."
-Time Magazine
"Hoping to push the reset button on her troubled marriage, Nancy heads to Hawaii with her family. It's idyllic -- until her yoga instructor turns out to be more malevolent than she
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