Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Mar 2014
352 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A "compelling and thought-provoking" (Kristin Hannah) novel about two mothers and one daughter who are linked by tragedy and bound by secrets, from the acclaimed author of Heart Like Mine.
Amy Hatvany's writing has been hailed as "exquisitely rendered" (Caroline Leavitt), "compelling" (The Seattle Times), and "visceral" (Emily Giffin). Now, in the provocative Safe with Me, Hatvany explores controversial and timely issues with astonishing emotional complexity.
The screech of tires brought Hannah Scott's world as she knew it to a devastating end. Even a year after she signed the papers to donate her daughter's organs, Hannah is still reeling with grief when she unexpectedly stumbles into the life of the Bell family, whose child, Maddie, survived only because hers had died. Mesmerized by this fragile connection to her own daughter and afraid to reveal who she actually is, Hannah develops a surprising friendship with Maddie's mother, Olivia.
The Bells, however, have problems of their own. Once on the verge of leaving her wealthy but abusive husband, Olivia now finds herself bound to him as never before in the wake of the successful transplant that saved their fifteen-year-old daughter's life. Meanwhile Maddie, tired of the limits her poor health puts upon her and fearful of her father's increasing rage, regularly escapes into the one place where she can be anyone she wants: the Internet. But when she is finally healthy enough to return to school, the real world proves to be just as complicated as the isolated bubble she had been so eager to escape.
A masterful narrative, shaped by nuanced characters whose fragile bonds are on a collision course with the truth, Safe with Me is a triumph.
"The voices are so down-to-earth and familiar and the events so much like real life that readers will feel like they know the characters." - Kirkus
"A good pick for women's-fiction fans, particularly those who enjoy the realistic stories of Emily Giffin and Kristina Riggle." - Booklist
"Beautiful and deeply moving, Amy Hatvany writes about the tangled web of family in a way that makes you laugh, cry, cheer and ache." – Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of Blackberry Winter
"Readers of Amy Hatvany know that in her books, they will encounter stories that are a cut above most popular fiction." – Seattle Times
This information about Safe with Me was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Amy Hatvany is the author of Best Kept Secret, Outside the Lines, The Language of Sisters, and Heart Like Mine. She lives in Seattle with her family. Visit her at amyhatvany.com
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