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The Outside of August
The Outside of August | Joanna Hershon
4 posts | 1 read
Critics and readers alike hailed Swimming, Joanna Hershons fiction debut. Compelling, said the Washington Post, while Vanity Fair called Swimming a page-turning premiere. Now Hershon brings us her anticipated second novel, in which she vividly explores the secrets of an American family. The Outside of August is a mesmerizing, beautifully written story that combs the emotional landscape of its characters with power and precision. For as long as Alice Green can remember, her elusive mother, Charlotte, has moved in and out of family lifedisappearing relentlessly and often without explanation. Despite the exotic clutter of souvenirs that detail Charlottes international travels, the Greens home becomes progressively hollow, as nothing but Charlotte can fill the empty spaces. With their mothers tenuous presence, and their tender but distant father working long hours, Alice and her brother, August, react in different ways. While seeking constant affection from other women, August relies on an unspoken bond with Charlotte that allows him a certain freedom. But Alice feels no such security and grows increasingly unmoored, always in search of ways to keep her mother at home. When, years later, her unfettered brother becomes strangely remote, Alice journeys to find him in an isolated beach town. It is there that a deeply buried secret will have to unravel in order for Alice to come to terms with her fractured family and her place within itand learn to let go of a mother she perhaps never really knew. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Joanna Hershon's A Dual Inheritance.
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review
Elizabeth2
The Outside of August | Joanna Hershon
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Mehso-so

This is between a pick & a so-so for me. The story moves slowly as you get to know Alice, her brother August & their parents. Their mother is always disappearing and the children are damaged because of it. The book focuses on the relationship between Alice & August, and how their family dynamic affects them both. It‘s a sad book, but also encapsulates human resolve, the importance of family & our ability to overcome & ultimately forgive. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

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Elizabeth2
The Outside of August | Joanna Hershon
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Every time I have tried to sit down and read in the evening this week, I am interrupted. Monday I wasn‘t home, but Tuesday & Wednesday it was the dog wanting to play and tonight it was the kids. Does my book have an alarm on it or something? As soon as I open it and take a picture for social media, they flock to me. 🤷‍♀️ I am so close to finishing this one. #interruptedreading #whenthebookisopenwalktheotherway

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Elizabeth2
The Outside of August | Joanna Hershon
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My Saturday evening. This book is depressing, but compelling. Alice‘s mother disappears on the family often, traveling the world because she just can‘t stay still. Alice, her older brother August, and their father all deal with this in their own ways. Alice is really the one trying to hold everyone together. I finished Part One this evening, which deals with Alice‘s & Gus‘s teen years.

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Elizabeth2
The Outside of August | Joanna Hershon
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This has been on my shelf for a long time. It moved to my nightstand last summer and I still didn‘t read it. Then it moved back to my bookshelves, but didn‘t actually get shelved. I guess the right mood struck, or I was just tired of looking at it...one or the other. 😉 #clearingmyshelves