Reviews
"I have long admired Caroline Leavitt's probing insight into people, her wit and compassion, her ability to find humor in dark situations, and conversely, her tenderness toward characters other writers might merely satirize.', "Although we all hope this becomes a seamlessly happy ending, its more like the sloppy, messy, human, frustrating, yet transcendent thing we generally call life." --Mothering Magazine, "Leavitt's ambitious narrative examines the various kinds of love--uxorious, romantic, paternal--that can arise from or be transformed by unspeakable grief. These survivors bravely gather the fragments of their lives, which once seemed so safely wrapped up in habits and, it turns out, illusions. Their trials and triumphs remind us that however firmly we seek to root our perceptions in reality, some truths will always elude us in love." --Elle, "PICTURES OF YOU is an enthralling amalgamation of aliterary mystery and the story of one woman's search forself-fulfillment. A stunning coincidence results in a cruelfate, but the redemptive power of love offers the possibilityof a second chance. Caroline Leavitt has written a pageturning novel; her characters spring from the heart.", "Caroline Leavitt plumbs the depths of grief and forgiveness in the lovely Pictures of You ." - -Vanity Fair, "Magically written, heartbreakingly honest...Caroline Leavitt is one of those fabulous, incisive writers you read and then ask yourself, Where has she been all my life?", "PICTURES OF YOU is the story of two women, both running away, whose fates intertwine forever. Leavitt writesstraight into the heart of each scene to find its rich,emotional nuances and undercurrents", "This thoughtful novel brings up a problem all of us have to deal with in the course of our lives, unless we're lucky enough to sneak through existence without encountering misfortune of any kind . . . This is a novel that invites us to look at our own imperfections, not the dramatic crimes, but the niggling little sins of omission that so often render our lives tragically undernourished and small." -- Washington Post, "I was mesmerized from the opening pages of PICTURESOF YOU. Caroline Leavitt is a masterful storyteller. Here,she has created an elegantly structured, emotionallyresonant novel that begins with tragedy, but quickly movesbeyond it to the biggest questions in life: what do we dowith what has been handed to us? How do 'we-findredemption within loss? How do we open our hearts,knowing all that we know? This is a beautifulbook.", "Leavitt is superb at revealing the secrecy inside many marriages and the way children grieve . . . most impressive is how Leavitt deals head-on with well-meaning people who come to realize, too late, that even an imperfect life is irreplaceable." --O: The Oprah Magazine, "PICTURES OF YOU is a complicated and complex nearmysteryof a novel ... I found it impossible to put the book down until I finished it. Leavitt is a writer who can be trusted absolutely, and she's created a wonderful book that's as complicated, crushing, and joyous as life itself.", "Heartbreaking, suspenserful, and moving, Pictures of You contains all the elements I long for in a great story."
