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Title details for Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward - Available

Forgive Me

by Amanda Eyre Ward
Ann Marie Lee
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Nadine Morgan travels the world as a journalist, covering important events and following dangerous leads. Since an assignment in Cape Town ended in tragedy and regret, Nadine has not returned to South Africa or opened her heart–until she hears the story of Jason Irving.
Jason, an American student, was beaten to death by angry local youths at the height of the apartheid era. Years later, his mother is told that Jason’s killers have applied for amnesty. Jason’s parents pack their bags and fly from Nantucket to Cape Town. Filled with rage, Jason’s mother resolves to fight the murderers’ pleas for forgiveness.
As Nadine follows the Irvings to beautiful, ghost-filled South Africa, she recalls a time when the pull toward adventure and intrigue left her with a broken heart. Haunted by guilt and a sense of remorse, and hoping to lose herself in her coverage of the murder trial, Nadine grows closer to Jason’s mother as well as to the mother of one of Jason’s killers–with profound consequences. Gripping, darkly humorous, and luminous, FORGIVE ME is an unforgettable story of dreams and longing, betrayal and redemption.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 19, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415939208
      • File size: 222235 KB
      • Duration: 07:42:59

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      What might have been an interesting novel about a young American woman reporter who travels to South Africa at the height of the apartheid struggles and then returns ten years later to cover the reconciliation testimonies quickly unfurls into a narrow, self-pitying saga. Nearly half the novel is finished, with the story trivial at best, before Nadine decides to return. Anne Marie Lee's narration is adequate, but this book could have been greatly helped by a male voice reading the journals of the murdered boy, who one expects to be the center of attention. Instead, Jason's words greatly resemble the feminine whine used to recount Nadine's childhood. Overall, the main character is so unsympathetic that this book is not enjoyable. R.R. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 30, 2007
      The secret demons of globe-trotting journalist Nadine, 35, form the core of this contrived but earnestly observed third novel from Ward (How to Be Lost). Badly injured by thugs while pursuing a story outside of Mexico City, Nadine wakes up at her estranged father and stepmother-to-be’s Cape Cod B&B, under the care of the perhaps too interested Dr. Duarte. The unhappily confined Nadine reads a story about a local couple who are traveling to Cape Town, South Africa, for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings: testifying will be the young, black woman who killed their white son, a visiting American teacher, in 1988. Told to rest by her bureau, Nadine decides to cover the story on her own. On a flight from Nantucket to Cape Town, Nadine finds herself next to the local couple, who furtively give Nadine their son’s boyhood journal. It’s not Nadine’s first trip to Cape Town: she spent years there as a fledgling journalist, and lost her one love, Maxim, there; the soul-wrenching revelations of the murdered man’s diary bring Nadine face-to-face with her own personal and professional pasts, and force her to make difficult decisions about her future. A disjointed narrative, stilted dialogue and contrived plot mechanics make hard work of what is otherwise an ambitious morality play.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 18, 2007
      Before Nadine has fully recovered from an assault that left her hospitalized, she is already on a plane to South Africa. As luck would have it, she flies the same flight as two parents who are to appear in front of a tribunal created in the postapartheid era to reconsider the crimes of political criminals. Their testimony will decide the fate of a young woman who was involved in the murder of their son, Jason. A hard news journalist, Nadine wants the scoop, but returning to South Africa will bring up some dark memories from her past. Lee's narration proves to be the best part of this audiobook. Her soft and smooth voice captures and improves the emotion and energy of the book. Her accents and different vocal characterizations are also impressive and consistent. While she will seduce listeners, her skill won't necessarily improve the story, which feels hackneyed and forced. Though Ward provides an intriguing look at the issue of recovery in postapartheid South Africa, her protagonist's personal journey proves cliched and counterintuitive to the politics of the story. Simultaneous release with the Random House hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 30).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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