A Song I Knew By Heart
By Bret Lott
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
During a cold Massachusetts winter, a tragic car accident leaves a mother childless and her daughter-in-law a widow. Naomi and Ruth are now each other's only comfort. Naomi lost her own husband eight years ago, and now she has lost her son. Carrying a deep secret in her soul, Naomi decides to return to her childhood home in coastal South Carolina. When she tells Ruth her plan, she receives an unexpected reply: "Where you go, I will go." So the two women plan the journey together, arriving at a place that is flooded with a love they are nearly too fragile to accept. Surrounded by the warmth of their newfound family, Naomi and Ruth begin to find themselves reawakened-and open to the possibility of redemption.
Bret Lott
Bret Lott is the author of the novels A Song I Knew by Heart, Jewel (an Oprah's Book Club selection), The Hunt Club, Reed's Beach, A Stranger's House, and The Man Who Owned Vermont; three story collections, a memoir, and a writing guide. Named editor of The Southern Review in 2004, Bret Lott lives with his wife in Charleston, South Carolina.
Read more from Bret Lott
Jewel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Song I Knew by Heart: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Man Who Owned Vermont Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dream of Old Leaves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stranger's House Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, On Being a Christian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReed's Beach Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to A Song I Knew By Heart
Related ebooks
Waiting for Grace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarcy's Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lake on Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoolamon Girl Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMilk Without Honey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heart Beats in Secret Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Saving Cicadas Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Keeper and Kid: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Thing About Bennett Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost At Sea: A Novel of Family, Addiction, and Small-Town Secrets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Spite Of: A Memoir of Family Secrets, Professional Struggles, and Personal Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRough Road to the North: A Vagabond on the Great Northern Highway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWonders Never Cease Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pie Town: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Song of the Brokenhearted: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Indigo Girls Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Matter of Mercy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bent Creek Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Surviving Child: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSunrise Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Weight of Mercy: A novice pastor on the city streets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celebrating Life Decades After Breast Cancer: 40 Women Share Stories of Surviving Twenty to Fifty Years After Diagnosis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBake Until Golden (The Potluck Catering Club Book #3): A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lily's Song: Southern Fiction (Wildflower Trilogy Book 2): Wildflower, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Wished upon a Star: From Broken Homes to Mended Hearts Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Puffball: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ashes of Fiery Weather: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Orange Grove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuccess in Hill Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
General Fiction For You
A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything's Fine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Foster Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anonymous Sex Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Reviews for A Song I Knew By Heart
34 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This book was so poorly plotted I began to wonder if it was a spoof. Obviously a retelling of the biblical story of Ruth & Naomi, I can't imagine a real daughter-in-law being so in love with her mother-in-law, or 70+ yr old women so enmeshed with "girls", or that age of a woman being so broken up about the death of her son. Ruth is made as meek & full of self-doubt as a teenager (from the '50's, not current era). Were Ruth & her husband really happy sharing their morning breakfast routine with Naomi?The writing is too full of similes. I can't believe this woman goes around thinking about "trying the empty words...like some sort of sales pitch for a product she'd had no choice but to buy" (p.90)or, driving down the street, compares herself to the last dead leaves on trees in winter (p. 74). And Lott obviously wanted us to ponder his use of the image of Naomi's arthritic hands, constantly referring to them and to the pain whenever she holds someone's hand (altho noticeably not when she holds Ruth's p. 90) and finally "painlessly" (p. 290, 292) at the resolution of the story's crisis.Even up in Massachusetts the characters (except for the German immigrant) all talk with the same cliched style "bless your heart", "might could", the use of "to" instead of "at" as in "a rummage sale out to Belchertown" (p. 61). I have no empathy for this woman who goes around thinking God has visited sorrows on her (p. 65) yet also remembering the love she shared with her husband. SPOILER ALERT!!! She is harping on a single adulterous incident, which apparently didn't bother her so much when her husband was alive. She can only let go of her shame after a near-death experience which convinces her to let joy and love back into her life. So I guess the moral of the story is you can't change who you are unless you almost die.So, yes, this could be a spoof. Yet reading the author's brief bio, I notice he resides in the same town featured in the novel. I can only imagine the ladies in his Baptist Church saying "you've got to write our story, you've got to write a good Christian story about the power of God's love." Hence this duty tale, without life.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The story is a familiar one, based on the story of Ruth from the bible. The tragic death of Ruth’s husband, Naomi’s son, is where this version picks up. The grief the women share creates a deep bond between them. Naomi, who lost her own husband 8 years before, is overwhelmed by the need to reclaim herself. Thinking she will find redemption and forgiveness by moving back “home”, she makes plans to return to where she grew up in South Carolina. Ruth has no family of her own and so binds herself to Naomi saying, “Where you go, I will go. Where you live, there will I also live”. Once in South Carolina Ruth finds a fresh start more quickly while Naomi struggles, as she runs from God and the forgiveness that has been given to her.From page one I was moved by this book. More than just a story that is told, this is a story that is felt. Lott allows the reader to discover Naomi’s character as she is rediscovering herself. The themes of grief, forgiveness, redemption and grace are woven throughout every page. New beginnings and the love of family await the characters, and the reader, in the final chapters of this novel.The story seems to move across the pages, however there were a few times I felt it was dragging a bit (Lott used Naomi’s memories to craft the present scene more clearly). In the end I realized it was all necessary to depict who Naomi had been/was becoming.The only thing I was dissatisfied with is how Ruth’s story ends. In trying to stay true to the biblical plot line, I felt the modernized context didn’t work very well. Though a minor point in the grand scheme of the novel, it was enough to keep me from giving it 5 out of 5 stars.I feel I should mention that though there are Christian themes running throughout, there are also a few very subtle se*ual references. Nothing graphic in nature, more along the lines of human nature. And certainly nothing that I felt embarrassed about reading.That being said, if you are looking for a story that is deep with a heartwarming touch, I recommend this book whole heartedly.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Based on the biblical account of Ruth and Naomi. Will move you s with its heart warming tale of compassion and forgiveness. Thouroughly enjoyed it