繼《追風箏的孩子》後轟動全美的平裝暢銷奇蹟
深刻描寫親情與倫理、謊言和罪衍、救贖和希望的超感人傑作
本書獲Sue Monk Kidd(《蜂蜜罐上的聖瑪莉》作者), Jodi Picult(當紅的家庭/親情小說天后), Ursula Hegi, Luanne Rice, Sena Jeter Naslund等作家聯名推薦。平裝版一推出便攻佔全美各大暢銷排行榜，且有如倒吃甘蔗，名次節節上升。目前已經再版八次，銷售超過120,000冊。
作者簡介
金姆‧愛德華姿(Kim Edwards)
畢業於著名的愛荷華大學創作工坊（Iowa Writer's Workshop），她的第一部小說集《火王的秘密》大受好評，榮獲海明威/筆會文學獎（PEN/Hemingway Award）優選，並曾獲懷丁作家獎（Whiting Writer's Award，歷屆得主包括普立茲獎得主麥可‧康寧漢、國家書卷獎得主強納森‧法蘭欽等人）和尼爾森‧愛格林獎（Nelson Algren
Award，每年由芝加哥論壇報頒發給優秀短篇小說家的獎，《三個六月天》作者茱莉亞‧葛拉絲亦曾獲此獎）。愛德華姿現於肯塔基大學教授創作。
Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion.(amazon.com)
