Culliton, Emily. The Misfortune of Marion Palm. New York: Knopf 2017. Print.
First Sentences:
Marion Palm is on the lam.
A blue JanSport knapsack filled with $40,000 rests between her ankles. She's taking a train to a midwestern city. She'll buy the ticket under an assumed name. She said goodbye to her two daughters an hour ago and lied about where she was going. She did not say goodbye to her husband.
Description:
Now there's an opening that is loaded with promise. A woman on the run with a bag full of money, leaving her kids and husband without a word. Even better, there is "Misfortune" in the book title. Sounds like some best laid plans will be going astray. I was immediately intrigued and quickly dove in to learn more.
And Emily Culliton's debut novel The Misfortune of Marion Palm, did not disappoint.on every level. Her great story, complex and sympathetic main character, various (unreliable?) narrators, and crisp writing kept me reading right to the very end to discover the final outcome.
Marion Palm has been embezzling money from her daughter's private school for years in order to afford family trips, household expenses, and other necessities. But when a school audit looms, she grabs the remaining cash and takes off without a real plan, leaving family, school, and police detectives in complete confusion.
Slowly it dawns on everyone that Marion is not just missing, kidnapped, hurt, or some other tragic possibility. When it slowly emerges that Marion is a thief, the everyday worlds of the people in her former life are forced to change along with their feelings toward her.
Meanwhile, Marion soon finds herself in an unexpected situation. After drifting aimlessly, she stumbles into a situation that offers her access to further income and high-end living conditions while still allowing her to preserve the secrecy of her past. Of course, she soon resumes her sneaking ways. But this time if her newest indiscretions are discovered, she will not merely answer to a simple school board, but will face repercussions from the mysterious, powerful people she works for. Are the risks she is now taking worth jeopardizing her life?
Unpredictable, thrilling, nerve-wracking, and highly-adaptable, Marion is an unforgettable character on a roller coaster of her own making. Staying one step ahead of discovery and punishment from various sources, Marion lives each day by her wits until new plans can be made and she can continue her new life with all it possibilities, both legal and not.
A previously unknown book and author for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense and edge-of-your-seat situations facing Marion and other characters. Can't wait for Culliton's next book. Highly recommended\.
Marion Palm is on the lam.
A blue JanSport knapsack filled with $40,000 rests between her ankles. She's taking a train to a midwestern city. She'll buy the ticket under an assumed name. She said goodbye to her two daughters an hour ago and lied about where she was going. She did not say goodbye to her husband.
Description:
Now there's an opening that is loaded with promise. A woman on the run with a bag full of money, leaving her kids and husband without a word. Even better, there is "Misfortune" in the book title. Sounds like some best laid plans will be going astray. I was immediately intrigued and quickly dove in to learn more.
And Emily Culliton's debut novel The Misfortune of Marion Palm, did not disappoint.on every level. Her great story, complex and sympathetic main character, various (unreliable?) narrators, and crisp writing kept me reading right to the very end to discover the final outcome.
Marion Palm has been embezzling money from her daughter's private school for years in order to afford family trips, household expenses, and other necessities. But when a school audit looms, she grabs the remaining cash and takes off without a real plan, leaving family, school, and police detectives in complete confusion.
Slowly it dawns on everyone that Marion is not just missing, kidnapped, hurt, or some other tragic possibility. When it slowly emerges that Marion is a thief, the everyday worlds of the people in her former life are forced to change along with their feelings toward her.
Meanwhile, Marion soon finds herself in an unexpected situation. After drifting aimlessly, she stumbles into a situation that offers her access to further income and high-end living conditions while still allowing her to preserve the secrecy of her past. Of course, she soon resumes her sneaking ways. But this time if her newest indiscretions are discovered, she will not merely answer to a simple school board, but will face repercussions from the mysterious, powerful people she works for. Are the risks she is now taking worth jeopardizing her life?
Unpredictable, thrilling, nerve-wracking, and highly-adaptable, Marion is an unforgettable character on a roller coaster of her own making. Staying one step ahead of discovery and punishment from various sources, Marion lives each day by her wits until new plans can be made and she can continue her new life with all it possibilities, both legal and not.
A previously unknown book and author for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense and edge-of-your-seat situations facing Marion and other characters. Can't wait for Culliton's next book. Highly recommended\.
A woman's husband has just fallen down the stairs, arriving dead at the bottom. The police suspicion of murder would fall to his wife, so she takes off in the family car with their savings and a new name as a fugitive trying to start a new life. (previously reviewed here)
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