⋙ Download Free The Fall of Lisa Bellow A Novel Susan Perabo Books

The Fall of Lisa Bellow A Novel Susan Perabo Books

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The breakout novel from the critically acclaimed author of the short story collections Who I Was Supposed to Be and Why They Run the Way They Do—when a middle school girl is abducted in broad daylight, a fellow student and witness to the crime copes with the tragedy in an unforgettable way.

What happens to the girl left behind?

A masked man with a gun enters a sandwich shop in broad daylight, and Meredith Oliver suddenly finds herself ordered to the filthy floor, where she cowers face to face with her nemesis, Lisa Bellow, the most popular girl in her eighth grade class. The minutes tick inexorably by, and Meredith lurches between comforting the sobbing Lisa and imagining her own impending death. Then the man orders Lisa Bellow to stand and come with him, leaving Meredith the girl left behind.

After Lisa’s abduction, Meredith spends most days in her room. As the community stages vigils and searches, Claire, Meredith’s mother, is torn between relief that her daughter is alive, and helplessness over her inability to protect or even comfort her child. Her daughter is here, but not.

Like Everything I Never Told You and Room, The Fall of Lisa Bellow is edgy and original, a hair-raising exploration of the ripple effects of an unthinkable crime. It is a dark, beautifully rendered, and gripping novel about coping, about coming-of-age, and about forgiveness. It is also a beautiful illustration of how one family, broken by tragedy, finds healing.

The Fall of Lisa Bellow A Novel Susan Perabo Books

Some of the most relatable characterization I have ever read. I actually gasped after the first paragraph because it just felt so startlingly familiar.


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The Fall of Lisa Bellow A Novel Susan Perabo Books Reviews

Good read but really disliked the ending. Subtracted a star for that.
If you would like to lose yourself in a fast-paced, suspenseful, and beautiful writing then get this novel! Susan Perabo is an excellent, gifted writer. The story of how the Oliver family attempts to cope with tragedy and survival is gripping. This novel captures the complexity of trying to cope with unforeseen, tragic circumstances and their consequences. Reading this novel will not only immerse you in the world of the Oliver family but it will change you in how you view life and all its unpredictable elements. As I've mentioned in my other reviews of her work I am one of the fortunate, former students that got to study with her in the Queens University MFA program. She is of the rare breed an extremely gifted writer who is also an extremely gifted teacher.
Perabo has once again created an entertaining, complex, and moving story. I highly recommend her novel.
Hard read.
The Fall of Lisa Bellow

The Fall of Lisa Bellow is an extraordinary book written with impressive skill and unusual affection.

How does the Oliver family cope with things that should never have happened? Evan, the teenage son is injured in an accident that destroys his prodigious ability and jettisons plans that have been made for his future. Witnessing a robbery and kidnapping leaves thirteen-year-old Meredith distant, traumatized, and nearly paralyzed with survivor guilt. Claire and Mark are the parents who can never seem to find exactly the right way to offer their children the support they want them to have. What they do manage to give Ethan and Meredith is an awkward love and a genuine respect that ultimately moves them all forward, shakily, but in the right direction. What has happened to this family cannot be fixed, so endurance and survival amount to triumph.

Susan Perabo’s writing is beautiful, her characters come fully to life, and she sees through their eyes as she describes events with wit and intimate knowledge. This book reads like a thriller and, difficult as the subject matter is, it is impossible to put down.
I got really impatient with the moms, both of them. I can't even remember their names. I would have liked to learn more about what happened to Lisa and less about what the other girl, I can't remember her name, was imagining.
A bit disturbing but I'm sure that's what Perabo was going for. I prefer an end to a journey. Doesn't have to be a happy end but some kind of end. This book stayed with me awhile.
This is the kind of book that sticks with you. The prose is both down-to-earth and provocative. Meredith's voice is so spot on that you wonder if the author consulted a middle schooler's diary for quotes.
The subject matter is heavy. Perabo writes, "Things happened. Things you couldn’t believe. Things that couldn’t be explained. Inconceivable things. They happened." This book addresses the question what do you do when the worst thing you can imagine happens...to the person sitting next to you?
Still, the novel is enjoyable. It's funny at times and was a complete joy to read. Loved it. 5 stars. Read it.
Some of the most relatable characterization I have ever read. I actually gasped after the first paragraph because it just felt so startlingly familiar.