The Language of Light
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Book Overview
FINALIST FOR THE BELLWETHER PRIZE Nelly Grace is starting over. With her two young sons, Nelly has fled to the simple stone house built by her great-grandfather in the moneyed horse country of Maryland in order to escape the grief of her husband's death--and perhaps find a way back to her first love: photography. Easing her transition into this strange, mannered world is Emma Crofton, the grand matriarch of the foxhunting community, and Emma's son, Dac, a handsome yet distant horse trainer. As Nelly slowly makes her way back to the camera, she must come to terms with her troubled relationship with her father, a photojournalist who chose fame over family. But when she finally sees him again, Nelly's fragile new beginning is threatened by revelations of a secret past, and the fears that kept it hidden.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0345526643
ISBN13:9780345526649
Release Date:June 2011
Publisher:Ballantine Group
Length:352 Pages
Weight:0.64 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Compelling, comfortable, mastery of writing
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
I read this book when it first came out, and recently found myself picking it up again. I can not say enough wonderful comments about this reading experience. The writing style has you believeing you are sitting there, experiencing life as in the writing, experiencing the rain drops on the windshield, compelling and really did not want the story to end. This is a MUST read.
Haunting and beautifully written
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
A novel about what it means to find yourself as an artist, as a mother and as a daughter. Nelly's struggles to define herself in the rambling horse country of Maryland (and through photography) were as riveting and as luminous as a photograph shot through with light. I didn't want the novel to end, and found myself reading slower and slower as I approached the final pages. Wonderful!
A Woman's Journey to Artistic Expression
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
The Language of Light takes us into the world of a widowed mother and aspiring photojournalist in her struggle to answer the disparate callings of parenthood, love, and devotion to her art. Nelly Grace's relationship with her deceased husband haunts her. She loved him deeply, but he seemed to dismiss her photography as merely a hobby. Nelly wrestles with guilt over her passion to pursue her creative impetus. Her children need her. If she follows the calling of the photographer's voice within her, will she follow in the footsteps of her too often absent father? What would allowing herself to become involved with the charming and enigmatic Dac Crofton mean to her art and her life? The Language of Light frames the universal question of self-expression in a tender and compelling narrative about one woman's journey. Finally, it is to herself-a self she is only beginning to know-that Nelly is true.
Beautifully written and thought provoking
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
A beautifully written, heartwarming story of a young woman coming into her own. At its core, this novel is a thought-provoking exploration of the ways we love one another--daughters and fathers, mothers and sons, husbands and wives--and the misunderstandings, misssteps, and intrigues that can result.
As subtle as its title
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
I went into this one thinking I would like it, and came out the other end in a state that closely resembled purring. It has a light, lovely feel to it, with a sense of things that matter, delicately drawn.Written with a sure hand, both language and milieu.
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