Life Sentences audiobook

Some people look forward to the budding trees and warmer days when winter finally rolls around into spring. I look forward to the latest offering by Laura Lippman. As always with Lippman's novels, I found myself both eager to begin the journey and anxious that the ride would be over far too soon. The best thing you can say about a book is that it never feels too short nor does it overstay its welcome. And that's a praise I can heap on a lot of Lippman's novels.Cassandra Fellows is a successful non-fiction writer, who wrote two staggeringly successful memoirs about her life. One was about growing up in Baltimore and the other was about her various romantic liasons. Now Cassandra is on a book tour for his latest, fictional entry which is neither as critically acclaimed nor as commercially successful as her two autobiographical tomes. One night in a hotel room, cursed with insomnia, Cassandra hears the report of a missing boy in Louisiana and hears it linked to a case in Baltimore years before. The case involved a classmate of Cassandra's, Calliope Jenkins, whose first child was removed from the home by the authorities and her second child disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Calliope never confessed to a crime and was notoriously silent about where the child went. With little evidence, Calliope was held in jail for seven years before being released. Cassandra grew up with Calliope and decides that her next project will be an examination of not only Calliope, but their social group growing up, looking to find some answers to the unsolved crime.In typical Lippman fashion, the central mystery to the novel is important but it isn't the most vital part of "Life Sentences." Lippman once again examines the impact of a crime or a criminal act can have on the various lives that it touches--from that of Calliope Jenkins to Cassandra to the various people investigating the case or defending Jenkins. Lippman hooks you in right away with the central mystery and with great care and deliberation introduces the various players into the drama. Each character is facing his or her own life sentence based on choices he or she has made over the course of their lives. Lippman also examines how the various characters filter history through their own vantage point and how subjective events and memories can be. To say more would be to give away some of the more intriguing revelations in the story. And that last thing you want is for someone to ruin the joy of finding these things out for yourself.I've heard it said that Lippman writes mysteries that transcend the genre. I'd argue that while she does that, her novels are far more complex and rewarding than just a simple "who done it?" story. These are carefully crafted, psychological portraits of the impact of various events can have on the its characters. "Life Sentences" is another winner from Lippman and a novel I heartly recommend to anyone who enjoys a well-written, thought-provoking and enjoyable story.

I'd read anythng by Laura Lippman.

very good book Laura Lippman is becoming one of my favorite authors.

The role of memory and perspective shape this tale of a writer – Cassandra Fallows is known for her memoirs about her childhood experiences – with details called into question by some of the other characters about whom she wrote. Cassandra was the white girl with several elegant and privileged black friends – Tisha, Donna and Fatima. Their memories of events were quite different from her perspective on things. When she reconnects with them many years later, in order to put together the details of another story she is working on, she learns about these discrepancies. Cassandra grew up in Baltimore with her intellectual father Cedric, a classics professor, and her less-colorful and almost “boring” mother Lenore. Her parents separated after the riots of 1968, when Cedric fell in love with Annie, a black woman he supposedly saved from being raped during the fracas.Now Cassandra, enjoying the fruits of her success as a writer, takes on the project of writing about another school friend – Calliope Jenkins – who was jailed after the supposed death of her youngest son, because she refused to talk or reveal where he might be. He is either dead or missing. She maintains her silence through seven long years until she is released from prison. She only talks to Cassandra – finally – when a discovery during research reveals several secrets and the truth hiding behind a cover of powerful people protecting their own betrayals.As old lies and betrayals surface, Cassandra finally begins to put together the truth in her own life – discrepancies in memory were not wholly responsible for the wrong details in her story. She simply had not had all of the facts. How will the “truth” alter her life now? Will she correct the misconceptions of the past? How will she reshape her current life in view of the new facts available to her?As this tale veers from one point of view to another, the reader soon comes to realize that “truth” and “memory” are multifaceted and that each person’s reality is very personal and unique to that individual.

This is another of her standalones, and it's very good but hard to discuss without bringing in spoilers.Here's the bare bones: Cassandra Fallowes is an author. She's written two wildly successful memoirs and one novel that was received less than warmly by the public. She heads back to Baltimore to start memoir #3, which will be about the girls she was friends with growing up and another of their classmates (who was kind of on the fringe of their group) who is at the center of a mystery. The woman, Calliope (pronounced Callie-ope), has a son who has been missing since he was a baby. When social workers (and then police) asked what happened to him, she would plead the Fifth. The general assumption, obviously, is that he's dead, but nobody can prove it. So Cassandra decides that she's going to solve it.This book was really hard to put down, and I kept getting things wrong--I don't think I called a single thing correctly. I think most people would enjoy her books, but they're especially fun for Baltimore people, because it's always awesome to be like, "Hey, I get my groceries there!" or "That's the street I live on!"(I'm a dork, but I love things like that.)Plus, her books are really well-written and interesting. This one will probably show up for people's birthday or Christmas presents this year. :)

This was a great read. Not so much a mystery as a woman's novel, which is probably why my husband did not care for it. LOLHowever, the story does have a mystery as it's spine, and the rest of the story is the flesh on that skeleton. It was the rest of the story that kept me fully engaged as the central character, Cassandra, went in search of her childhood friends to solve the mystery of whether Callie killed her baby and why she wouldn't talk about what happened.Cassandra is a writer, with two successful memoirs published and a not-so-successful novel that had her agent and editor suggesting she go back to nonfiction. As Cassandra digs into the story of Callie and how her experiences touched the lives of Cassandra and three of her childhood friends, she discovers that maybe she has been writing fiction all along.This is a very well-written book with some lovely phrasing, and the best point of view switches I've read in a long time. Smooth and seamless, without disrupting the story at all.I've always enjoyed Laura's mysteries, because she writes a first-rate story with intricate plotting. I also appreciate that the stories are usually filled with fully developed characters who walk through the pages like real people.

Author Cassandra Fallows, with two successful memoirs behind her, tries her hand at fiction, which falls flat. When Cassandra reads about a former school friend jailed for contempt for not revealing the whereabouts of her baby’s body, Cassandra gets the idea to write about her childhood and her friends, and the events that lead them to their present-day lives. She returns to Baltimore to interview her family and friends, only to be met with resistance. Calliope Jenkins, the woman accused of murdering her baby and hiding his body, has disappeared and no one wants to talk about where she is or what happened. As Cassandra digs deeper into the past, painful truths about her own life and those of her friends are revealed which could impact their lives in a negative way if disclosed.Laura Lippman, known for the Tess Monaghan series, is adroit at character development, slowly peeling away layers of persona as the book progresses. Life Sentences is a compelling read, exploring the dynamics of childhood friendships and family relationships.

Great story! I enjoyed the elements of solving a mystery, a journey of self discovery and that the main character is fifty or so. I like the way this character discovered some humility. And the way that the dynamics between races was understated. Lots to reflect on. A gentle story that could so easily have been filled instead with bitterness.

At times this was so confusing that I felt the need to pull over and ask directions. Still the writing was often beautiful, even if the story was a bit of a let down in the end.

Author Cassandra Fallows has had a successful career writing memoirs, but after her first novel gets mixed reviews, she is unsure what to write next...until a reference to a decades-old crime brings her back to her hometown. Raised by a self-absorbed, brilliant father who later left her and her mother, Cassandra is an only child who feels awkward in social situations; on the first day of third grade, though, she befriends a group of three girls. All of them are black: Tisha, the leader and peacekeeper; pretty, wealthy Donna; wild Fatima; and then there is Callie, who rarely speaks and tags along with the group. After the first year of high school, Cassandra loses touch with her friends, and later Callie is convicted of killing her infant son. She refuses to speak, and after serving 7 years, Callie is free again, though no one knows where she is.When Cassandra returns to Baltimore, she turns to her childhood friends and a couple of detectives, but no one wants to talk to her. Slowly, she starts to unearth some clues to finding Callie. That was the slowest part of the novel. I didn't mind, since I enjoyed getting to know the characters--her friends, her parents, and the detectives--as well as seeing excerpts from her first memoir, Her Father's Daughter. The sudden discoveries Cassandra made near the end of the book make me wonder if Callie was really the focus; maybe the theme is more about narrative, and everyone's different accounts of what happened. There is also a lot about race in the novel; Cassandra was the only white girl in her group of friends, and her father left her and her mother for a black woman, whom he later married. This gave an interesting layer to the story. Another great read by Laura Lippman!

AUTHOR Lippman, LauraTITLE Life SentencesDATE READ 11/10/19 RATING 4/BFIRST SENTENCE GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Fiction/2009/Harper Audio/9 CD'sSERIES/STAND-ALONE SACHALLENGE Good Re ads 2019 Reading Goal 167/111; GROUP READ TIME/PLACE 2008/Baltimore, MDCHARACTERS Cassandra Fellows/author COMMENTS Cassandra Fellows is a successful author receiving acclaim for her memoirs. She has branched out and written a fiction book, not as well received…now she wants to return to her memoir format but focusing on the story of one of her classmates who remained silent and accepted a 7 year confinement sentence rather than disclose the whereabouts of her infant son. Cassandra wants to end the mystery of what happened to this infant but in the process she discover s more about her past -- an alternate story re: her father which gives her a new perspective.

This was different from most of Laura Lippman's books that I have read. The mystery is very subtle and I didn't realize that there was one until well into the book. Cassandara is an author who decides to look back at several girls who were her friends in elementary school, but with whom she has had no contact in years. The mystery concerns things that happened during those years.Either I've lost my touch or I'm reading better books (probably a bit of both), but again I was surprised by the events towards the end of the story. It is so nice to not know what is going to happen before it happens, which is becoming so commonplace when watching television.The book is just a good story, well-told. I would recommend it to anyone. It would also be good for a book group as the story brings up a lot of interesting topics to discuss.

This is the story of Cassandra Fallows who is writer. This was the first book I had read by this author and was pleasantly surprised by how good the book was. Ms. Fallows is the product of a broken home and her first two books are memoirs of her life. She returns to her hometown of Baltimore to investigate the death of a former classmates child that happened seven years ago. What she discovers while investigating the death of the child is truly revealing. The book was well written with good character development. Enjoyed the book so much will definitely be looking for more by this author. Highly recommend this book.