Constellations

ISBN-13: 9789004461963 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 162 str.

Patricia Leavy

Opis

Constellations follows Tess Lee and Jack Miller after three years of marriage as they navigate the meaning of love and family over a series of holidays. Tess is a wildly successful and world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore our innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Jack is a former federal agent. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. Both healing from past trauma, together they have finally built the life they wish to live. What will happen to their blissful union when Jack’s childhood family resurfaces? When Tess and Jack visit the Millers for Christmas, how will insecurity, a sense of missed opportunities, and the need for redemption test their relationship? When a terrible accident threatens everything in an instant, will they learn the true meaning of unconditional love? Their loved ones are along for the ride: Omar, Tess’s sarcastic best friend who calls her Butterfly; the female president of the United States, with whom Tess talks politics and bakes cookies; Joe, Jack’s friend from the Bureau who understands the sacrifices he’s made; Bobby and Gina, their younger friends who never fail to lighten the mood; and the Miller family. Constellations is a novel about family – those into which we’re born and those we create – the human desire to belong and feel connected, the true nature of intimacy, and the power of love to heal and redeem. Written as unfolding action, Constellations is a poignant novel that moves fluidly between melancholy, humor, and joy. It can be read entirely for pleasure, selected for book clubs, or used as supplemental reading in a variety of courses in communication, psychology, social work, sociology, or women’s studies/gender studies.

Recenzje

"This is the third book in a series (following Shooting Stars and Twinkle), and each one resonates deeply within me. I delve into them again and again, and every time find new gems to ponder. I love these characters, the joy that radiates from them, and the incredibly important and timely themes that Leavy weaves in seemingly effortlessly. As with every book she writes, I come away feeling richer for having read it, more thoughtful about kindness and relationships, and happy to be in this world again. Highly recommended!"-Wandering Educators
"Family, love, and trauma are vital aspects of our relational lives. Yet, what (and who) makes up a 'family,' and what is the 'right' way to love? Also, what happens to the family and love we have come to expect and need when trauma invades our lives? Patricia Leavy's Constellations immerses readers in the process of exploring these issues. Her latest novel is an accessible story and immerses readers in situations that will lead us to re-examine both how we have lived and the people we have loved. Like the stars that appear in our nighttime skies, people and relationships are forever interconnected. The dynamic love story of Tess and Jack continues!" - Keith Berry, Ph.D., University of South Florida
"In this gorgeous novel, talented writer Patricia Leavy brings back her unforgettable characters in the third Tess Lee and Jack Miller installation. Tess Lee's motto is to move through darkness into light. In Constellations, Tess brings light to family trauma, grief, and missed opportunities. This novel explores the idea of what family-in every sense of the word-can be. The vivid prose and beautifully rendered characters left me filled with hope and a sense of possibility. I highly recommend this book. I read it in one sitting, unable to put it down until I reached the last word." - Jessica Smartt Gullion, Ph.D., Texas Woman's University
"Tess and Jack are back, and I want to be adopted into this family. Constellations is told as a family saga through the arc of the holiday season. There's anger and reconciliation, false fronts abandoned and real connection reestablished, a brush with death and new lives begun. And all the while, people who are thrown together by birth and by happenstance find they can come together to form a constellation of love in all its forms: between partners, among friends, within families. You will want to immerse yourself in the constellation of love and self-knowledge to imagine the celebrations of Christmas and Easter and of everyday life." - Eve Spangler, Ph.D., Boston College
"With her incisive sociological eye, Leavy offers another riveting book about the nuances and beauty of mundane interaction, the significance of friendship and family, the ways steadfast love and commitment can withstand adversity, and the growth that can stem from grief, loss, conflict, and success." - Tony E. Adams, Bradley University
"As an instructor of the practice of social work on both the graduate and undergraduate level, it brings me great joy when I read academic pieces that are tailored to both the learning process and the internalizing of empathy. While reading Constellations, I immediately began pondering how I could use this work of art in my Individuals and Families courses, in my Diversity courses, in my Human Behavior and the Social Environment courses, and on and on. Dr. Leavy touches on so many sociological subjects in one beautifully laid out story and hints at the complexities of so many lives that as one turns the last page of the book, you know the healing process has really just begun. So tonight, as you look into the sky and notice that one bright and shiny star, know that there is an entire constellation behind it, and so it is with our clients and our students." - Renita M. Davis, LICSW, PIP, Troy University
"Constellations returns us to the enchanting universe of the world's most successful author, Tess Lee, and former FBI agent Jack Miller. Set during the ever-fraught family season, we begin to see the real challenges inherent in two broken people coming together, where unaddressed past traumas leak into our present to infect our now. Leavy is able to eviscerate you by weaving the deep traumas that Tess and Jack have experienced, traumas that in less-skilled hands would feel like a plot point to drive a narrative forward and then be forgotten by the protagonists once they fall in love. Constellations expertly explores the ways in which trauma embeds itself, even after the happily ever after. Yet, Leavy reminds us that love, in all its forms, is ultimately rewarded by delving more deeply into the ways that Tess's spirit brings an array of wonderful people into her life to become her living comfort blanket, or indeed her constellation, that can only survive through honest communication. There are so many components that demonstrate Leavy's expertise in explicitly and implicitly drawing out the truths at the heart of humanity in today's world in ways we can all relate to, while creating a story that feels incredibly intimate. The reason I keep returning to her work is her talent for writing stories for multiple audiences at multiple levels with a story engaging enough to be an easy read, no matter the intent behind picking it up. In this way, this might be the first novel I have read that is filled with a truly diverse range of images of masculinity, so much so that it becomes essential supplementary reading in any class, especially those focused on gender, masculinity, or trauma, as well as broad fields like sociology, social work, and communication. But at its heart, Leavy's third part of Tess and Jack's story is a novel that must be read because it's too good not to." - U. Melissa Anyiwo, Ph.D., Curry College, editor of Gender Warriors: Reading Contemporary Urban Fantasy
"In the third Tess Lee novel, we see how love is a selfless and self-full act that burns the brightest when we follow our inner light and project that outward. Like the constellations, Tess and Jack show us how love may seem like a random group of stars until it transforms us into the crucial link in a connected pattern of love-filled relationships." - Sandra L. Faulkner, Ph.D., author of Poetic Inquiry: Craft, Method and Practice
"Understanding our feelings can often feel like an extended process of stargazing. With Constellations, Patricia Leavy explores this metaphor in family relationships. This follow-up to Shooting Stars and Twinkle takes a subtler approach than either of its predecessors, turning away from high drama to long strings of quietly electric moments that shimmer like holiday lights. Yet, lest we think this novel is the neatly wrapped stuff of made-for-TV movies, it uses the winter holidays to illuminate the thick ice trapping the emotions of trauma survivors. Leavy gives the deepest chills in showing readers how even the most healed of heroes can easily fall prey to toxic patterns, and makes us vibrate with familiar frustration at experiences we likely share. Even with their vast resources and genuine love, Tess Lee and Jack Miller cannot escape the essential truism that survivors with feminine qualities often do the work of 'finishing' those with masculine ones-until they choose to do it themselves. The lesson here rings all the more clearly for its understated grace: When we consciously make those healing choices to examine and name the complex clusters of simmering energy within us, we come closer to the stars and one another." - Alexandra "Xan" Nowakowski, Ph.D., MPH, Florida State University
"Especially as someone who has depended upon and often written about the establishment of chosen families, I was even more delighted than usual to reconnect with Tess as she navigates these and other familial themes in Constellations. In fact, my delight expanded with each page of this gripping, emotional, at times humorous, and loving story about the complexity that we call love and the possibilities for building love and connection with the self and others over time. Constellations is truly a wonderful complement to Shooting Stars and Twinkle, as well as a beautiful introspective love story in its own right!" - J. E. Sumerau, Ph.D., University of Tampa
"Constellations is a book about connections, relationships, and the logic of finding patterns in the seemingly random. In this latest work by masterful writer Patricia Leavy, we again reacquaint ourselves with the cast of characters in these stellar stories. Once more, I eagerly sat down to join Tess, Jack, and their coterie of fine friends and loved ones. I eagerly read Leavy's tale of love and family that teaches us the importance of leaning into the love of those who care for you the most. Tess's sparkling literary career is topped only by her grace and deep emotional wisdom, her kindness and spectacular global reach. Tess's stories are alive with light, emerging from the darkness of human experience; they tell of pain and bitter experience redeemed, humanity and grace. An important lesson from Tess's writing (and by extension, Leavy's) is that the way we treat others is who we become, a lesson never more important than in these trying, turbulent, frightening, and divisive times. In the primary relationship of this series, that of Tess and her husband Jack, we learn the transformational power of love, of unconditional love. This is a relationship we all aspire to have: one of unconditional and steady devotion. Both Tess and Jack have experienced and survived deep, indescribable pain and loss in their lives. They have both had a life of seeking without realizing, existing without living-despite the important and satisfying work they both do very successfully. Their love, as a consequence, is deep and unrelenting, and Leavy's portrayal is sensitive and authentic; their relationship is beautifully drawn. Symbolism and metaphor are powerfully employed in this book, the notion of a constellation reflected in the strong web of ties between dear friends, cherished family, and our beloveds. The pain Leavy writes about is, as she says herself, 'laced with infinite hope.' The epilogue of this beautiful book brought me to tears, so poignant in its portrayal of an authentic marriage of mutual support, of its flaws and successes, of the trust in the one you love the most who can truly see you. The abject safety of that. The themes, metaphors, and lessons in this book are strongly present and beautifully drawn. The most significant in my reading is about leaning into the love of the people who love you most, whether they be your blood family or the family you have chosen. This theme resonates strongly, again and again throughout this book series, through the relatable experiences and encounters of the characters. Once more, Patricia Leavy has woven her special magic as an accomplished scholar of arts-based research, and written a highly readable, beautifully accessible, wonderfully compelling work of fiction." - Alexandra Lasczik, Ph.D., Southern Cross University

Spis treści

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue: The Next Day

Suggested Classroom or Book Club Use
Author Q&A
Shooting Stars, Chapter 1
About the Author

O autorze

Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is an award-winning, best-selling author. She has published over 30 books, earning critical and commercial success in both fiction and nonfiction. Her books have been translated into numerous languages.