Life Sentences

Starred review from January 19, 2009
This stunning stand-alone from bestseller Lippman (Baltimore Blues
) examines the extraordinary power and fragility of memories. Writer Cassandra Fallows achieved critical and commercial success with an account of her Baltimore childhood growing up in the 1960s and a follow-up dealing with her adult marriages and affairs. The merely modest success of her debut novel leads her back to nonfiction and the possibility of a book about grade school classmate Calliope Jenkins. Accused of murdering her infant son, Jenkins spent seven years in prison steadfastly declining to answer any questions about the disappearance and presumed death of her son. Fallows (white) tries to reconnect with three former classmate friends (black) to compare memories of Jenkins and research her story. In the process, she discovers the gulf (partially racial) that separates her memories of events from theirs. Fallows's pursuit of Jenkins's story becomes a rich, complex journey from self-deception to self-discovery. 20-city author tour.

September 1, 2009
Edgar and Agatha Award-winning author Lippman's (www.lauralippman.com) latest novelfollowing "Another Thing To Fall" (2008), also available from Recorded Books and HarperAudiofinds memoirist Cassandra Fallows forced to face her own family's past as she investigates the case of a childhood friend's missing and possibly murdered infant son. The engaging combination of politics, secrets, and differing perspectives makes this novel flow; the ending, however, does not entirely live up to the buildup. Actress Linda Emond's (www.lindaemond.com) narration adds a thoughtful tone necessary to the two central characters. Lippman's fans may well appreciate this break from her Tess Monaghan series. [The Morrow hc was described as "an engaging psychological tale of mystery and love," Xpress Reviews, "LJ" 3/20/09.Ed.]Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2009
A writer discovers the power of silence in the latest stand-alone from Lippman (Hardly Knew Her, 2008, etc.).

Author of two successful memoirs and a tepidly received novel, Cassandra Fallows is jolted by a reminder of her classmate, Calliope Jenkins, who served seven years in prison rather than reveal the whereabouts of her infant son. When a similar case in New Orleans returns Callie's name to the news, Cassandra leaves her Brooklyn brownstone for her home town of Baltimore, hoping to learn enough of Callie's story so that it will serve as an anchor for a fourth book. Coping with her parents, who split when Cassandra was ten (her classics-professor father fell in love with voluptuous young Annie Reynolds, an apparent victim of the race riots that engulfed Baltimore in the wake of the King assassination) is a challenge. And her efforts to find the absent Callie provoke present-day racial tensions of their own as she faces her former classmates, Tisha Barr and Donna Howard, who close ranks against her and stonewall her efforts. Even as her attraction for Callie's attorney, Reg Barr—Tisha's brother and Donna's husband—becomes an echo of her father's interracial relationship with Annie, Cassandra knows that she will never be part of their circle, any more than silent, wary Callie will ever become part of Cassandra's empire of words.

Lippman's writing is powerful and her gaze unflinching as she invokes a world in which no one is either entirely guilty or truly innocent.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2009
Its a stroke of genius to write a mystery about a memoir writer. Memoirs purport to tell the truth even though they are subjective by definition. And memoirs can make enemies. Following her superb story collection, Hardly Knew Her (2008), Lippman continues to keep her beloved private eye Tess Monaghan in the wings as she tells the subtly devastating tale of Cassandra Fallows. Rich and famous thanks to her best-selling memoirs about her father and her failed marriages, Cassandra is back in Baltimore to write about her childhood friends, with whom she hasnt bothered to stay in touch, and a girl of their acquaintance, Calliope Jenkins, who spent seven years in prison for refusing to talk about the disappearance of her baby. Now Tisha, Donna, and Fatima are reticent, even hostile, and Cassandrasinquiry leads to unexpected and painful disclosures. As her flawed protagonist persists, Lippman slowly reveals the true nature of her predicament: Cassandra is white, her friends are black, and their interpretations of the past do not concur, includingCassandras fathers abandonment of his family for his African American lover. Anchored to intriguing characters, bristling with jujitsu conversations and sharp social insights, this is an ensnaring and revelatory mystery of the human heart masterfully told by a writer well versed in our habit of self-delusion and preference for myth over reality.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

March 23, 2009
Verdict: Lippman (What the Dead Know) weaves an engaging psychological tale of mystery and love, tinged by race and class issues. While the story suffers from flat characters and a lack of tension, Lippman's fans will still find much to enjoy. Recommended for most public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/08. Background: After her debut novel receives less-than-stellar reviews, Cassandra Fallows returns to her roots. She reconnects with a former classmate, Callie Jenkins, who spent seven years in jail decades ago and has steadfastly refused to divulge the whereabouts of her son-who is commonly assumed to have been murdered. As Cassandra begins digging into the case, she discovers that pivotal events in her life are more complicated than she ever imagined.-Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.