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The Handless Maiden
Robbed of her career as a concert pianist due to a tragic childhood accident, Mariah Standhoffer is compelled to seek alternate means of artistic expression, eventually achieving renown as a composer. Mariah's shattered life turns on a series of complex relationships with others who have suffered damage in their lives — particularly Doug and Sully, challengers for her love. These vividly realized characters, like Mariah, learn to make opportunity out of accident and ultimately find dignity in compassion.Raw, often heart-wrenching, but also an exhilarating read, The Handless Maiden is an audacious and triumphant début.
- GenresFiction
432 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 29, 2018
It was hard to know how to rate this. It started off raw and strong. However, as the book progressed, it seemed to move away from the effects f abuse on a developing child to the minuscule dissection of every thought she had and decision she made as a result. The ending was strong, but Sully was too perfect in his love and Meredith too unsure if she even loved anyone. The middle of the book just seemed wordy and unnecessary.
February 7, 2017
This book is way over-rated. While it has everything (Cdn north, sodomy, incest, murder, adultery, illegimate child, cuckold husband, parents with issues, kids with issues, birth defect, blindly devoted husband, loss of hand accident, child killed in gun accident [same gun owner - how stupid is this guy???], etc), it is badly written and not believable. Very disappointing.
April 26, 2020
I just finished reading this novel for the second time with almost two decades between readings. I had forgotten much of the story and was fully emotionally invested from first to last page. The writing itself is beautiful; filled with poetry and word choice that in itself brought me pleasure. Mariah’s voice is authentic and her deep introspection is something that resonates with me. Although her outer world, as described, is interesting with natural dialogue between characters, it is the window into and depth of her inner world that drew me in. I do not know if Loranne Brown is a musician, but the thread of music running through this novel and its structure as sections of a composition rang true to me.
Other reviews indicate that the middle sections of this novel are less engaging; I disagree. This novel works because there is enough of a middle section that you can observe Mariah’s character mature over many years and struggle through the (many) things life throws her way. The middle section is what makes her a three dimensional character with whom I can identify.
My only question is why this brilliant and beautiful novel has not received greater acclaim and readership? I hope that the author will write another novel, as I would be most eager to read it.
Other reviews indicate that the middle sections of this novel are less engaging; I disagree. This novel works because there is enough of a middle section that you can observe Mariah’s character mature over many years and struggle through the (many) things life throws her way. The middle section is what makes her a three dimensional character with whom I can identify.
My only question is why this brilliant and beautiful novel has not received greater acclaim and readership? I hope that the author will write another novel, as I would be most eager to read it.
September 11, 2013
I picked this up because the title is that of one of the darkest fairy-tales (discussed on surlalune here: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/ar...).
I wanted to see how the author would use the themes of the tale (incest, mutilation, betrayal) in a modern setting, though I was wary because it seems that every third or fourth Serious Novel uses sexual abuse to establish its gritty cred, to the point where I'm more surprised if the narrator isn't molested.
By the way, I'm amused that the blurb for the book touts it as an inspiring recovery from trauma, which is exactly the narrative Mariah refuses to accept, fighting it every step of the way (and good for her!).
So. Overall the writing is well done, and the narrator has a distinctive voice, though her younger self is occasionally too knowledgeable and self-aware to quite ring true. The first section of the book is fairly gripping and I read it quickly. I liked Mariah for her stubborn and contrary nature, her revolt from being the perfect daughter and perfect victim. I liked the portrayal of her parents, and how believable it was that a close and loving family could still be victimised by an abuser.
In the latter two-thirds, my interest lagged. I put the book down, and picked it up again because it was there and because it's hard for me not to finish books.
The main issue for me is that the story is overstuffed. In one of my too-frequent moments of distraction, I looked at the author's bio, and saw that she grew up in Thunder Bay (like Mariah) and moved to Bermuda (like Mariah), and presently lives in Canada (like Mariah). I'm not suggesting that the author was molested or lost a hand, though I am going to cite the Onion article "Author Wishes She Hadn't Blown Peraonal Tragedy on First Book".
It's more, as I learned writing a fantasy story that drew on part of my own life, that it's very difficult to know what to leave out in that situation. That is, an invented setting only exists in the places where the characters go, but a remembered setting exists even outside the story, and it's very difficult to know where to stop describing it. The same goes for characters and events. In fiction, a scene ends when it's done, but in memory you have to end each scene by hand.
So there are a number of places in this novel where it looks as if something was being set up to be meaningful later, but it never comes to anything (the formidable aunt who appears in a portrait only), or where the story-function of an incident or character is simply a puzzle. Is it foreshadowing? Is it a plot-point? Is it symbolic? Or is it only in aid of a dull verisimilitude?
Given that I'll happily read novels that require a cast list at the beginning, it may seem picky of me to complain of the number of characters here. But again, I couldn't see the point of them all.
As the book went on, I began to question the interchangeability of the female characters. Mariah finds a circle of female friends in each place she lives--her husband even comments on this--and leaves her previous friends behind with little notice or regret. Kat, the supposed closest friend, is seen mostly in relation to her brother, one of the love interests (not too surprising when they're in their teens, but it continues into adulthood). Given that the original fairy-tale is one of the more female-centric ones, this disappointed me.
The two male love-interests are clearly drawn, both in personality and physically. I had a much clearer picture of them than of any of the female characters.
I wasn't totally convinced by Mariah's comparative lack of difficulty with sexuality after years of abuse by a relative. I liked that she was sexual and unashamed of it, that was great. But it felt as if the author had lost interest in the process of recovery, and wanted to go on to the adolescent heartbreak part of the story. In the same way, Mariah consistently skips out on her physical therapy sessions, but still becomes dextrous with her stump. Again, I liked her for going her own way, refusing cosmetic measures, but I couldn't really buy that she pulled that off without help.
The trick of jumping past an interesting event and beginning the scene in the aftermath of it, so that she narrated what had happened (rather like writing a letter to a friend) became less a stylistic quirk and more confusing and annoying. The incident where Mariah's husband breaks his knee was particularly distracting, opening in a hospital where she talks to him before making it clear that he's the patient. Only then do we learn how he fell, in a chunk of backstory that omits any emotion.
Last, the piling on of the agony wore me out, though I may be in a minority here. I didn't feel that the final tragedy brought closure, more that the author was dragging the story out because oh, wait, here's another thing that can happen.
I wanted to see how the author would use the themes of the tale (incest, mutilation, betrayal) in a modern setting, though I was wary because it seems that every third or fourth Serious Novel uses sexual abuse to establish its gritty cred, to the point where I'm more surprised if the narrator isn't molested.
By the way, I'm amused that the blurb for the book touts it as an inspiring recovery from trauma, which is exactly the narrative Mariah refuses to accept, fighting it every step of the way (and good for her!).
So. Overall the writing is well done, and the narrator has a distinctive voice, though her younger self is occasionally too knowledgeable and self-aware to quite ring true. The first section of the book is fairly gripping and I read it quickly. I liked Mariah for her stubborn and contrary nature, her revolt from being the perfect daughter and perfect victim. I liked the portrayal of her parents, and how believable it was that a close and loving family could still be victimised by an abuser.
In the latter two-thirds, my interest lagged. I put the book down, and picked it up again because it was there and because it's hard for me not to finish books.
The main issue for me is that the story is overstuffed. In one of my too-frequent moments of distraction, I looked at the author's bio, and saw that she grew up in Thunder Bay (like Mariah) and moved to Bermuda (like Mariah), and presently lives in Canada (like Mariah). I'm not suggesting that the author was molested or lost a hand, though I am going to cite the Onion article "Author Wishes She Hadn't Blown Peraonal Tragedy on First Book".
It's more, as I learned writing a fantasy story that drew on part of my own life, that it's very difficult to know what to leave out in that situation. That is, an invented setting only exists in the places where the characters go, but a remembered setting exists even outside the story, and it's very difficult to know where to stop describing it. The same goes for characters and events. In fiction, a scene ends when it's done, but in memory you have to end each scene by hand.
So there are a number of places in this novel where it looks as if something was being set up to be meaningful later, but it never comes to anything (the formidable aunt who appears in a portrait only), or where the story-function of an incident or character is simply a puzzle. Is it foreshadowing? Is it a plot-point? Is it symbolic? Or is it only in aid of a dull verisimilitude?
Given that I'll happily read novels that require a cast list at the beginning, it may seem picky of me to complain of the number of characters here. But again, I couldn't see the point of them all.
As the book went on, I began to question the interchangeability of the female characters. Mariah finds a circle of female friends in each place she lives--her husband even comments on this--and leaves her previous friends behind with little notice or regret. Kat, the supposed closest friend, is seen mostly in relation to her brother, one of the love interests (not too surprising when they're in their teens, but it continues into adulthood). Given that the original fairy-tale is one of the more female-centric ones, this disappointed me.
The two male love-interests are clearly drawn, both in personality and physically. I had a much clearer picture of them than of any of the female characters.
I wasn't totally convinced by Mariah's comparative lack of difficulty with sexuality after years of abuse by a relative. I liked that she was sexual and unashamed of it, that was great. But it felt as if the author had lost interest in the process of recovery, and wanted to go on to the adolescent heartbreak part of the story. In the same way, Mariah consistently skips out on her physical therapy sessions, but still becomes dextrous with her stump. Again, I liked her for going her own way, refusing cosmetic measures, but I couldn't really buy that she pulled that off without help.
The trick of jumping past an interesting event and beginning the scene in the aftermath of it, so that she narrated what had happened (rather like writing a letter to a friend) became less a stylistic quirk and more confusing and annoying. The incident where Mariah's husband breaks his knee was particularly distracting, opening in a hospital where she talks to him before making it clear that he's the patient. Only then do we learn how he fell, in a chunk of backstory that omits any emotion.
Last, the piling on of the agony wore me out, though I may be in a minority here. I didn't feel that the final tragedy brought closure, more that the author was dragging the story out because oh, wait, here's another thing that can happen.
July 19, 2016
This incredible story has so many layers -- abuse, love, different-ness, music, finding one's voice and calling, the Thunder Bay community and geography, the lives of expats, and so on and so on. I had to read the book in measured doses. The lives and struggles of the main characters are truly rough. They are best dealt with (at least by me) in a space that allows time for reflection and absorption. Thank you Loranne Brown for this marvelous work.
January 22, 2008
This book had my undivided attention from almost the very beginning. It had my undivided attention and dropped jaw throughout the whole story. The ending was disappointing, but even that was not the end of the world. It's a pretty disturbing book though, in a lot of ways, so if you are not into that, you might want to steer clear.
May 23, 2011
Handless Maiden is one of the most courageous novels I've ever read. So many authors are afraid to touch the issue of sexual abuse. But this beautifully crafted novel takes you into the life of a woman who finds joy, peace, and a life worth living. This novel is not for the faint-hearted, or those who only read CBA stories. This novel reaches out with great scope to all audiences.
October 17, 2007
Made me cry - alot! I loved it.
October 24, 2008
The story of Mariah who, abused by her grandfather, loses her hand to a gun accident and proceeds to make sense of her life. Pretty heavy. Good.
April 8, 2009
An unusual, bizarre tale but I really quite enjoyed it. I found this randomly at the library several years ago, added it to the pile, and was pleasantly surprised.
September 25, 2013
This book was full of tragedy. I did enjoy (not sure enjoy is the proper word to use)it. Found it very difficult to put down.
December 30, 2014
I liked this book a lot
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews