Plum & Jaggers

by Susan Richards Shreve

Sam and his three younger orphaned siblings create the dark, quirky Plum Jaggers series of comedic sketches about a family of children whose parents are never home. The family troupes fame gathers momentum and threatens them with unforeseen dangers. Susan Richards Shreve has crafted a powerful story about family tragedy and one persons refusal to accept fate.

Genres: Fiction, Literature

251 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Also know as Susan Shreve. Received the following awards: Jenny Moore Award, George Washington University, 1978; Notable Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), 1979, for Family Secrets: Five Very Important Stories; Best Book for Young Adults citation, ALA, 1980, for The Masquerade; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National Council for Social Studies and the Children's Book Council joint committee, 1980, for Family Secrets: Five Very Important Stories; Guggenheim award in fiction, 1980; National Endowment for the Arts fiction award, 1982; Edgar Allan Poe Award, Mystery Writers of America, 1988, for Lucy Forever and Miss Rosetree, Shrinks; Woodrow Wilson fellowships, West Virginia Wesleyan, 1994, and Bates College, 1997; Lila Wallace Readers Digest Foundation grant.

Reviews

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

June 11 1974, seven year old Sam McWilliams and his three siblings are orphaned when the first two cars of the Espresso from Milan to Rome is bombed killing everyone aboard except for the conductor and a four year old French boy.
How can you measure the damage resulting from such a tumultuous event? Sam, the only one who truly remembers the catastrophe becomes obsessed with protecting the remaining members of his family. The manner in which he does this is self-defensive and a truly imaginative.
Susan Richards Shreve has written a powerful story of a family that refuses to become unmoored by tragedy.
Funny, sad, heartrending and most of all inspiring.

[Tanya Bohlke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this sweet, heartbreaking book. Vagabond parents are traveling by train through Italy with their 4 children ages 1-7, when a terrorist bomb kills the parents. The traumatized children are moved to America to live with their loving but overwhelmed grandparents. Sam, the oldest, takes it upon himself to control and therefore protect the others. Eventually they win fame with a darkly funny show called Plum and Jaggers (for their parents’pet names for each other) but the popularity of the show brings new threats and Sam’s coping mechanisms are stretched almost beyond endurance.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oliver felt laughter, out of nowhere, for no reason, like unexpected nausea. His mind, arched like a cat for combat, fast-forwarded to a vision of himself there in the hospital room with his brother and sisters, and he was laughing, laughing, out of control, the laughter changed to tears and he was sobbing, the doctor coming down the corridor, throwing open the door to his room, sending him to the sixth floor, Psychiatric.

A sense of doom. A growing dread, rising like water seeping into the corners of his brain. He was losing his sense of humor. He could actually feel it leaking, as though the stitches on a fresh wound had torn.

Something about the way Sam’s eyes took in the whole, capturing a fraction of his life in a frame which did not include him, translated like language inexactly to a picture in which he saw himself from a place outside. He was sitting at the table alone, a Monopoly game in the center, and underneath the table a rug, and underneath the rug the loosened floorboards, which concealed a small pipe bomb.

IN THE early winter of 1998, Currents, a weekly news and feature magazine, devoted a series of issues to what the editors called “The State of Internal Affairs in North America.” The first of the series was titled “The Book of Revelations—2000” and included pieces on the apocalyptic nature of the turn of the second millennium, how a kind of craziness was taking over, a proliferation of cults and extreme behavior, of fear and paranoia, even terror—the biblical promise of Revelations.

It was a time, not unlike 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King, when an ordinary citizen had a sense that anything could happen.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many readers, I am sure, I have perused many of Nancy Pearl's books of recommended reading, many of which had fallen outside of my radar. The first conscious purchase of her 'Rediscoveries' which I have made is Susan Richards Shreve's Plum and Jaggers. The novel started off so well, but I felt as though it leapt too far forwards when it reached its second chapter, and it took me a little while to regain my bearings. I often felt as though the novel was rather disjointed, as time seems to plod in some chapters, and then rush forward by six or seven years in the next.

Only the child characters in Plum and Jaggers are well fleshed out; the adults feel shadowy - whether intentionally or not, I could not tell. The novel trailed off rather after a while, but certainly picked up, and the ending was satisfying. My interest in the story was only really sustained when the protagonists were children; their adult selves felt quite unrealistic at times, and the plot became a little silly. Shreve's writing is fine, and works well with the story she has crafted, but there was little that was memorable or poetic about it on its own. I would have preferred the novel to follow each child in turn, rather than focus almost entirely upon troubled Sam, and on occasion his interactions with his siblings.

[Jen Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read a book published in 2000 - pre 9/11 - about the trauma and internalization of terrorism experienced first-hand and the attempts to create an external life afterwards. A gem of a psychological read, though some parts were not as tightly tied up as I'd have liked.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really neat little book about four orphaned siblings who get along the best way they can without their parents. As adults, they form a very avant-garde comedy troupe based on their family life without their parents.

[Laurel Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book that I have hmmed and haaed over as to a rating. At the beginning of the book I was quite intrigued, thinking it would be like "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and as the book continued to make some weird turns in the middle I found myself less attached as I was to Snicket's writing and plots. This is an odd little book on the whole about four siblings who survive a train bombing in Italy that kills their parents. At first the book seems to be about all four siblings, but as the book progresses, this really seems to be Sam's (the eldest brother)story. Though we are privy to much of all four children's inner thoughts. I was not expecting the book to cover so much time in the expanse of such a short book (it begins when Sam is 7, and ends when he is 31), but by using an acting career Sam create for the foursome, time moves quite quickly. Though, the "Plum & Jaggers" act is at times difficult to understand (as is the creator Sam), it all somehow makes sense by the end. This book is not a difficult one in terms of reading or in the actual language, but it does offer some interesting insights into this little troupe's lives after living a very different childhood, followed by a great loss. This book does not fit into any molds I have previously read, and for that and the above mentioned moves I give it four stars, and for the way I felt by the end, pretty satisfied. Initially, and about 2/3 of the way in, I was sure I would give it three stars, but here we are. So if you want an easy book, that is a little different, try it.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of Nancy Pearl's Book Lust recommendations that I've read this year, and like the others thoroughly enjoyed.Difficult to define which is probably why it didn't make much of an impact when it was published.
Four children are orphaned by a terrorist bomb. The eldest assumes responsibility for the others and devises a comedy routine to keep them together.Sounds odd doesn't it? it's beautifully written, made me cry in parts, I couldn't see how it was going to end - well or not so put off finishing it, that's why it took two days. Worth reading.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

**** updated with a re-read 11 years later. I remembered exactly nothing about it, and this time I loved the ending! I do still agree with everything else I wrote in my 2014 review though.

Really liked it until the end... I'd give it 4 1/2 stars if I could but the end just didn't hold together well for me. It seemed almost slapped on. I loved the rest of it, and couldn't put it down. Kind of JD Salinger's Glass family meets Anne Tyler's Tull siblings in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Odd and unexpected, and well worth it even with the ending I didn't care for.

[jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of this novel is at least twice as dark as the actual execution. This is pretty unfortunate. When the author compares her characters' avant-garde black comedy to David Lynch, my brain auto-corrected: Judd Apatow. Still, the plot is a cool template for approaching a familial coming-of-age story with novelty. It's just that some of the necessary messiness got cleaned up along the way in writing, editing, selling, whatever.

[christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's possible that i just didn't get this book. it's a strange novel that centers around a group of four children who lose their parents tragically in a terrorist train bombing. the oldest son deals with this loss by creating a comedy troupe of his siblings whose sketch comedy deal with them always waiting for their absent parents. i didn't think it worked.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved The Family Fang, but now I feel like Susan Shreve may have mined this idea of the whacky performing family in 2000, eleven years before Wilson wrote TFF. Except in this family the drama comes from the orphaned kids instead of being directed by the punishing parents. There is room in my heart for both of these books. More important, I like a few well-placed explosions in my fiction.

[Irene Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing. I felt less sorry for Sam than felt extremely irritated with him. I realize the his unwillingness to deal with the life changing family tragedy was the whole point but Sam, none the less, irritated me. Maybe I was supposed to feel that way. In reflecting back, it is very sorrowful that some pass through life in a fog and never really choose to live.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderfully unique story! These characters will stay with me for quite some time! The dysfunction of Arrested Development mixed with the sadness of children orphaned by terrorism. Quite a combination that just works. So thankful for Nancy Pearl and her wonderful list of Book Lust Rediscoveries! I haven't read one yet that I didn't love. I feel Nancy and I are kindred spirits.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

When an act of terrorism orphans four siblings, Sam, the oldest, works himself into a paranoid state, controlling the lives of his younger brother and sisters, even into adulthood, where they remain bonded together through their close-to-reality show, Plum & Jaggers.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sparse and unsentimental, but still manages to be funny and at times almost overwhelmingly moving. A family of four children, an act of terrorism, and a dark avant-garde comedy team. How do these fit together to make a wonderful novel? Hard to believe, but they do.

[Petula Darling · Rating 2 out of 5]

It astounds me that a story with such an interesting premise managed to be so boring. I never felt like I really knew any of the characters, which made it so I never really cared what happened to them.

[Becky Roper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four siblings survive a terrorist bombing of a train that kills their parents. The oldest brother makes himself their protector, and they become performers. It is a rather dark tale and the ending was a little abrupt, but it was interesting and well written.

[Joyce Pavao · Rating 5 out of 5]

just plain good

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recommended by Rainn Willson via Twitter as a book with great characters. I don't appreciate it the way he did. A strange little book that never really went anywhere until the very vague end.

[Amyem]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3...

[Clintoned · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply love this book and really need to read it again. Of course, part of that love may be my life-long desire to have more siblings closer in age.

[scherzo♫ · Rating 4 out of 5]

True characters fumbling their way through devastating emotions.

[Diane Henry]

Via Nancy Pearl

[Kari Mccrory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. It held my attention and I enjoyed following the characters as they matured. I thought the personalities of the characters developed nicely and naturally.

[Kristine Henson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightfully quirky read! Lemony Snickett for adults, written with a grace and elegance that makes the darkly neurotic humor stand out.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really thoughtful

Well-written and incredibly thoughtful. The middle was a little bit awkward but it came full circle nicely in the end.

[Susan Stonesifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd duck of a book set in a Washington that I grew up in. Just enough "off" things to distract me from the very strange story

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Nancy Pearl recommendation that I took. The story was quirky and felt a little contrived, but I liked the way the siblings stayed together and interacted.

[Jill Heifetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting what can happen to kids who are orphaned. Very interesting personalities develop and how they play out their whole life.