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Do Not Find Me
As a young man, Gigi Paulo arrives in New York and is immediately drawn to a girl he sees in a bar near Penn Station. Before he can approach her, she is gone. He returns to the bar for weeks, hoping to see her again. He dreams of her at night and searches the crowds for her face. Quiet and careful, he is not the type to become obsessed by a stranger. But obsessed he is.
Two years later he meets her at a party. Her name is Corrine. She seems to like his cooking and the blues albums he collects, but she never stays with him for long. As he discovers the secrets and violence of her life, Gigi finds himself unable to rescue her, and barely able to save himself. He flees New York, but his obsession with Corrine follows him, even when he returns to his home in northern Minnesota, where he marries, has a daughter, and fishes the deep, quiet lakes he knows so well.
After he dies, his daughter uncovers her father’s desire for this unknown woman, leaving her to question the inherent perils of his life as well as her own.
Dark and poetic, Do Not Find Me moves between the voices of Gigi Paulo and his daughter with a compelling grace, its haunting undercurrents remaining long after the story has ended.
Two years later he meets her at a party. Her name is Corrine. She seems to like his cooking and the blues albums he collects, but she never stays with him for long. As he discovers the secrets and violence of her life, Gigi finds himself unable to rescue her, and barely able to save himself. He flees New York, but his obsession with Corrine follows him, even when he returns to his home in northern Minnesota, where he marries, has a daughter, and fishes the deep, quiet lakes he knows so well.
After he dies, his daughter uncovers her father’s desire for this unknown woman, leaving her to question the inherent perils of his life as well as her own.
Dark and poetic, Do Not Find Me moves between the voices of Gigi Paulo and his daughter with a compelling grace, its haunting undercurrents remaining long after the story has ended.
183 pages, Hardcover
Published March 17, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 3, 2016
This is a beautiful novel. Reminded me of Elizabeth Strout and, to an extent, James Salter.
May 18, 2017
May I first say, Gigi has stolen my heart?! . . .
No, I guess I cannot say that yet, as first of all I am required to state that I received this book for free as a winner from a giveaway through Goodread's First Read program. As a winner, I am not required to post a review. Nevertheless, here is the review. . . .
This is a beautifully written novella. Gigi has captured my heart and I fear I will never get it back. I ached for him during his youth in New York City, but I applaud his morals and convictions. I am also left with a lasting impression of Gigi in his elder years as a fisherman, father, and reflecting on his past.
This is a beautifully written novella and I strongly recommend everyone to pick up the book and see for yourself.
P.S. Thank you, Permanent Press, for the giveaway and for sending me this captivating read.
No, I guess I cannot say that yet, as first of all I am required to state that I received this book for free as a winner from a giveaway through Goodread's First Read program. As a winner, I am not required to post a review. Nevertheless, here is the review. . . .
This is a beautifully written novella. Gigi has captured my heart and I fear I will never get it back. I ached for him during his youth in New York City, but I applaud his morals and convictions. I am also left with a lasting impression of Gigi in his elder years as a fisherman, father, and reflecting on his past.
This is a beautifully written novella and I strongly recommend everyone to pick up the book and see for yourself.
P.S. Thank you, Permanent Press, for the giveaway and for sending me this captivating read.
July 1, 2017
Although well written and beautifully performed, I felt cheated. It builds so much expectation except there is not much. The story is not a special one and worse it is told twice. There is a background story I suppose, in the present about Gigi's daughter, but it is vague and without development, more an idea of a story than a story.
I think it should have been categorized as a novella or a short story.
I think it should have been categorized as a novella or a short story.
August 3, 2016
I loved the story of Gigi and I'm glad I stumbled across this book. I can even relate to him in many ways. The fact this book was written and seemingly marketed online as a father/daughter family secret type mystery was unnecessary in my opinion. I felt the daughter's own story added nothing to the actual plot. It starts out being told by that essentially pointless character. At one point I actually stopped reading it, but picked it up again later to reread the summary on the book jacket to be sure this was really the book I had chosen off the library shelf, a story about a relationship between a man and a mysterious woman in the 1960's. I'd have rated this a 5 without the existence of that character.
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September 2, 2016An outstanding novel. The best fiction I've read all year. Meggie goes to be with her dying father and uncovers an old mystery. A dazzling display of character and plot development. And it's not just the mystery which drew me in so completely - although I did not figure this out, as I often do. Kathleen Novak also delves into many aspects of loving relationships - and relationships which are not loving at all. And what is love? Funny at times, deep and dark at times - entirely engrossing all of the time. Kudos. Very nicely done. Highest possible recommendation.
August 18, 2018
I found this book on the shelf at The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, nestled between books from authors with name recognition. The cover design drew me to it; the fact that it was sealed in plastic and therefore, unable to open for a preview, made the mystery of the book even more intense. I ended up getting a different book that day, but I thought about this book the whole next week and ended up going back to buy it.
It was compelling. I constantly felt like I wasn't getting enough information, but kept reading because the payoff was right around the corner. Unfortunately, for me, the payoff never really came, and I was left wanting. This book is beautifully written though, and I'm glad I read it.
It was compelling. I constantly felt like I wasn't getting enough information, but kept reading because the payoff was right around the corner. Unfortunately, for me, the payoff never really came, and I was left wanting. This book is beautifully written though, and I'm glad I read it.
April 3, 2019
I enjoyed this book very much. It felt real. I related to Gigi as he obsessed over a girl that used him for her own gains. I felt the truth behind not really know who somebody is, even if they are your family. This also made me feel like a pocket story within your life can be sacred and doesn't have to be shared with anyone else.
September 29, 2023
A story of a father and daughter relationship where she learns secrets about his life when packing up his house. She thought she knew everything about him, but finds out he was hiding much more than he let on. The father is tough on the outside but a hopeless romantic on the inside, making him a loveable main character. - Dylan Berardo
September 15, 2018
Beautifully told story. Big plus - set in the area in which I live!
December 14, 2018
Dark romance, literary fiction
January 23, 2022
Hmmm . . . evocative writing of place but I was left wanting to understand the two main characters more
December 9, 2023
This was a lovely book. Contemplative and beautiful and very thoughtful. I'm not sure it'll win best Best Book 0f 2023, but it is definitely a contender.
September 9, 2017
An engaging and quick read with a bit of mystery.
January 8, 2017
More like 3.5 stars. Strange little book that kept me reading and wondering.
January 21, 2016
Kathleen Novak’s novel, Do Not Find Me, begins with a daughter Meggie’s recollection of her father’s ice fishing. “’Pay attention,’ he’d call over his shoulder... Life is perilous for all creatures.” And so begins a tale of perilous life, of attention paid and ignored, and mysterious family history.
Now adult and newly orphaned, Meggie looks around her father’s house, paying careful attention to everything. The rooms are evocatively described, with memories slipping through the cracks. “A retired jewelry repairman who wanted just then to be in a rough little house on a lake with odd animal cries in the middle of the night and the cycle of water to ice to water as the months moved along...” this father’s world is a far cry from New York’s bustle where he once belonged, and where Meggie lives. His love is a far cry from that of husband or sons. And fish, knowing their fate, come easily to the line and dinner plate of the one they know.
The finding of a note, “Do not find me,” shows Meggie how much she didn’t know of the father she loved. Even as she wonders what she should hang on to of her dad’s, the question arises, why did he hang on to this. And so the story’s propelled into the past, where father Gigi, still a young man, travels to New York and meets a girl who loves to listen to Bob Dylan. This is the New York of Dylan’s early days, and it’s truly evocative, from streets to people to scenes of music and love.
Dramas large and small play in the background. A woman abused, a promise rejected, a breaking heart that steps like a fish to its fate... but Gigi’s fate is not determined yet. He and others have choices to make, and Meggie herself must learn to choose what to keep and what to leave behind.
The fish will come to the one they know, not the one who chooses to hide. And the ice fisher must remember to test the ice. Do Not Find Me comes full circle, binding living and dead, betrayer and betrayed, loving and loved, fisher and fish, with all their depths and layers made secure. It’s a lyrical, haunting, and beautiful tale.
Disclosure: I was given a free preview edition and I offer my honest review.
Now adult and newly orphaned, Meggie looks around her father’s house, paying careful attention to everything. The rooms are evocatively described, with memories slipping through the cracks. “A retired jewelry repairman who wanted just then to be in a rough little house on a lake with odd animal cries in the middle of the night and the cycle of water to ice to water as the months moved along...” this father’s world is a far cry from New York’s bustle where he once belonged, and where Meggie lives. His love is a far cry from that of husband or sons. And fish, knowing their fate, come easily to the line and dinner plate of the one they know.
The finding of a note, “Do not find me,” shows Meggie how much she didn’t know of the father she loved. Even as she wonders what she should hang on to of her dad’s, the question arises, why did he hang on to this. And so the story’s propelled into the past, where father Gigi, still a young man, travels to New York and meets a girl who loves to listen to Bob Dylan. This is the New York of Dylan’s early days, and it’s truly evocative, from streets to people to scenes of music and love.
Dramas large and small play in the background. A woman abused, a promise rejected, a breaking heart that steps like a fish to its fate... but Gigi’s fate is not determined yet. He and others have choices to make, and Meggie herself must learn to choose what to keep and what to leave behind.
The fish will come to the one they know, not the one who chooses to hide. And the ice fisher must remember to test the ice. Do Not Find Me comes full circle, binding living and dead, betrayer and betrayed, loving and loved, fisher and fish, with all their depths and layers made secure. It’s a lyrical, haunting, and beautiful tale.
Disclosure: I was given a free preview edition and I offer my honest review.
March 31, 2016
As Meggie struggles with her father's death and emptying out his home, she also struggles with her own thoughts of a marriage that may not be exactly what she had wished it could have been. She feels safe in her father's home and uses his death as a way to escape her own life. As she is cleaning out his dresser drawers, she comes across a note with only the message, "Do not find me." As Meggie tries to discover the source of this message, the reader is transported back into the life of her father Gigi and an early New York in which he falls in love with an image of a woman who turns out to not really be all he wished she could be. As the drama unfolds, it is clear how this woman has captivated him and her presence never left him.
This is a mesmerizing story with many layers which continue to unfold as the story progresses. As Gigi says about the woman, "...this woman always pulled me in and pushed me back or lured me close then leapt away," so I felt while reading this story that definitely leaves a lasting impression.
Disclosure: I received a Preview Edition in a Goodreads Giveaway and this is my honest opinion.
This is a mesmerizing story with many layers which continue to unfold as the story progresses. As Gigi says about the woman, "...this woman always pulled me in and pushed me back or lured me close then leapt away," so I felt while reading this story that definitely leaves a lasting impression.
Disclosure: I received a Preview Edition in a Goodreads Giveaway and this is my honest opinion.
October 20, 2016
This is a short 5-chapter book in which the odd numbered chapters are written by the daughter as she contemplates the death of her father who remains a mystery to her in death as she tries to understand a small note left in his northern Minnesota home from a woman. The two even chapters tell the father's story of a love he had for a mysterious woman in New York City when he was in his 20s. This chapter is about 90 pages long. The later chapter tells of his marriage and raising his daughter, Meggie, alone after his wife died. In all five chapters, both father and daughter contemplate the mysteries of love and how it often doesn't work out quite right. It explains things clearly but leaves much still up in the air. A book to contemplate for awhile.
August 30, 2016
Dark romantic story about man who is in love with flawed woman for many years. The writing is beautiful, and I would recommend this to fans of Beatriz Williams.
SPOILER ALERT
I find it hard to relate to the hero's obsession with Corrine because I am not a romantic at all. I thought Corinne was an annoying narcissist. I know people in real life who stay in love with the worst people, so I didn't pan this book. It's like someone panning a work of science fiction who shouldn't have read it in the first place. I thought Gigi should have had therapy to overcome his obsession. Those who love tragically romantic books will like this.
SPOILER ALERT
I find it hard to relate to the hero's obsession with Corrine because I am not a romantic at all. I thought Corinne was an annoying narcissist. I know people in real life who stay in love with the worst people, so I didn't pan this book. It's like someone panning a work of science fiction who shouldn't have read it in the first place. I thought Gigi should have had therapy to overcome his obsession. Those who love tragically romantic books will like this.
September 27, 2016
Disclaimer: I received a free preview copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
I can't decide what I loved more about this book... the story or its beautiful writing style. When I read that the author, Kathleen Novak, is a poet, it immediately clicked to me. Because that's how she writes prose, too. There's a poetic beauty to her words, and to the small joys and deep heartaches the characters live through.
I especially loved the way that the author took so many tropes and turned them on their heads. This is something that is often hard to do without coming off as cheesy, but Ms. Novak pulled it off brilliantly.
I can't decide what I loved more about this book... the story or its beautiful writing style. When I read that the author, Kathleen Novak, is a poet, it immediately clicked to me. Because that's how she writes prose, too. There's a poetic beauty to her words, and to the small joys and deep heartaches the characters live through.
I especially loved the way that the author took so many tropes and turned them on their heads. This is something that is often hard to do without coming off as cheesy, but Ms. Novak pulled it off brilliantly.
June 2, 2016
I received a preview copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you! Do Not Find Me takes place in the present day in Minnesota and in the New York City of the 50s and 60s. The main characters are Gigi and his daughter Meggie. This is a beautifully written, haunting story that will stay with you long after you close the pages. There are strong themes of love, loss and betrayal. I loved the characters Gigi and Meggie. The descriptions of place (New York and The northern Minnesota lake) enhance the mood of the story. Highly recommended.
May 26, 2016
**I received a preview edition of this book free from the author** My review is my true opinion.
I took this book with me on a business trip to read on the plane. I wasn't disappointed. This book is well written and I really like the characters. It's a good length for a book to take when traveling or while on vacation. It's not suspenseful where you feel compelled to fly through the pages, you do so out of investment and interest in the characters.
I do wish it was a tad bit longer so I could have gotten to know the lead present-day character a bit better.
I took this book with me on a business trip to read on the plane. I wasn't disappointed. This book is well written and I really like the characters. It's a good length for a book to take when traveling or while on vacation. It's not suspenseful where you feel compelled to fly through the pages, you do so out of investment and interest in the characters.
I do wish it was a tad bit longer so I could have gotten to know the lead present-day character a bit better.
June 25, 2016
I was thoroughly taken in by it and read it quickly. I could relate so well to the 50's and 60's. Novak writes very well, lovely descriptions that you immediately see in your mind's eye. After i finished it I pondered that it was two stories, really, and i must say i found it difficult to make a strong connection. Then add in a mystery of sorts and one finds a lot going on.
March 28, 2016
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
Do Not Find Me is a poetic and touching story that you won't want to put down once you start. It was a fairly quick read but will definitely leave lasting impressions.
Do Not Find Me is a poetic and touching story that you won't want to put down once you start. It was a fairly quick read but will definitely leave lasting impressions.
May 12, 2016
Beautiful writing. It had me in tears.
August 18, 2016
Elegantly written little book with big story inside
May 16, 2016
A cautionary tale: do not become obsessed with a secretive woman... The writing is beautiful.
March 28, 2017
Nominated for MN book award. Great story about love. What we want it to be and what it may actually be.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews