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The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
After years spent living on the run, Samuel Hawley moves with his teenage daughter, Loo, to Olympus, Massachusetts. There, in his late wife’s hometown, Hawley finds work as a fisherman, while Loo struggles to fit in at school and grows curious about her mother’s mysterious death. Haunting them both are twelve scars Hawley carries on his body, from twelve bullets in his criminal past—a past that eventually spills over into his daughter’s present, until together they must face a reckoning yet to come. This father-daughter epic weaves back and forth through time and across America, from Alaska to the Adirondacks. Both a coming-of-age novel and a literary thriller, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley explores what it means to be a hero, and the cost we pay to protect the people we love most.
399 pages, ebook
First published March 28, 2017
1322 people are currently reading
32243 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Tinti
19 books683 followersHannah Tinti grew up in Salem, Massachusetts, and is co-founder and executive edtior of One Story magazine. Her short story collection, ANIMAL CRACKERS, has sold in sixteen countries and was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award. Her first novel, THE GOOD THIEF, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, recipient of the American Library Association's Alex Award, and winner of the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Hannah's most recent novel, THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY was a national bestseller and is in development for television with Netflix.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,506 reviews
March 27, 2017
Beautiful and bittersweet.
There's something about the kind of relationships, like the one in this book, that really speaks to my heart. A gruff, gun-toting, bullet-scarred man, and a spirited teenage girl - an unlikely pair, and yet when the relationship is so full of love and mutual respect, as it is here between Loo and Samuel Hawley, there is nothing so strong.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley alternates between the present and past. In the former, Samuel Hawley teaches Loo how to survive (shooting guns and hotwiring cars, etc.) and brings her to settle in the small hometown where her late mother, Lily, grew up. Here she faces many personal trials, from bullying at school, to her developing relationship with her grandmother. This is interspersed with journeys into the past - tales of each of the twelve bullet wounds marking Samuel Hawley's body.
The writing is exquisite. Tinti captures small details in every scene, building up this portrait of both Samuel's life, and the complex relationship between father and daughter.
It is somehow both told in great detail and also extremely compelling. I've always admired authors who can do this - tell a story that builds so very slowly without taking anything away from your urgency to read it. It's only in the last couple of years that I've realized slowly-developed stories can be pageturners, too.
I don't know who made the bigger impact on me. Samuel Hawley, who literally carries the scars of his past with him... or Loo, who grows up weird in an unfriendly world (and doesn't apologize for it). The pair dazzle apart, but even more so together.
The perfectly-crafted storytelling contains many small observations on human nature; the good and the bad. It's a book which is part grit-lit, part emotional contemporary - i.e. some guns, some crime, and a whole lot of heart.
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There's something about the kind of relationships, like the one in this book, that really speaks to my heart. A gruff, gun-toting, bullet-scarred man, and a spirited teenage girl - an unlikely pair, and yet when the relationship is so full of love and mutual respect, as it is here between Loo and Samuel Hawley, there is nothing so strong.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley alternates between the present and past. In the former, Samuel Hawley teaches Loo how to survive (shooting guns and hotwiring cars, etc.) and brings her to settle in the small hometown where her late mother, Lily, grew up. Here she faces many personal trials, from bullying at school, to her developing relationship with her grandmother. This is interspersed with journeys into the past - tales of each of the twelve bullet wounds marking Samuel Hawley's body.
The writing is exquisite. Tinti captures small details in every scene, building up this portrait of both Samuel's life, and the complex relationship between father and daughter.
It is somehow both told in great detail and also extremely compelling. I've always admired authors who can do this - tell a story that builds so very slowly without taking anything away from your urgency to read it. It's only in the last couple of years that I've realized slowly-developed stories can be pageturners, too.
I don't know who made the bigger impact on me. Samuel Hawley, who literally carries the scars of his past with him... or Loo, who grows up weird in an unfriendly world (and doesn't apologize for it). The pair dazzle apart, but even more so together.
The perfectly-crafted storytelling contains many small observations on human nature; the good and the bad. It's a book which is part grit-lit, part emotional contemporary - i.e. some guns, some crime, and a whole lot of heart.
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March 2, 2022
Why is it always so much easier to talk about things you don't like? I literally do not have the words to explain why I loved this books so much. It just felt so perfect. I love Loo and Sam and Lily and I'm so heartbroken that the book is over and I want to curl up and cry. I felt so taken in by the book I could barely breathe until I finished reading it. I loved the plot line and the structure and the characters and the writing. I wish I was more eloquent so I could say something more meaningful but I'm not so I can't. I just really love this book so I'm going to add it to my favorites and then I'm going to go and curl up and cry for a while because I don't feel so good and that's the best thing about reading honestly.
June 24, 2018
book club is going on NOW! https://discussions.rifflebooks.com/t...
what a kick-ass heartbreaker of a book.
this would be really good friends with She Rides Shotgun - both are grit-lit coming-of-age novels featuring the relationship between a criminal father and the lessons such a man is able to impart to his young daughter to prepare her for the world and the struggles to come: how to hotwire a car, shoot a gun, or deal emphatically with bullies.
this one is less-grit, more-heart than s.r.s., but loo and polly would definitely have a lot of common experiences to share in the confessional wee hours of a slumber party.
loo hawley is twelve years old at the start of the novel, which will see her through to her seventeenth year. it will also take the reader through the shady details of her father’s life before she was born, in alternating chapters structured around samuel hawley’s scars; chapters titled bullet number one, bullet number two, all the way to bullet number twelve, defining his life through his wounds.
The marks on her father’s body had always been there. He did not show them off to Loo but he did not hide them, either. They reminded her of the craters on the moon that she studied at night with her telescope. Circles made from comets and asteroids that slammed into the cold, hard rock because it had no protective atmosphere. Like those craters, Hawley’s scars were signs of previous damage, that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe. Reflecting light at times, but only in slivers. And then, every thirty days or so, becoming the fullest and brightest object in her sky…
this structure is the perfect way to tell this story, one so full of love and regret and consequences; the physical and emotional scars that serve as mementos of our most meaningful relationships.
loo and her father have an unconventional way of life, but their relationship is the best kind of father-daughter bond. loo’s mother lily drowned when loo was a baby; a death somewhat hazy in detail. loo only knows her mother from the shrine of photographs and personal items that hawley reconstructs in the bathroom of every place they temporarily call home, before hawley’s past gets too close for his comfort and they move on once more, taking only the most essential things with them: guns, socks, shrine.
when loo is twelve, hawley decides to make a more traditional, stable life for her in lily’s hometown of olympus, massachusetts, where loo’s grandmother still lives, and where loo will learn everything a young girl needs to know about love and loyalty, sacrifice and secrets, where she will earn her own scars and carve her mark in the lives of others, where she will come into her own formidable self.
this is beautiful writing. the details of hawley’s past which illuminate his later actions are perfect bursts of bittersweet feels, unveiled at just the right time, loo is thoughtful and not overly precocious, everything here just fits perfectly into place and is deeply emotionally satisfying as well as being entertaining as hell. tough and tenacious storytelling, highly recommended by me.
***********************************************
it has been so long since she wrote a book, but it has certainly been worth the wait! review to come!
come to my blog!
what a kick-ass heartbreaker of a book.
this would be really good friends with She Rides Shotgun - both are grit-lit coming-of-age novels featuring the relationship between a criminal father and the lessons such a man is able to impart to his young daughter to prepare her for the world and the struggles to come: how to hotwire a car, shoot a gun, or deal emphatically with bullies.
this one is less-grit, more-heart than s.r.s., but loo and polly would definitely have a lot of common experiences to share in the confessional wee hours of a slumber party.
loo hawley is twelve years old at the start of the novel, which will see her through to her seventeenth year. it will also take the reader through the shady details of her father’s life before she was born, in alternating chapters structured around samuel hawley’s scars; chapters titled bullet number one, bullet number two, all the way to bullet number twelve, defining his life through his wounds.
The marks on her father’s body had always been there. He did not show them off to Loo but he did not hide them, either. They reminded her of the craters on the moon that she studied at night with her telescope. Circles made from comets and asteroids that slammed into the cold, hard rock because it had no protective atmosphere. Like those craters, Hawley’s scars were signs of previous damage, that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe. Reflecting light at times, but only in slivers. And then, every thirty days or so, becoming the fullest and brightest object in her sky…
this structure is the perfect way to tell this story, one so full of love and regret and consequences; the physical and emotional scars that serve as mementos of our most meaningful relationships.
loo and her father have an unconventional way of life, but their relationship is the best kind of father-daughter bond. loo’s mother lily drowned when loo was a baby; a death somewhat hazy in detail. loo only knows her mother from the shrine of photographs and personal items that hawley reconstructs in the bathroom of every place they temporarily call home, before hawley’s past gets too close for his comfort and they move on once more, taking only the most essential things with them: guns, socks, shrine.
when loo is twelve, hawley decides to make a more traditional, stable life for her in lily’s hometown of olympus, massachusetts, where loo’s grandmother still lives, and where loo will learn everything a young girl needs to know about love and loyalty, sacrifice and secrets, where she will earn her own scars and carve her mark in the lives of others, where she will come into her own formidable self.
this is beautiful writing. the details of hawley’s past which illuminate his later actions are perfect bursts of bittersweet feels, unveiled at just the right time, loo is thoughtful and not overly precocious, everything here just fits perfectly into place and is deeply emotionally satisfying as well as being entertaining as hell. tough and tenacious storytelling, highly recommended by me.
***********************************************
it has been so long since she wrote a book, but it has certainly been worth the wait! review to come!
come to my blog!
April 27, 2017
One thing about love, be it romantic, parental, filial, even platonic, is that sometimes you can't help whom you love, and you find yourself loving someone in spite of their faults (if not even because of them). Do we turn our backs on those we love just because they may be imperfect, despite all they may have given us? These ideas and questions are at the core of
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
, Hannah Tinti's exquisite new novel.
For as long she can remember, it's just been the two of them—Loo and her father, Samuel. He's a mysterious man, with scars all over his body, including many from bullet wounds, but his rough exterior belies a deep sensitivity borne from the death of her mother, Lily, when she was very young. Samuel and Loo have a nomadic like existence in her childhood—just as it seems they're getting settled somewhere, suddenly one day her father will come home and tell her they're moving away, and they pack up only the essentials and flee wherever they're living, setting out on a new course. One of the only constants she knows is the shrine of sorts her father builds for her mother wherever they go, tiny glimpses into a life she never really knew.
"The marks on her father's body had always been there. He did not show them off to Loo but he did not hide them, either. They reminded her of the craters on the moon that she studied at night with her telescope. Circles made from comets and asteroids that slammed into the cold, hard rock because it had no protective atmosphere to burn them up. Like those craters, Hawley's scars were signs of previous damage, that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe. Reflecting light at times, but only in slivers. And then, every thirty days or so, becoming the fullest and brightest object in the sky..."
In Loo's teenage years, Samuel recognizes the need for constancy, so the two move to Olympus, the New England town where her mother grew up. He finds work—and challenges—as a fisherman, while Loo tries to fit in at the local high school. But it isn't long before the characteristics that make Loo special, the behaviors that come from a young girl raised only by her father, that she becomes an outcast, which awakens a surprising anger deep inside her, at the same time that she finds herself drawn to one particular boy.
The longer they stay in Olympus, the more entangled in the community and its quirks both become, yet the more Samuel can't seem to escape his old ways. Loo becomes more desperate to know about her mother, and the secrets her father has kept hidden all her life, and being Olympus helps to unlock some of those mysteries, yet leaves her questioning just who her father is, and whether the things he has kept from her all of her life were lies or simply sins of omission.
As much as this book is about Loo and Samuel's relationship, it's also Samuel's story, a chronicling of his criminal past and where each of his bullet scars came from, and the story of a love he thought would save him, a love he didn't nurture and care for as much as he should have. And it's also the story of a man trying desperately to tread the right path for his daughter despite his inability to keep his own demons at bay.
This was a fantastic, moving, beautifully told book. The relationship between Samuel and Loo is truly a special one, and even though he's not the best role model for his daughter, and he introduces elements into her life she would have been better off without, these things give color and shape to their relationship. There are times you wonder if Loo might be happier and more adjusted without her father, but then again, what would her life be without him?
While The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is essentially a two-person story (with Lily's presence a strong third element), Tinti doesn't give the supporting characters short shrift. These are fascinating, flawed, memorable individuals who are so much more complex than they first appear. Not all of these characters are likable, but they truly bring something special to the book.
You may not think that Samuel is deserving of sympathy (or empathy, for that matter), but like many a flawed character in literature, you care about him despite his flaws, and for his good qualities, especially the fierceness with which he loves and protects his daughter. This is a book I won't soon forget.
NetGalley and Random House provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
For as long she can remember, it's just been the two of them—Loo and her father, Samuel. He's a mysterious man, with scars all over his body, including many from bullet wounds, but his rough exterior belies a deep sensitivity borne from the death of her mother, Lily, when she was very young. Samuel and Loo have a nomadic like existence in her childhood—just as it seems they're getting settled somewhere, suddenly one day her father will come home and tell her they're moving away, and they pack up only the essentials and flee wherever they're living, setting out on a new course. One of the only constants she knows is the shrine of sorts her father builds for her mother wherever they go, tiny glimpses into a life she never really knew.
"The marks on her father's body had always been there. He did not show them off to Loo but he did not hide them, either. They reminded her of the craters on the moon that she studied at night with her telescope. Circles made from comets and asteroids that slammed into the cold, hard rock because it had no protective atmosphere to burn them up. Like those craters, Hawley's scars were signs of previous damage, that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe. Reflecting light at times, but only in slivers. And then, every thirty days or so, becoming the fullest and brightest object in the sky..."
In Loo's teenage years, Samuel recognizes the need for constancy, so the two move to Olympus, the New England town where her mother grew up. He finds work—and challenges—as a fisherman, while Loo tries to fit in at the local high school. But it isn't long before the characteristics that make Loo special, the behaviors that come from a young girl raised only by her father, that she becomes an outcast, which awakens a surprising anger deep inside her, at the same time that she finds herself drawn to one particular boy.
The longer they stay in Olympus, the more entangled in the community and its quirks both become, yet the more Samuel can't seem to escape his old ways. Loo becomes more desperate to know about her mother, and the secrets her father has kept hidden all her life, and being Olympus helps to unlock some of those mysteries, yet leaves her questioning just who her father is, and whether the things he has kept from her all of her life were lies or simply sins of omission.
As much as this book is about Loo and Samuel's relationship, it's also Samuel's story, a chronicling of his criminal past and where each of his bullet scars came from, and the story of a love he thought would save him, a love he didn't nurture and care for as much as he should have. And it's also the story of a man trying desperately to tread the right path for his daughter despite his inability to keep his own demons at bay.
This was a fantastic, moving, beautifully told book. The relationship between Samuel and Loo is truly a special one, and even though he's not the best role model for his daughter, and he introduces elements into her life she would have been better off without, these things give color and shape to their relationship. There are times you wonder if Loo might be happier and more adjusted without her father, but then again, what would her life be without him?
While The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is essentially a two-person story (with Lily's presence a strong third element), Tinti doesn't give the supporting characters short shrift. These are fascinating, flawed, memorable individuals who are so much more complex than they first appear. Not all of these characters are likable, but they truly bring something special to the book.
You may not think that Samuel is deserving of sympathy (or empathy, for that matter), but like many a flawed character in literature, you care about him despite his flaws, and for his good qualities, especially the fierceness with which he loves and protects his daughter. This is a book I won't soon forget.
NetGalley and Random House provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
March 2, 2022
i love going into a book expecting nothing but coming out with everything.
the father/daughter bond is something that is so under-utilised in fiction and it makes me so happy to read about a book about a young girl coming of age under the guidance of her father, a man of mystery and dark past, but loving him for it all the same.
the story is centred around loo, her father, and his twelve scars, which are a reminder of the life he had before her.
surrounded by equal parts grit and respect, this father daughter duo is one i will be thinking about for quite some while.
↠ 5 stars
the father/daughter bond is something that is so under-utilised in fiction and it makes me so happy to read about a book about a young girl coming of age under the guidance of her father, a man of mystery and dark past, but loving him for it all the same.
the story is centred around loo, her father, and his twelve scars, which are a reminder of the life he had before her.
‘the marks on her fathers body had always been there. he did not show them off to loo but he did not hide them, either. they reminded her of the craters on the moon that she studied at night with her telescope. circles made from comets and asteroids that slammed into the cold, hard rock because it had no protective atmosphere. like those craters, hawleys scars were signs of previous damage, that had impacted his life long before she was born. and like the moon, hawley was always circling between loo and the rest of the universe.’and if that doesnt get you to want to read this, i dont know what will.
surrounded by equal parts grit and respect, this father daughter duo is one i will be thinking about for quite some while.
↠ 5 stars
March 15, 2017
This novel is a bittersweet examination of a father and daughter relationship and a coming of age story. Samuel Hawley and Loo have spent most of their time living in places on a temporary basis. This has ensured that they have the routine down pat when it comes to leaving, taking only the bare minimum, but always with them are the items that remind the two of them of Lily, Loo's mother, and which form a dedicated shrine in the bathroom. The constant moving means Loo has no friends but this lifestyle is all she knows. Samuel Hawley has led a chequered life, defined by his gun collection, and a body riddled with the consequences of bad choices and the repercussions of crime. His body tells the story of his life through the twelve bullets that have scarred his body, and provides the structure through which we learn of what transpired with each bullet. What is never in doubt is Samuel's all encompassing love for Lily and Loo.
At the age of 12, Loo and Sam settle in Olympus, Massachusetts, the home of Lily, which she could not leave behind fast enough. Lily's mother, Mabel Ridge, is a bitter woman who hates Sam, holding him responsible for the demise of her daughter. Sam faces some stiff resistance to his arrival, which he deals with violently in his own inimitable style although he does come to be more accepted. Loo is bullied, which she eventually deals with physically. In that respect, she is very much her father's daughter. Loo is hungry for knowledge of her mother, and acquires items which she keeps secret from her dad. She forms a relationship with Marshall that is strewn with obstacles. She has the universe drawn on her body and views her relationships through the movements of the planets. She is gifted a telescope which becomes a treasured item. Loo learns about guns and hotwiring cars from Sam and eventually the truth about Lily. Things come to a head after Jove, Sam's brother in arms and crime, comes to stay. His apparent death triggers the need to move again, for Sam to complete some 'errands'. In an echo of events many years ago with Lily, Loo smuggles herself on board a boat, as we learn the story of the twelfth bullet to hit Sam.
There is a timelessness about this story which draws you in. The author's refusal to judge Sam on his litany of errors whilst emphasising his humanity is what made reading this story extraordinarily compelling. The nature of his relationship with and protection of Loo makes you root for him. It is the small details that make an impact such as Sam's eventual bonding with Loo as a baby through whisky. The universality of love and the desperation it engenders is recognised by Loo within herself and she sees it reflected in her father, Principal Gunderson's love for her mother and others. It is an all encompassing madness, with planets orbiting around the same sun throughout all time, time and time again. Absolutely riveting reading. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.
At the age of 12, Loo and Sam settle in Olympus, Massachusetts, the home of Lily, which she could not leave behind fast enough. Lily's mother, Mabel Ridge, is a bitter woman who hates Sam, holding him responsible for the demise of her daughter. Sam faces some stiff resistance to his arrival, which he deals with violently in his own inimitable style although he does come to be more accepted. Loo is bullied, which she eventually deals with physically. In that respect, she is very much her father's daughter. Loo is hungry for knowledge of her mother, and acquires items which she keeps secret from her dad. She forms a relationship with Marshall that is strewn with obstacles. She has the universe drawn on her body and views her relationships through the movements of the planets. She is gifted a telescope which becomes a treasured item. Loo learns about guns and hotwiring cars from Sam and eventually the truth about Lily. Things come to a head after Jove, Sam's brother in arms and crime, comes to stay. His apparent death triggers the need to move again, for Sam to complete some 'errands'. In an echo of events many years ago with Lily, Loo smuggles herself on board a boat, as we learn the story of the twelfth bullet to hit Sam.
There is a timelessness about this story which draws you in. The author's refusal to judge Sam on his litany of errors whilst emphasising his humanity is what made reading this story extraordinarily compelling. The nature of his relationship with and protection of Loo makes you root for him. It is the small details that make an impact such as Sam's eventual bonding with Loo as a baby through whisky. The universality of love and the desperation it engenders is recognised by Loo within herself and she sees it reflected in her father, Principal Gunderson's love for her mother and others. It is an all encompassing madness, with planets orbiting around the same sun throughout all time, time and time again. Absolutely riveting reading. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Headline for an ARC.
December 28, 2016
"And then suddenly it was over. The lunge threw him off balance and he flipped backward, so that for a brief shining moment he was upside down, his feet still peddling the air, and then the full weight of Samuel Hayley crashed down on the tip of the greasy pole, snapping the end of the mast in two, shooting splinters across the harbor, bringing the entire town to their feet, and sending a jumble of wood and grease and man exploding into the sea – – followed by a tiny red flag, flattering slowly past the pandemonium and into the open, waiting, grateful arms of Principal Gunderson".
"BULLET NUMBER ONE".... and TWO, THREE.....
Samuel Hawley has been shot twelve times. Flashbacks tell the story of each of the bullet wounds. Samuel is a man with physical and emotional scars.
Alternating stories are about Samuel's daughter, Loo. -- Sadness for her mother who died when she was a baby - mystery around her mother and father's relationship. The lifestyle she and her father live -often UP-& MOVING to another town -- and/ or feeling like an outcast - and getting bullied at a new school in Massachusetts-- the town where her mother grew up. Suspense builds once in Loo's mother's home town.
Lots of names we could give a man like Samuel Hawley: criminal- lawbreaker- gunman- thief- hoodlum-crook - cheat-murder- lowlife baddie......
BUT.....we love him in similar ways we have loved other BAD GUYS in our fiction books -and on screen. Dexter, Walter White in Breaking Bad, Letty in Good Behavior are a few examples that come to mind.
Loo has her own story. I'm reminded--[and I don't say this lightly]-- children love their parents! Children are 'most' forgiving of their parents BAD behavior. It takes an awful lot to completely turn a child's love away from a parent.
A fabulous Father/Daughter adventurous story.
LOVE - VIOLENCE.....COMING OF AGE THRILLER ......Hannah Tinti is an outstanding writer!!!
Thank You Random Publishing, Netgalley, Hannah Tinti.
"BULLET NUMBER ONE".... and TWO, THREE.....
Samuel Hawley has been shot twelve times. Flashbacks tell the story of each of the bullet wounds. Samuel is a man with physical and emotional scars.
Alternating stories are about Samuel's daughter, Loo. -- Sadness for her mother who died when she was a baby - mystery around her mother and father's relationship. The lifestyle she and her father live -often UP-& MOVING to another town -- and/ or feeling like an outcast - and getting bullied at a new school in Massachusetts-- the town where her mother grew up. Suspense builds once in Loo's mother's home town.
Lots of names we could give a man like Samuel Hawley: criminal- lawbreaker- gunman- thief- hoodlum-crook - cheat-murder- lowlife baddie......
BUT.....we love him in similar ways we have loved other BAD GUYS in our fiction books -and on screen. Dexter, Walter White in Breaking Bad, Letty in Good Behavior are a few examples that come to mind.
Loo has her own story. I'm reminded--[and I don't say this lightly]-- children love their parents! Children are 'most' forgiving of their parents BAD behavior. It takes an awful lot to completely turn a child's love away from a parent.
A fabulous Father/Daughter adventurous story.
LOVE - VIOLENCE.....COMING OF AGE THRILLER ......Hannah Tinti is an outstanding writer!!!
Thank You Random Publishing, Netgalley, Hannah Tinti.
March 19, 2017
Wow! This book definitely took me on one heck of a scary and thrilling roller coaster ride!
THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY by HANNAH TINTI is an absolutely riveting and captivating tale of a father’s love for his daughter. This book drew me in right from the very first chapter and throughout all of the 12 bullet wounds that Samuel Hawley endured to the very last heartfelt chapter. Loved it!
HANNAH TINTI delivers a touching, moving, heart-wrenching, impressive, and very descriptive read here which was beautifully told through two alternating timelines of the past and present. Each bullet that Hawley takes is a way for us to explore his past and influences some part of Loo’s story in the present which links both stories together in the end. The structure of this tale took me on an adrenaline filled ride that was exciting, fun, and fearful for an absolutely enjoyable and thrilling reading experience.
I couldn’t help but to feel a little bit scared of Samuel Hawley and love him at the same time. I was rooting for him as I could see his goodness and the love that he had for his wife and his daughter. The love and connection that Hawley had with his daughter outshined all the violence and flaws of this character in this adventurous story between a father and daughter.
To sum it all up it was a harrowing tale of love, hope, discovery, acceptance, and forgiveness that was entertaining, exciting, fast-paced, and a quick read with a satisfying ending. Highly recommend!!
Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Tinti, and Random House / The Dial Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book for a fair and honest review.
All of Brenda & my reviews can be found on our Sister Blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereadi...
THE TWELVE LIVES OF SAMUEL HAWLEY by HANNAH TINTI is an absolutely riveting and captivating tale of a father’s love for his daughter. This book drew me in right from the very first chapter and throughout all of the 12 bullet wounds that Samuel Hawley endured to the very last heartfelt chapter. Loved it!
HANNAH TINTI delivers a touching, moving, heart-wrenching, impressive, and very descriptive read here which was beautifully told through two alternating timelines of the past and present. Each bullet that Hawley takes is a way for us to explore his past and influences some part of Loo’s story in the present which links both stories together in the end. The structure of this tale took me on an adrenaline filled ride that was exciting, fun, and fearful for an absolutely enjoyable and thrilling reading experience.
I couldn’t help but to feel a little bit scared of Samuel Hawley and love him at the same time. I was rooting for him as I could see his goodness and the love that he had for his wife and his daughter. The love and connection that Hawley had with his daughter outshined all the violence and flaws of this character in this adventurous story between a father and daughter.
To sum it all up it was a harrowing tale of love, hope, discovery, acceptance, and forgiveness that was entertaining, exciting, fast-paced, and a quick read with a satisfying ending. Highly recommend!!
Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Tinti, and Random House / The Dial Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book for a fair and honest review.
All of Brenda & my reviews can be found on our Sister Blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereadi...
April 28, 2017
Reading this book prompted me to think about how I judge the books that I read. Certainly by the writing, the story, the structure, the themes, that sometimes indescribable thing that draws me in, and of course, the characters. There are probably other things that influence my views - the mood I'm in, maybe the book I've just read. I thought about this because Sam Hawley is not the kind of character that I usually care about. He has led a life of crime and is far from the perfect parent but yet in spite of this, there is something about him that made me want him to win, to beat his past. It could be the love and devotion he has for his daughter Loo or the broken hearted, guilt ridden life he has led since Loo's mother, Lily died.
Until Loo is twelve the only life she knows is the vagabond life on the road with her father, moving from place to place, never making friends or fitting in. It is then that Sam settles down with Loo in the town where her mother was born hoping to bring some stability to her life. This is not just about the present, though. Tinti skillfully brings us back in time with alternating chapters divulging Sam's past with chapters devoted to the twelve scars from bullets he took over the years. The present chapters are focused on Loo in these next five years and how she tries to adjust and how she slowly learns all of the things she never knew about her mother. The reader also slowly discovers Lily through the chapters focusing on Sam's past as well. One of the draws for me was wondering how and when Tinti would converge the past and present and again, skillfully. It's well written, emotional, heartbreaking at times and in spite of Hawley's flaws and how impossible it is to condone his actions, I would recommend it.
I received an advanced copy of this book from a Random House Publishing Group - Random House through NetGalley.
April 24, 2017
"The past is like a shadow, always trying to catch up.”
3.5 Stars. A beautifully-written story about an unconventional father-daughter relationship. For as long as Loo can remember, it's always been just her and her father Samuel Hawley; her mother Lily died when Loo was a baby. Hawley sets up a shrine to Lily at every single place they stop. They've never stayed in one place for long. By the time Loo is 12, she's gone to seven schools in seven states. When it's time for her to enter eighth grade, they finally settle down in her late mother's hometown of Olympus, Massachusetts, a close-knit fishing community with some quaint traditions. As Loo grows up, she realizes that her life isn't normal and starts to question everything. Why does Hawley take so many guns just to go fishing? What are the stories behind each of her father's scars? How did her mother, an excellent swimmer, die by drowning? Perhaps if Loo can unravel the past, she can make sense of their present. The chapters alternate between the stories behind each of Samuel Hawley's twelve bullet scars and Loo's coming-of-age story.
The marks on her father's body had always been there....They reminded her of the craters on the moon that she studied at night with her telescope. Circles made from comets and asteroids that slammed into the cold, hard rock because it had no protective atmosphere to burn them up. Like those craters, Hawley’s scars were signs of previous damage, that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe. Reflecting light at times, but only in slivers. And then, every thirty days or so, becoming the fullest and brightest object in the sky.
Samuel Hawley isn't a good man, but he has goodness in him, especially when it comes to protecting his daughter. He does the best he can by his family, which isn't always good enough. He resents his own father for leaving him unprepared for the challenges he's faced, so he's vowed not to repeat the same mistakes with his own child. His parenting style is unusual and the lessons he imparts aren't always legal! His philosophy: “The world is a rotten place and you’ve got to find a way to be rotten if you’re going to live in it. But you also have to be smart.” While Hawley has trained Loo to be a survivor, many of the challenges she faces are because of his past mistakes. Hawley's criminal career has complicated his life and as with the timepieces he transports, "the higher the number of complications, the higher the price." Hawley left a trail of destruction and a number of loose threads behind him. The past isn't done with him yet.
On Jupiter, Loo would weigh 283.6 pounds, while on Pluto she would weigh only 8. On Mercury she'd pull a respectable 45.3 but if she ventured to a white dwarf star, her body would balloon to 156 million pounds. Changing where you were could change how much you mattered.
Loo is an angry, violent kid. She's never felt like she belonged and has always been a target of other children. She blames herself because the "cause must be some personal defect, some missing part of herself that the others recognized, a rotting, empty hole that whistled when she walked, no matter how quiet she tried to be." She's afraid no one will ever love her and worries that she lacks the capability to be a good person. She wants to feel connected to the universe and to be a positive force rather than a destructive one. Once Loo and Hawley settle down and she begins to form bonds outside of her father, she starts to see a way to forge her own path.
Hawley sat down on the couch and took Lily’s hand. Just above her wedding band there was a tiny callus, a bit of skin worn tough from the pressure of the ring. It seemed like this hardened part of her had always been there, though Hawley knew there was a time when it wasn’t.
This book has so many great qualities: interesting story, unique characters, distinctive setting, and all the little details tie connect perfectly to the greater story. There are so many perfect elements, but I had a hard time getting into it. It took me several weeks to read the first third. I became invested once Lily is introduced and I had a firm grasp where the story was headed, but it lost me again in the last quarter.
(1) When there's a mythic quality or peculiar details in realistic fiction (All the Light You Cannot See, Fates & Furies), I tend to disengage.
(2) I started to dread the bullet chapters. There was something almost whimsical about Hawley's life that made the violence less affecting for me--perhaps a disconnect between tone and what was happening. The build-up to Hawley getting shot was often slow and the action-packed chapters felt long compared to Loo's coming-of-age chapters.
(3) Loo's love interest didn't really come alive for me, though I liked the part that "first love" played in her coming into her own as a young woman.
Their hearts were all cycling through the same madness—the discovery, the bliss, the loss, the despair—like planets taking turns in orbit around the sun. Each containing their own unique gravity. Their own force of attraction. Drawing near and holding fast to whatever entered their own atmosphere.
Will uncovering their family history affect the bond between Loo and her father? No matter what, Hawley is still her family. In The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, everyone seems to be fighting the same battle. All the characters have the desperate need for love and connection and are capable of great destruction in order to find it or keep it. They also struggle with past mistakes and losses. The past is never over and done with; it bleeds into the present and affects the future. Sometimes the characters' memories of the past are more vivid than the present.
“Somebody has to save the world instead of just destroying it.”
I may not have been the ideal reader for this book, but it has many great qualities. I just didn't connect with it. I think it would make a great movie!
___________
I received this book for free from Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group/The Dial Press. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. It's available now!
April 2, 2017
3.5 I have had a hard time processing this novel, what to think, how to explain my rating and reactions to this book. As a thriller it would rate a solid four, the plot is different, loved the format and how we learn Hawley's back story through the bullet holes on his body. These chapters alternating with he and Loo, his daughter, now living in a small Massachusetts town, the home of Loo's mothers birth.
This is where it gets a little tricky for me, because this father and daughter relationship, while there is no doubt that they do love each other, has my mom critic screaming. I think without doubt the grandmother would have definitely been the more stabilizing influence and the way Hawley raises Loo, is far from my idea of healthy. Rock wielding, prone to violence herself, stealing, while love was there, a solid, good influence was not. Hawley, was either a slow learner, his lifestyle cost him personally way too much, or was just too caught up in it and couldn't find his way clear. So critical yes, but the way I felt. Anyway I settled on a 3.5 rating, because parts of this work, it is as I said a good thriller, interesting the way it was plotted, but because I find myself unable to condone parts of the relationship between Hawley and his daughter. And yes I know kids are raised in this type of situation all the time, which is also unfortunate. So in this case my rating is a moralistic one, even if this is only fiction.
ARC from publisher.
This is where it gets a little tricky for me, because this father and daughter relationship, while there is no doubt that they do love each other, has my mom critic screaming. I think without doubt the grandmother would have definitely been the more stabilizing influence and the way Hawley raises Loo, is far from my idea of healthy. Rock wielding, prone to violence herself, stealing, while love was there, a solid, good influence was not. Hawley, was either a slow learner, his lifestyle cost him personally way too much, or was just too caught up in it and couldn't find his way clear. So critical yes, but the way I felt. Anyway I settled on a 3.5 rating, because parts of this work, it is as I said a good thriller, interesting the way it was plotted, but because I find myself unable to condone parts of the relationship between Hawley and his daughter. And yes I know kids are raised in this type of situation all the time, which is also unfortunate. So in this case my rating is a moralistic one, even if this is only fiction.
ARC from publisher.
April 20, 2017
3 stars. I thought this was an averagely good book. I think that my expectations were set a little too high which left me feeling underwhelmed upon finishing (I hate when I do that to myself!). It started off a lot stronger than it finished and I found the story really dragged at times. Once I hit the ¾ mark, I was looking forward to finishing the book as I found it was becoming somewhat repetitive and I was losing interest.
I really liked the main characters Hawley and his daughter, Loo. The story is told from both of their perspectives which I enjoyed. They had a highly dysfunctional father-daughter relationship, yet I couldn’t help but be drawn into their crazy lives and found myself rooting for a good outcome for each of them. I could feel the love they had for each other throughout all of their struggles and ‘adventures’. I wanted to wrap my arms around Loo at several points in the story and ‘mother’ her since she had little to no experience with maternal love.
A quote that really struck me captured the sense of longing Loo had for maternal love. “…she was still curious about her, in the way that she was curious about all mothers. On the street, at the beach or in the supermarket she watched them change diapers, wipe mouths, fix hair, tie shoes, apply suntan lotion, break up fights and endure tantrums, sometimes fussing with kisses and hugs and sometimes cursing at or hitting their children or ignoring them completely. Even in their neglect, these women seemed powerful.” This really pulled at my heartstrings and was a main theme throughout the story – Loo’s never ending search for answers about her mother and her sense of family.
The majority of my GR friends loved this book a lot more than I did, so I wonder if perhaps I missed out on something? Or maybe I was distracted while reading and didn’t quite connect with the story as everyone else seemed to? I’m in the minority with my less-than-glowing rating, so I suggest reading the several raving reviews out there before making a decision on this book!
I really liked the main characters Hawley and his daughter, Loo. The story is told from both of their perspectives which I enjoyed. They had a highly dysfunctional father-daughter relationship, yet I couldn’t help but be drawn into their crazy lives and found myself rooting for a good outcome for each of them. I could feel the love they had for each other throughout all of their struggles and ‘adventures’. I wanted to wrap my arms around Loo at several points in the story and ‘mother’ her since she had little to no experience with maternal love.
A quote that really struck me captured the sense of longing Loo had for maternal love. “…she was still curious about her, in the way that she was curious about all mothers. On the street, at the beach or in the supermarket she watched them change diapers, wipe mouths, fix hair, tie shoes, apply suntan lotion, break up fights and endure tantrums, sometimes fussing with kisses and hugs and sometimes cursing at or hitting their children or ignoring them completely. Even in their neglect, these women seemed powerful.” This really pulled at my heartstrings and was a main theme throughout the story – Loo’s never ending search for answers about her mother and her sense of family.
The majority of my GR friends loved this book a lot more than I did, so I wonder if perhaps I missed out on something? Or maybe I was distracted while reading and didn’t quite connect with the story as everyone else seemed to? I’m in the minority with my less-than-glowing rating, so I suggest reading the several raving reviews out there before making a decision on this book!
May 20, 2017
I always find it interesting how quickly a book can grab you. This one managed it within the first few pages. Such a beautifully crafted book. “She carried the rough and tumble look of children being raised by men.”
This book is primarily about a father and daughter and the love they have for each other. But it's also about the father's past, a lifetime of bad mistakes. He's not a very good criminal, but he's a very good survivor. He's not easy to identify with, but he's easy to understand and empathize with. And his daughter is now a teen and growing up and apart from him.
It's hard for me to put a finger on why I love this book so much. Great writing, of course. But the characters are also just so well developed that they seemed totally real to me. It really left an ache when it was all over.
Highly recommend!
This book is primarily about a father and daughter and the love they have for each other. But it's also about the father's past, a lifetime of bad mistakes. He's not a very good criminal, but he's a very good survivor. He's not easy to identify with, but he's easy to understand and empathize with. And his daughter is now a teen and growing up and apart from him.
It's hard for me to put a finger on why I love this book so much. Great writing, of course. But the characters are also just so well developed that they seemed totally real to me. It really left an ache when it was all over.
Highly recommend!
May 25, 2017
What a clever novel - the story and the execution are excellent! I was spellbound.
This is a father-daughter saga, spanning approximately 25 years. Their stories are told in alternating chapters, but (thankfully) it is all told in third person so you don't have to deal with multiple narrators. Samuel Hawley is the father, a ne'er do well who has spent most of his life committing crimes or running from them. In the course of his criminal career, he has been shot twelve times. His history is revealed bullet by bullet. Loo is his daughter, a vagabond who has spent her life on the run with her father since her mother dies. She is now a teenager and her father, realizing his daughter needs more in her life than transient experiences, has settled them down in her dead mother's hometown where he works as a fisherman and she attends high school.
Both are wonderful, believable characters. The father is technically a "bad man," but Tinti humanizes him through his devotion to his daughter. He is a taciturn loner who says little, but his love for his daughter leaps off the page. Loo is a good match for her father - fiesty and lonely, a solitary figure herself, but searching for a connection.
As Hawley and Loo's backstories are revealed, the intensity and tension level ratchet up and up. I had to take little breaks from the book periodically because I would get so anxious. There is a sense of impending doom, of an inescapable destiny being brought to bear on Hawley - and I cared. I cared deeply for Loo and for Hawley, even though I knew he didn't deserve it.
This is a really, really well-written book and one hell of a story. I love how Tinti constructed her epic saga. Highly recommend!
This is a father-daughter saga, spanning approximately 25 years. Their stories are told in alternating chapters, but (thankfully) it is all told in third person so you don't have to deal with multiple narrators. Samuel Hawley is the father, a ne'er do well who has spent most of his life committing crimes or running from them. In the course of his criminal career, he has been shot twelve times. His history is revealed bullet by bullet. Loo is his daughter, a vagabond who has spent her life on the run with her father since her mother dies. She is now a teenager and her father, realizing his daughter needs more in her life than transient experiences, has settled them down in her dead mother's hometown where he works as a fisherman and she attends high school.
Both are wonderful, believable characters. The father is technically a "bad man," but Tinti humanizes him through his devotion to his daughter. He is a taciturn loner who says little, but his love for his daughter leaps off the page. Loo is a good match for her father - fiesty and lonely, a solitary figure herself, but searching for a connection.
As Hawley and Loo's backstories are revealed, the intensity and tension level ratchet up and up. I had to take little breaks from the book periodically because I would get so anxious. There is a sense of impending doom, of an inescapable destiny being brought to bear on Hawley - and I cared. I cared deeply for Loo and for Hawley, even though I knew he didn't deserve it.
This is a really, really well-written book and one hell of a story. I love how Tinti constructed her epic saga. Highly recommend!
May 1, 2017
How can we love loathsome characters? Well, I did just that with Samuel Hawley! His relationship with his daughter Loo is very special, not a normal relationship, but you feel the love.
This is in part a thriller, and really keeps you reading!
I would recommend this!
This is in part a thriller, and really keeps you reading!
I would recommend this!
July 4, 2017
4.5 Stars
No one seems to love or understand me
And all the hard luck stories they keep handing me
Where somebody shines the light
I'll be coming on home tonight
Bye, bye Blackbird
Bye, Bye Blackbird -- Written by Ray Henderson (composer) and Mort Dixon (lyricist)
”When Loo was twelve years old her father taught her how to shoot a gun. He had a case full of them in his room, others hidden in boxes around the house. Loo had seen them at night, when he took the guns apart and cleaned them at the kitchen table, oiling and polishing and brushing for hours. She was forbidden to touch them and so she watched from a distance, learning what she could about their secrets, until the day when she blew out birthday candles on twelve chocolate Ring Dings, arranged on a plate in the shape of a star, and Hawley opened the wooden chest in their living room and put the gift she had been waiting for—her grandfather’s rifle—into her arms.”
Loo lived surrounded by her mother’s things, mementos, photographs, the bottles of shampoo and conditioner left behind, a tube of her red lipstick, a silk robe with dragons stitched on the back. Her mother, Lily, not even a distant memory for Loo, what she knew of her mother she learned from these things, and from stories her father meted out sparingly, out of pain and an unwillingness to tarnish even a cell of his memories with the wrong word. How to put in words the essence of a person no longer there?
They move to Olympus, Massachusetts her mother’s hometown, Hawley wanting Loo to have a normal childhood, at least a less nomadic one than they’ve been living. He recognizes she needs a home, friends, and a school where she can belong.
More characters enter the story now and then, with Loo just shy of thirteen, poised to be a teenager, add in a colourful background and dimension to the story, add in a boy, and people from the past that appear, townsfolk who wander in and out of the story. Still, the story remains, essentially, the story of Loo and Hawley, how they came to be the people they are. How, in Loo’s search for finding in herself the mother she never really knew, she comes to realize how much of her father she recognizes in herself.
There’s a bond she cannot deny, although she tries over and over again. And, like any two people joined together in life somehow, father and daughter, husband and wife, brothers and sisters, mother and son, their lives revolve around each other, pushing and pulling, as though they could influence the tide.
"… Hawley's scars were signs of previous damage that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe."
While Loo has no memories of her mother, Lily, her story is told as well, both through Mabel’s eyes, Lily’s mother, and through Hawley and Lily’s story, how they meet, fall in some crazy kind of love, and which then becomes the story of how Loo came to be. Hawley’s story, is also told, how his scars came to be, twelve scars marking twelve bullet wounds.
We’re all a product of so many moments in life, and Hawley, who has had twenty-nine years of moments, has racked up a lot of hellaciously awful circumstances, episodes and questionable decisions, which have all led to this less-than-ideal way of life for Loo. And Loo, whose twelve years of moments began so sadly so soon after she took her first breath not so very long ago, seems to be led along this path by virtue of her father’s less-than-stellar lead, but where does this really begin, or end?
With bullets, guns involved, there’s an element of suspense that permeates everything in this story, but it doesn’t overwhelm it. There’s tension, but there are also moments of beauty. The weaving in and out of time is almost imperceptible, and adds an almost otherworldly essence, the eternal nature of the heavens above a constant, weaving it all together, a heavenly work of art.
No one seems to love or understand me
And all the hard luck stories they keep handing me
Where somebody shines the light
I'll be coming on home tonight
Bye, bye Blackbird
Bye, Bye Blackbird -- Written by Ray Henderson (composer) and Mort Dixon (lyricist)
”When Loo was twelve years old her father taught her how to shoot a gun. He had a case full of them in his room, others hidden in boxes around the house. Loo had seen them at night, when he took the guns apart and cleaned them at the kitchen table, oiling and polishing and brushing for hours. She was forbidden to touch them and so she watched from a distance, learning what she could about their secrets, until the day when she blew out birthday candles on twelve chocolate Ring Dings, arranged on a plate in the shape of a star, and Hawley opened the wooden chest in their living room and put the gift she had been waiting for—her grandfather’s rifle—into her arms.”
Loo lived surrounded by her mother’s things, mementos, photographs, the bottles of shampoo and conditioner left behind, a tube of her red lipstick, a silk robe with dragons stitched on the back. Her mother, Lily, not even a distant memory for Loo, what she knew of her mother she learned from these things, and from stories her father meted out sparingly, out of pain and an unwillingness to tarnish even a cell of his memories with the wrong word. How to put in words the essence of a person no longer there?
They move to Olympus, Massachusetts her mother’s hometown, Hawley wanting Loo to have a normal childhood, at least a less nomadic one than they’ve been living. He recognizes she needs a home, friends, and a school where she can belong.
More characters enter the story now and then, with Loo just shy of thirteen, poised to be a teenager, add in a colourful background and dimension to the story, add in a boy, and people from the past that appear, townsfolk who wander in and out of the story. Still, the story remains, essentially, the story of Loo and Hawley, how they came to be the people they are. How, in Loo’s search for finding in herself the mother she never really knew, she comes to realize how much of her father she recognizes in herself.
There’s a bond she cannot deny, although she tries over and over again. And, like any two people joined together in life somehow, father and daughter, husband and wife, brothers and sisters, mother and son, their lives revolve around each other, pushing and pulling, as though they could influence the tide.
"… Hawley's scars were signs of previous damage that had impacted his life long before she was born. And like the moon, Hawley was always circling between Loo and the rest of the universe."
While Loo has no memories of her mother, Lily, her story is told as well, both through Mabel’s eyes, Lily’s mother, and through Hawley and Lily’s story, how they meet, fall in some crazy kind of love, and which then becomes the story of how Loo came to be. Hawley’s story, is also told, how his scars came to be, twelve scars marking twelve bullet wounds.
We’re all a product of so many moments in life, and Hawley, who has had twenty-nine years of moments, has racked up a lot of hellaciously awful circumstances, episodes and questionable decisions, which have all led to this less-than-ideal way of life for Loo. And Loo, whose twelve years of moments began so sadly so soon after she took her first breath not so very long ago, seems to be led along this path by virtue of her father’s less-than-stellar lead, but where does this really begin, or end?
With bullets, guns involved, there’s an element of suspense that permeates everything in this story, but it doesn’t overwhelm it. There’s tension, but there are also moments of beauty. The weaving in and out of time is almost imperceptible, and adds an almost otherworldly essence, the eternal nature of the heavens above a constant, weaving it all together, a heavenly work of art.
August 4, 2017
This book is about a man who was shot twelve times during his life as a criminal. There is no way I should have cared about Samuel Hawley or how he obtained those bullet wounds at all; but I did.
Samuel’s wife Lily brought changes into his life, including a baby girl. However, Lily died and the way this happens and how it affected Samuel and their daughter becomes one of the mysteries of the story. Samuel created a shrine for Lily wherever he travelled – was it grief? Remorse? Guilt? Again, I shouldn’t have cared at all whether he was hurting or why; but I did.
Loo, Samuel’s daughter, lives a lifestyle with her father that is normal because it’s the only one she can remember. She learns how to shoot, how to stand up for herself, how to lie, cheat, and steal. She learns how to hurt others before they can hurt her. I shouldn’t have cared about this tough, even brutal waif; but I did.
From the very beginning, this father and daughter saga seized my interest – and my heart – and did not let go for one moment. I found the story of Samuel and Loo riveting and the secondary characters – Lily, her mother Mabel, and Jove, who was Samuel's long-time partner in crime – fascinating. Their stories, woven with dexterity, are spellbinding. Given the subject matter, this should not have happened; but it did.
This is a magnificent, magnetic read and I cannot imagine anyone who could read this and not be completely enchanted and moved. Highly recommended to everyone!
Samuel’s wife Lily brought changes into his life, including a baby girl. However, Lily died and the way this happens and how it affected Samuel and their daughter becomes one of the mysteries of the story. Samuel created a shrine for Lily wherever he travelled – was it grief? Remorse? Guilt? Again, I shouldn’t have cared at all whether he was hurting or why; but I did.
Loo, Samuel’s daughter, lives a lifestyle with her father that is normal because it’s the only one she can remember. She learns how to shoot, how to stand up for herself, how to lie, cheat, and steal. She learns how to hurt others before they can hurt her. I shouldn’t have cared about this tough, even brutal waif; but I did.
From the very beginning, this father and daughter saga seized my interest – and my heart – and did not let go for one moment. I found the story of Samuel and Loo riveting and the secondary characters – Lily, her mother Mabel, and Jove, who was Samuel's long-time partner in crime – fascinating. Their stories, woven with dexterity, are spellbinding. Given the subject matter, this should not have happened; but it did.
This is a magnificent, magnetic read and I cannot imagine anyone who could read this and not be completely enchanted and moved. Highly recommended to everyone!
March 24, 2017
I am hoping that as I write this review that Hannah Tinti is sitting up in some skyscraper sitting across from Ethan and Joel Coen who want to make her book into a full length feature film. The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is one of those books that knocked me off my feet and left me begging to be part of Hawley's group. Hawley and his daughter, Louise( Loo) remind me of the brotherly duo in The Sisters Brothers. Ironically, the setting takes place in contemporary America, but as I was reading about the " bullets of Samuel Hawley" unveiled in alternating chapters, I couldn't shake that western type of atmosphere. This is definitely a shoot em up type of book. That I just couldn't resist becoming swept up in.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the relationship between Hawley and Loo. Both are extremely strong protagonists that "fill" the pages with their presence. Loo sees the scars that riddle her father's back, the way he limps, the way he fights with his fists, and deeply loves him, in spite of how difficult and complicated her own upbringing becomes. It's really a relationship that few characters in the book truly understand and it does lead to both father and daughter becoming outcasts. But there is no doubt that Hawley will stop at nothing to protect his daughter, especially, as ghosts from his past threaten to harm Loo.
A book not to be missed!
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an uncorrected proof of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the relationship between Hawley and Loo. Both are extremely strong protagonists that "fill" the pages with their presence. Loo sees the scars that riddle her father's back, the way he limps, the way he fights with his fists, and deeply loves him, in spite of how difficult and complicated her own upbringing becomes. It's really a relationship that few characters in the book truly understand and it does lead to both father and daughter becoming outcasts. But there is no doubt that Hawley will stop at nothing to protect his daughter, especially, as ghosts from his past threaten to harm Loo.
A book not to be missed!
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an uncorrected proof of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 6, 2017
It always makes for an interesting read when the author chooses to make the bad guy into the hero and we find ourselves rooting for him despite the fact that he is a multiple murderer! Samuel Hawley is such a man and although he is many things in this story he is chiefly Loo's father and protector and this is what makes him appealing.
Not that he is a good father in the normal way of things. He bonds with baby Loo by giving her whisky on his finger tip, as a young child he teaches her how to fire a gun, he fails to provide her with any stable home life until she reaches her teenage years and he is a hopeless role model only showing Loo how to deal with problems by using violence. Nevertheless he loves her totally, would do anything to protect her and has at least raised her to be a very interesting young person indeed.
The book is very well written, using two time lines alternately with skill to bring the story to a violent (of course) but fairly conclusive ending. And this is where I have my one criticism of the book. I like a totally conclusive ending and there was an aspect here that was left open which left me unsatisfied.
Nevertheless this was a great coming of age story and a very interesting picture of different relationships and love.
Not that he is a good father in the normal way of things. He bonds with baby Loo by giving her whisky on his finger tip, as a young child he teaches her how to fire a gun, he fails to provide her with any stable home life until she reaches her teenage years and he is a hopeless role model only showing Loo how to deal with problems by using violence. Nevertheless he loves her totally, would do anything to protect her and has at least raised her to be a very interesting young person indeed.
The book is very well written, using two time lines alternately with skill to bring the story to a violent (of course) but fairly conclusive ending. And this is where I have my one criticism of the book. I like a totally conclusive ending and there was an aspect here that was left open which left me unsatisfied.
Nevertheless this was a great coming of age story and a very interesting picture of different relationships and love.
August 18, 2017
Samuel Hawley. Fisherman. Father. Criminal. Hawley and his daughter, Loo, don't stay in one place for very long. They are both irregular weaves, it's difficult for them to fit in, hard to blend. There is always the shadow of Hawley's past misdeeds looming just behind him. A shrine to his wife always travels with them. In a way, remembering too well is like being buried alive.
I read "The Good Thief" by this author a couple of years ago and was struck by how different it was. She has done it again with this one. Think of it - a storyline that doesn't mimic the last four or five books you just read. If that idea is appealing to you, then sit, stay, and read.
I read "The Good Thief" by this author a couple of years ago and was struck by how different it was. She has done it again with this one. Think of it - a storyline that doesn't mimic the last four or five books you just read. If that idea is appealing to you, then sit, stay, and read.
May 21, 2021
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is an epic road trip. Hannah Tinti has written a beautifully constructed gripping novel.
It's basically a book alternating from Hawleys past life to his life now with Loo.
As a parent, Hawley is a mess. But his love for Loo and Lily could not be questioned. He is a wounded person, not only on his body, but in his soul. He's also a career criminal but you actually like him.
Lily is a most interesting individual.
Loo is curious and wants more from life and everything. She never knew her mother who died during her infancy. She is a fighter and has traits of her Mother and her Father. She also wants answers.
This is a beautifully written, engaging read with humor redemption, forgiveness, heartbreak and action.
The author forges great storytelling with a desire of broken people desperate to be whole
Recommend
It's basically a book alternating from Hawleys past life to his life now with Loo.
As a parent, Hawley is a mess. But his love for Loo and Lily could not be questioned. He is a wounded person, not only on his body, but in his soul. He's also a career criminal but you actually like him.
Lily is a most interesting individual.
Loo is curious and wants more from life and everything. She never knew her mother who died during her infancy. She is a fighter and has traits of her Mother and her Father. She also wants answers.
This is a beautifully written, engaging read with humor redemption, forgiveness, heartbreak and action.
The author forges great storytelling with a desire of broken people desperate to be whole
Recommend
January 8, 2017
I feel like I stepped into some weird, uber violent twilight zone. It's like a father/daughter mashup combo of gratuitous violence, a la Natural Born Killers. It's not to say that the plot is similar to Natural Born Killers, because it's not. It's just the bizarre, nonsensical violence in frank, unyielding terms.
What is the point of violence just for the sake of it? I am in the target market for this book, so it would be unfair to say that the book isn't for me, because it's supposed to be.
The daughter's nonchalance and lack of conscience regarding her over-the-top violent escapades would lean toward sociopathy in real life, yet we have her dealing with the true nature of her father in a way that most people with a conscience would. That doesn't ring true imho. But if you like ultra-violent stories just for the sake of it (as many people do, and more power to them), then you might like this book.
Thanks to netgalley.
What is the point of violence just for the sake of it? I am in the target market for this book, so it would be unfair to say that the book isn't for me, because it's supposed to be.
The daughter's nonchalance and lack of conscience regarding her over-the-top violent escapades would lean toward sociopathy in real life, yet we have her dealing with the true nature of her father in a way that most people with a conscience would. That doesn't ring true imho. But if you like ultra-violent stories just for the sake of it (as many people do, and more power to them), then you might like this book.
Thanks to netgalley.
March 27, 2017
This was a beautiful story of a father – daughter relationship. It tells of a past pertaining to the father, Samuel Hawley, from which he is trying to protect his daughter at all costs. His past is Herculean, it is a time of it’s own, yet it cannot be separated from the present. He has scars from twelve bullets. Twelve bullets are the equivalent of the twelve tasks of Hercules, the twelve hours on a clock. Hawley’s past is shady, but he is a good man and wants the best for his daughter. His job now is taking care of his daughter. The chapters describing the circumstances leading up to each bullet striking him alternate with chapters about his daughter coming of age. It is a unique intersecting of two lives, one in the past and one in the present.
The setting is Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing town that has a renowned greasy pole competition in the summer. However, the author has renamed Gloucester Olympus, giving it heroic proportions, suitable for the Hercules of this novel to tackle. He tackles it with humility and for his daughter. He does not enter the competition to win glory for himself. The town is well developed in the novel. The reader gets a sense of the determination and culture of the fishermen. This is set against the environmentalists embodied by Mary Titus who are fighting to protect against overfishing.
Hawley’s past is tainted. It is rough and difficult, full of narrow escapes. The daughter, Loo, is youthful, more innocent. Their relationship is full of respect and love. She doesn’t fully understand who he is, but she is starting too. She may be innocent, but even she carries pieces of his past within her. She often feels that sour taste rising in the back of her throat driving her to violence. In returning to her mother’s hometown, she is subject to bullying, but learns to fight for herself. She falls for a boy. She starts a waitressing job. She is coming of age, understanding her father better and the world at large.
This is a beautiful book which I highly recommend! I loved the intersection of an exciting shoot ’em up novel combined with a coming-of-age story and the subtle shift in the relationship between father and daughter. It was beautifully executed and seemingly timeless. It was tender and sweet plus keep-you-on-your-toes, exciting.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For discussion questions, please see: http://www.book-chatter.com/?p=1413
The setting is Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing town that has a renowned greasy pole competition in the summer. However, the author has renamed Gloucester Olympus, giving it heroic proportions, suitable for the Hercules of this novel to tackle. He tackles it with humility and for his daughter. He does not enter the competition to win glory for himself. The town is well developed in the novel. The reader gets a sense of the determination and culture of the fishermen. This is set against the environmentalists embodied by Mary Titus who are fighting to protect against overfishing.
Hawley’s past is tainted. It is rough and difficult, full of narrow escapes. The daughter, Loo, is youthful, more innocent. Their relationship is full of respect and love. She doesn’t fully understand who he is, but she is starting too. She may be innocent, but even she carries pieces of his past within her. She often feels that sour taste rising in the back of her throat driving her to violence. In returning to her mother’s hometown, she is subject to bullying, but learns to fight for herself. She falls for a boy. She starts a waitressing job. She is coming of age, understanding her father better and the world at large.
This is a beautiful book which I highly recommend! I loved the intersection of an exciting shoot ’em up novel combined with a coming-of-age story and the subtle shift in the relationship between father and daughter. It was beautifully executed and seemingly timeless. It was tender and sweet plus keep-you-on-your-toes, exciting.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For discussion questions, please see: http://www.book-chatter.com/?p=1413
January 26, 2018
This author has mad talent. She blends two fairly different genres and a bunch of different tales and time periods quite seamlessly. She presents the North Shore town and its inhabitants flawlessly. She blurs the lines of idyllic relationships, while delving into the majors: grief, love, coming of age, identity, and the search for answers. She even makes the reader forgive/forget/accept/embrace/empathize with a murderer. Well done. While I enjoyed this book and marveled throughout at the writing, I couldn’t quite get to the 5 star point. For me, despite all the impressive, it felt a bit too far-fetched (12?! Right, Hercules but a lot for a mortal man to survive) and though I liked it a lot, it didn’t distract me the way I expected it might.
Still, 4.5 stars.
Still, 4.5 stars.
August 2, 2017
A tough guy, a man of few words, a dude with twelve bullet holes in his body, Samuel Hawley is no stranger to violence. But, he's got a heart of gold, deeeeeeeeep down, much like Clint Eastwood in any of his spaghetti westerns. We are meant to see that and sympathise with him, despite his criminal past, because of his love for the now-dead Lily, and his devotion to Loo, their teenage daughter.
Loo (can't stand the spelling of her name) is just as tough, breaking fingers and swinging rock-filled socks like a pro. She's spent most of her life on the run with her dad, until he decides to settle in the same town as Loo's maternal grandmother. This naturally brings up questions for Loo about her mother, her mother's death, and Hawley's involvement in it.
The format of the book alternates each chapter between the present story, and the past, itemizing the story of each bullet to hit Hawley. The "bullet" chapters are quite suspenseful and high action.
Maybe it's because I'm fresh from reading Lincoln in the Bardo (tough act to follow) but I'm just sort of "meh" about this book. I'm not sure who is the intended audience. It has a YA feel, is primarily plot-driven, and left me a little empty. I get that this is a story about a lonely guy who obviously went down the wrong road more than once. I get that this is a story about a father who loves his daughter, in the flawed yet full-on way that he does. But, I felt the story was not particularly original. And, I felt a bit led by the author to like Hawley and Loo, and all the other unpolished diamonds in the book, which in the end, didn't sit well with me.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Loo (can't stand the spelling of her name) is just as tough, breaking fingers and swinging rock-filled socks like a pro. She's spent most of her life on the run with her dad, until he decides to settle in the same town as Loo's maternal grandmother. This naturally brings up questions for Loo about her mother, her mother's death, and Hawley's involvement in it.
The format of the book alternates each chapter between the present story, and the past, itemizing the story of each bullet to hit Hawley. The "bullet" chapters are quite suspenseful and high action.
Maybe it's because I'm fresh from reading Lincoln in the Bardo (tough act to follow) but I'm just sort of "meh" about this book. I'm not sure who is the intended audience. It has a YA feel, is primarily plot-driven, and left me a little empty. I get that this is a story about a lonely guy who obviously went down the wrong road more than once. I get that this is a story about a father who loves his daughter, in the flawed yet full-on way that he does. But, I felt the story was not particularly original. And, I felt a bit led by the author to like Hawley and Loo, and all the other unpolished diamonds in the book, which in the end, didn't sit well with me.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 14, 2017
Samuel Hawley is not necessarily a good man or a great father. He’s neither a “gentle giant” nor a “criminal with a heart of gold.” Whatever you think you know about him simply because he’s a single father raising his daughter, you’re probably wrong. It does not mean that he doesn’t love his daughter, on the contrary actually. I see Hawley as living proof that sometimes it takes a man with less conscience to fully protect the people he loves. This man will do whatever it takes, go to the ends of the earth, to keep his daughter safe.
Whatever morally corrupt things he has done over the course of his life, no matter how crushing his losses have been, his daughter Loo has become his anchor to the world and his reason for being. They live an unconventional life and neither of them could be considered normal by most peoples’ standards, but that’s what makes this story so unique. Coming to know Loo as a child and then a young woman, we can see just what an amalgam she is of her stoic and unpredictable father, as well as her independent and resilient mother.
”The Great Bear’s back branched off from the four stars shaping its body, pointing the way toward the more hidden Ursa Minor. The Little Bear resembled the Great Bear the way a child resembles her parent. A smaller configuration of the same parts. A mirror image with the contents slightly shifted but containing something more powerful than size or strength at the end of its tail, a faithful constant, a guiding principle: the North Star.”
Larger than life characters and superb storytelling combine to create a not-your-typical-father-daughter adventure. This one has heart in places you wouldn’t normally expect it.
Whatever morally corrupt things he has done over the course of his life, no matter how crushing his losses have been, his daughter Loo has become his anchor to the world and his reason for being. They live an unconventional life and neither of them could be considered normal by most peoples’ standards, but that’s what makes this story so unique. Coming to know Loo as a child and then a young woman, we can see just what an amalgam she is of her stoic and unpredictable father, as well as her independent and resilient mother.
”The Great Bear’s back branched off from the four stars shaping its body, pointing the way toward the more hidden Ursa Minor. The Little Bear resembled the Great Bear the way a child resembles her parent. A smaller configuration of the same parts. A mirror image with the contents slightly shifted but containing something more powerful than size or strength at the end of its tail, a faithful constant, a guiding principle: the North Star.”
Larger than life characters and superb storytelling combine to create a not-your-typical-father-daughter adventure. This one has heart in places you wouldn’t normally expect it.
March 28, 2017
I chose this book for a seven-hour flight from Baltimore to San Francisco, by way of Milwaukee because my loan from NetGalley was about to expire. That’s always kind of risky, because whenever I get on a plane I have a tendency to try to push myself to read as much of a book as possible but then my opinion of the book sometimes suffers from reader’s fatigue. I focus on plowing through and forget to enjoy.
Anyone else find themselves doing that?
But this book is like 480 pages in print form and I read all but 50 pages of the digital galley on that seven-hour flight and I didn’t really start to experience fatigue. I had a brief moment of hesitation, but once I saw what Hannah Tinti was doing, I was mesmerized. Hooked, and there was no fatigue in sight.
So, this book follows young Loo from the age of twelve until she is seventeen. She's the only daughter of Samuel Hawley, a gruff widower with twelve bullet scars and a dark past. He teaches Loo to do things like shoot guns and hotwire cars and they live a transient life up until she is twelve when he settles her into her late mother’s hometown in search of stability and redemption. Loo knows relatively little about her mother's death, a drowning when Loo was an infant, or her father's scars or why their life has been so transient. She is lonely and quiet and slowly accumulating grit.
The story is told in two timelines, alternating between chapters dedicated to Loo’s adolescence and chapters chronicling her father's twelve bullets. I initially felt some hesitancy about the bullet chapters. They felt a little unnecessary at first, disjointed from the more compelling present-day story. I even debated skimming them, but then it gradually became clear just how Tinti intended to bring everything full-circle and I felt so silly for having considered that. It turned out to be such smart construction that allowed Tinti to slowly divulge details to her reader as Loo herself was starting to piece things together. It just took some patience to get to there.
The book's main thrust is to grapple with the big moral question, do you have to be a good man to be a good father? And is there a point when redemption is no longer possible? These are fascinating questions, and Tinti explores them thoughtfully and with complexity. She has a knack for capturing small details that make a big impact, and it's easy to get lost in her world. Loo and Samuel are intricately drawn characters, and it's easy to feel compassion for them even when they're not doing good things.
That being said, it's not a perfect book. I did wish she'd gotten through those last fifty pages more efficiently; the last scene got dragged out a little too much. But if you like gritty stories with just enough mystery, if you don't need characters to be likable to want to root for them, if you don't mind a little criminal activity in your coming-of-age tales...then this is the book for you. Damn. It was one hell of a good read. 4.5 stars.
Anyone else find themselves doing that?
But this book is like 480 pages in print form and I read all but 50 pages of the digital galley on that seven-hour flight and I didn’t really start to experience fatigue. I had a brief moment of hesitation, but once I saw what Hannah Tinti was doing, I was mesmerized. Hooked, and there was no fatigue in sight.
So, this book follows young Loo from the age of twelve until she is seventeen. She's the only daughter of Samuel Hawley, a gruff widower with twelve bullet scars and a dark past. He teaches Loo to do things like shoot guns and hotwire cars and they live a transient life up until she is twelve when he settles her into her late mother’s hometown in search of stability and redemption. Loo knows relatively little about her mother's death, a drowning when Loo was an infant, or her father's scars or why their life has been so transient. She is lonely and quiet and slowly accumulating grit.
The story is told in two timelines, alternating between chapters dedicated to Loo’s adolescence and chapters chronicling her father's twelve bullets. I initially felt some hesitancy about the bullet chapters. They felt a little unnecessary at first, disjointed from the more compelling present-day story. I even debated skimming them, but then it gradually became clear just how Tinti intended to bring everything full-circle and I felt so silly for having considered that. It turned out to be such smart construction that allowed Tinti to slowly divulge details to her reader as Loo herself was starting to piece things together. It just took some patience to get to there.
The book's main thrust is to grapple with the big moral question, do you have to be a good man to be a good father? And is there a point when redemption is no longer possible? These are fascinating questions, and Tinti explores them thoughtfully and with complexity. She has a knack for capturing small details that make a big impact, and it's easy to get lost in her world. Loo and Samuel are intricately drawn characters, and it's easy to feel compassion for them even when they're not doing good things.
That being said, it's not a perfect book. I did wish she'd gotten through those last fifty pages more efficiently; the last scene got dragged out a little too much. But if you like gritty stories with just enough mystery, if you don't need characters to be likable to want to root for them, if you don't mind a little criminal activity in your coming-of-age tales...then this is the book for you. Damn. It was one hell of a good read. 4.5 stars.
March 30, 2017
This father–daughter story is an unusual but winning blend of small-town New England atmosphere and high-octane action scenes. Imagine a John Irving novel getting the Hollywood shoot-’em-up treatment and you’ll have some idea of what Tinti does in this unexpectedly dark book full of quirky characters (Mabel was my favorite). I found Loo’s everyday life a bit dull in comparison with the more exciting revelations about Hawley’s past. (It’s also a shame that the U.K. publishers did not change the female protagonist’s name to Lou; even that simple one-letter change would make a big difference to her story being taken more seriously.) Still, I’d recommend this to readers who don’t normally read crime thrillers but like a touch of suspense in their literary fiction.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
See my full review at The Bookbag.
March 22, 2017
This is the ancient myth of Hercules — the plot of all plots — re-engineered into a modern-day wonder. Tinti, the editor and co-founder of One Story magazine, knows how to cast the old campfire spell. I was so desperate to find out what happened to these characters that I had to keep bargaining with myself to stop from jumping ahead to the end. (Matt Reeves, lined up to direct the next Batman movie, has already optioned the novel for television.)
The story unfolds in Olympus, but not the celestial realm of Zeus and his family. This is Olympus, Mass., a small fishing town, which is typical of the radical transformations Tinti makes to her source material. Having grown up in Salem, she understands the flinty personalities of New England, that baffling tension between. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
To watch The Totally Hip Video Book Review, go here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/...
The story unfolds in Olympus, but not the celestial realm of Zeus and his family. This is Olympus, Mass., a small fishing town, which is typical of the radical transformations Tinti makes to her source material. Having grown up in Salem, she understands the flinty personalities of New England, that baffling tension between. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
To watch The Totally Hip Video Book Review, go here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/...
January 14, 2018
5.0 STARS
Magnificent! The prose is magical; the story is seductively warm and inviting, somehow familiarly comforting, calming and satisfying, powerfully evoking emotions of love lost, loyalty and childhood innocence.
Tinit is not only an outstanding writer but an equally magnificent benevolent illusionist, perhaps a magician. She had me cheering for a criminal!
“You’re supposed to think things through before you do them. You’re supposed to be smart.” He spread his fingers across the paper on the table and filled in their address, his phone, her name. “The world is a rotten place and you’ve got to find a way to be rotten if you’re going to live in it. But you also have to be smart.”
Samuel Hawley is without doubt a career criminal, on the run from social services since age fifteen, involved in his first criminal heist at age seventeen in the Adirondacks at the grandiose summer home of money launderer Frederick Nunn. During the heist in New Breton he took the first of twelve bullet wounds we would endure during his lifetime of criminal activity.
Now in his forties, with his twelve year old daughter Loo by his side, Hawley has returned to Olympus, his wife Lily’s hometown, to create a more permanent home and stable life for his daughter. Hawley becomes a local fisherman, shell fishing the shoreline with Loo, while Loo does her best to assimilate into this new life a permanency.
Hawley has set up his shrine to Lily in the bathroom, old lipstick and shampoo, photographs and bits of paper marked with Lily’s handwriting, mementos of the woman he loved and lost so many years ago to the lake in Wisconsin.
After meeting Mabel Ridge on her way home from the disastrous kegger in Dogtown, Loo begins her journey of discovery of the history of her mother Lily and her relationship with Samuel Hawley, and the mysterious and illicit past of her father, all the while navigating the sometimes treacherous and tenuous journey of transformation from child to adult.
The story is engaging and compelling, adeptly fluctuating between the past criminal activities of Sam Hawley and the circumstances of the twelve bullet wounds that punctuate his body; and their current life in Olympus on the north shore of Massachusetts where Loo slowly uncovers the truth about her parents and herself, eventually rescuing Hawley on the open ocean near Bitter Banks. Bullet #12 was the only bullet to remain lodged in his body!
The heft of symbolism in this read would make for delicious book club discussion fodder. The constellations of the universe are a recurring theme, perhaps pointing to a higher authority of guidance and direction onto a different path in life for Loo. The other interesting theme is aquatic predation taking place in lakes and oceans; fish eating fish, fish eating out the eyes first, the layers decay and death in the sediments of bodies of water, perhaps representing the life of Samuel Hawley until he recognized he should be moving with the world instead of fighting against it.
There is something symbolic about Bullet #12 too.
My perception of the intense and unending love and loyalty Hawley demonstrated for his daughter Loo, his wife Lily and even his cohort in crime Thomas Jove, allowed me to look beyond his criminal past to see the good in Samuel Hawley.
Bravo Ms. Tinti!
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley … I highly recommend this book!
Magnificent! The prose is magical; the story is seductively warm and inviting, somehow familiarly comforting, calming and satisfying, powerfully evoking emotions of love lost, loyalty and childhood innocence.
Tinit is not only an outstanding writer but an equally magnificent benevolent illusionist, perhaps a magician. She had me cheering for a criminal!
“You’re supposed to think things through before you do them. You’re supposed to be smart.” He spread his fingers across the paper on the table and filled in their address, his phone, her name. “The world is a rotten place and you’ve got to find a way to be rotten if you’re going to live in it. But you also have to be smart.”
Samuel Hawley is without doubt a career criminal, on the run from social services since age fifteen, involved in his first criminal heist at age seventeen in the Adirondacks at the grandiose summer home of money launderer Frederick Nunn. During the heist in New Breton he took the first of twelve bullet wounds we would endure during his lifetime of criminal activity.
Now in his forties, with his twelve year old daughter Loo by his side, Hawley has returned to Olympus, his wife Lily’s hometown, to create a more permanent home and stable life for his daughter. Hawley becomes a local fisherman, shell fishing the shoreline with Loo, while Loo does her best to assimilate into this new life a permanency.
Hawley has set up his shrine to Lily in the bathroom, old lipstick and shampoo, photographs and bits of paper marked with Lily’s handwriting, mementos of the woman he loved and lost so many years ago to the lake in Wisconsin.
After meeting Mabel Ridge on her way home from the disastrous kegger in Dogtown, Loo begins her journey of discovery of the history of her mother Lily and her relationship with Samuel Hawley, and the mysterious and illicit past of her father, all the while navigating the sometimes treacherous and tenuous journey of transformation from child to adult.
The story is engaging and compelling, adeptly fluctuating between the past criminal activities of Sam Hawley and the circumstances of the twelve bullet wounds that punctuate his body; and their current life in Olympus on the north shore of Massachusetts where Loo slowly uncovers the truth about her parents and herself, eventually rescuing Hawley on the open ocean near Bitter Banks. Bullet #12 was the only bullet to remain lodged in his body!
The heft of symbolism in this read would make for delicious book club discussion fodder. The constellations of the universe are a recurring theme, perhaps pointing to a higher authority of guidance and direction onto a different path in life for Loo. The other interesting theme is aquatic predation taking place in lakes and oceans; fish eating fish, fish eating out the eyes first, the layers decay and death in the sediments of bodies of water, perhaps representing the life of Samuel Hawley until he recognized he should be moving with the world instead of fighting against it.
There is something symbolic about Bullet #12 too.
My perception of the intense and unending love and loyalty Hawley demonstrated for his daughter Loo, his wife Lily and even his cohort in crime Thomas Jove, allowed me to look beyond his criminal past to see the good in Samuel Hawley.
Bravo Ms. Tinti!
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley … I highly recommend this book!
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