Shadow Baby

by Alison McGhee

Eleven-year-old Clara is struggling to find the truth about her missing father and grandfather and her dead twin sister, but her mother refuses to talk. When Clara begins interviewing Georg Kominsky--her elderly neighbor--she finds that he is equally reticent about his own concealed history. Precocious and imaginative, Clara invents versions of Mr. Kominsky’s past, just as she invents lives for the people missing from her own shadowy history. Her journey of discovery is at the heart of this beautiful story about unlikely friendship and communion, about discovering what matters most in life, and about the search to find the missing pieces of ourselves.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Young Adult, Mystery, Adult, Friendship, Contemporary

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Alison McGhee writes novels, picture books, poems, and essays for all ages, including the just-published THE OPPOSITE OF FATE, a novel, and the #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller SOMEDAY, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Her work has been translated into more than 20 languages. She lives in Minneapolis and California.

Reviews

[Krista]

I stopped reading this book at about 145 pages. I was incredibly bored. I cannot stand an unreliable narrator. There was no driving plot. I did like the idea of an unlikely friendship between this girl and an elderly man in her town, but that wasn't enough to keep me interested. It felt very repetitive as well. Ugh. Not for me.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I mention that I cried. I was reading it while waiting at the beauty salon and continued while sitting in the hairdresser's chair, all the time crying. I stopped reading, so my tear ducts had a chance to dry a little, but I couldn't wait long enough. The moment I started reading again, tears were just streaming down my face. The shampoo girl finally gave me another towel and I finished the book, covered with tears. So if you need a good cry and you are either in place where no one can see your tears or you don't mind a whole beauty salon pointing and laughing, read this book.

[Nicole Peoples · Rating 2 out of 5]

#1. I suck at writing reviews of. . . anything and this is my first review of a book on here.
Shadow Baby is not long, but it took me longer to read than almost any book I've ever read. The book is narrated by Clara Winter, a girl of 11 or so. Frankly, it was hard reading a naive girls account of self exploration. She is an unreliable narrator and she knows it. It was hard for me to force my way through her multiple fictitious realities, her diatribes on why she likes certain words, and the crux for me was that the author took it upon herself to insert the definitions of some words in order to "enlighten" the reader. I never felt drawn to Clara's story and found myself intrigued by her mother, Tamar and the old man, Goerg Kominsky. The thing that most bothered me was that after 1/2 a book of her attempting to find out Georg's story for her "history project," I feel like I came no closer to understanding him than I did at his introduction. Mostly what we get of him are Clara's dislocated realities (fictious meanderings) of what she supposes has happened in his life and this goes for her mother and grandfather as well. I suppose in some ways the book had a realistic representation of a young girl. A girl uncertain of who she is and exploring her desire to fulfill gaps in an uncertain history, but I am uncertain that Alison McGhee does a good job creating a believable character to tell this story. Perhaps if the narrator had been a little older and a little wiser I would have enjoyed this one a little bit more.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This beautiful novel (highly recommended by my wife) is narrated by a precocious 11-year-old girl, a lover of words, stories, and books who lives with her single mother in upstate New York, near Utica. She befriends an "old man," an illiterate immigrant metalworker who lives in a trailer court. He is in nearly every way her opposite: illiterate, a man of few words, but a keen observer of the beautiful and practical. She comes to admire him and sees herself as his apprentice in understanding the world. She herself understands her world through stories, and when she doesn't understand something, she makes up a story to make sense of it. Her mother refuses to tell her anything about her father, her grandfather (who was driving her mother to the hospital for her birth when they got caught in a blizzard and turned over the truck in a ditch), or the twin sister who was stillborn at the time. She is obsessed with all of that and creates stories that she comes to see as the truth. I'm pretty sure that there's much more here than I was able to discern, but it's a work of beauty.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended to me by a teacher in our district because the author is from around here and the setting is right here, I reluctantly stepped in. I wasn't attacted to the cover or title, and this book isn't in our HS library, so it didn't seem like a good contender for my time. I read it for her because she reads the books I recommend; seemed fair.

It was hard to get into...the precocious, supposedly 12-year-old narrator was not a believable one. Either you have to believe that she's extremely different from other children or you think that the author is clearly out of touch with child development. Little things annoyed me. I reluctantly continued on.

I ended up loving the story, and choosing to believe that Clara is a real, unique child and that the author has done a great job after all. There was depth, an interesting plot, and two truly loveable characters that ended up reminding me of my relationship with my own grandfather when I rediscovered him near the end of his life. The fact that the setting was so familiar (actual street names, local landmarks, and buildings with which I was familiar) enhanced the story as well, as my colleague had mentioned. This was worth reading, and I'm glad I gave it a try. I even think that it will stay with me in my memory years from now as if Georg, Clara, and Tamar are people I once knew up in the Adirondacks.

[Becca Wilds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I just loved Clara. What a unique, flawed little character who lives in story and words. I could see her fully alive in the author's mind....funny, precocious and tragic.

The plot left some things to be desired and whoever came up with tbe title should be slapped, but as a character study / coming of age book, this is great. If I were a middle school English teacher, I'd add this to a reading list right quick.

[Margot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book club pick; otherwise I'm not sure I would have chosen it.
Imaginative, precocious, unusual Clara Winter, age 12, looks back on the last year and having to deal with major life issues, family relationships, and her friendship with Georg Kominsky, her elderly neighbor. Once I got used to Clara's voice and approach to life, it flowed quickly. A thoughtful book - we'll have lots to discuss!

[Anne Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

PLEASE do NOT read the provided description of this novel: it reveals too many details.

This is not a book to speed-read: proceed paragraph by paragraph. Enter the mind of a precocious book-minded eleven year old girl who has grown up outside a little town with her mother.

Her sensitivity to other people develops slowly and curiously as the story progresses. With a scrupulous director and careful casting, this would make a fabulous movie.I hope there will be a sequel.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story about a young girl trying to figure out where she fits in and her friendship with a elderly neighbor, Georg Kaminsky, an immigrant. A great coming of age story.

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started this morning but had to head for work. It's time for some gender balance in my list, which tends to be male author heavy. Seems interesting so far but I'm a bit concerned after looking at some Goodreads reviews. Have any guys read this book???
Done now after another one-night read. This will be my first pre-composed review. I don't know if I'll keep doing it or go back to improvisation with notes. I took a night off from books last night for this and other stuff including a great story in the latest New Yorker that reminded me of "Bonfire of the Vanities". So... I thought this was a pretty good book. No reason for guys to shy away but it is in the female-themed category. I place this book in the company of three others I've read recently. These have featured: a)difficult mother-daughter relationships, b)trauma and stress in the family, c)uncontrollable and unforseen outside events, d)pain and suffering, e)poor family communications/suppression of secrets and f)some sort of catharsis/ improvement/growth/learning/emotional-relational progress. Yup... gal stuff. These other books are:"We Were the Mulvaneys", "The Liar's Club" and "She's Come Undone". The latter is mostly a bad book and the only one written by a man. It does, however, feature a lonely only child girl protagonist with a clueless mother. I rate "Shadow Baby" the best of the four but the competition is not strenuous. MINOR QUIBBLES: a) the central metaphor(s) of metalworking and apprenticeship, while touching and apt, are a bit repetitive, b)Tamar uses the word "beforehand" on page 37. Doesn't work... c)AM never mentions some important metalworking tools; those used to finish and ease the sharp edges(files, a grinder, abrasive cloth/paper), d)goggles are not necessary for soldering, only welding and e)duct tape does indeed tear in both directions. MEDIUM QUIBBLES: a)Tamar's cluelessness about the chicken and egg issues is not credible. She didn't seem THAT distracted, b)in a passage near the end the daughter briefly takes the role of adult/parent/therapist while Ma is the child/patient. That's a cliche' and not credible. DOUBLE DRIBBLE QUIBBLES: a) the author uses snow and winter a LOT. Not just one but two blizzards come into critical play. The scene of the second one seems to be a direct and blatant "borrowing" from Joyce Carol Oates(see above). The rural NY setting is the same too. I assume it was unintentional. I did the same thing in High School. And b)Clara's voice was not consistently convincing as that of an 11/12 year old. Cute, smart, wordy, quirky, funny, spunky and adorable but nobody's THAT precocious. She seemed at times more like a precocious, nerdy and slightly autistic 20-year old. LITTLE LIKINGS: a)the Conrad Aiken reference("Silent Snow"), b)the bits of Bhuddist understanding, c) the "You Can Count On Me"(another rural New York tale) reunion let down, d) the Duvall("Sling Blade") homage in the same scene and e)an emotional connection to "Bridge to Terabithia", a mournful tale of childhood loneliness and loss.
Credibility is always an issue for this kind of "realistic" fiction. Because it's fiction we cut the author some slack. It's understood that in order to make a point some manipulation is likely necessary. But... we need to believe that the characters and events have a grounding in logic and believability. This author does an OK job on that score but only OK. Always good to avoid any TV movie special twists and turns. Is she a good writer? I think so. At least I enjoyed reading this more than "... The Mulvaneys" 3 1/2 stars...

[BAM who is Beth Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

i read this book in two sittings. it's very easy to read. and i'm not sure i really liked it. i mean, it was well written, the story was cute. characters pretty likable, i guess.

the main character, i know, i know, was supposed to be this 11 year old girl who admittedly "didn't talk like any other 11 year old." she's wise beyond her years, and all that crap. but i didn't really believe it. no 11 year old would, or could, for that matter, speak like she did. and it made the book a bit unbelievable.

i think the story was a good one...girl coming of age, learning about her family, coming to terms with death and isolation, etc...but the way that the main character spoke made the whole thing...just...wrong.

that's all i have to say about it.

[Sondra Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may have been one of the worst books I've read. I felt like the author was trying too much. Trying to sound deep and descriptive, but ended up having a main character who was pretty annoying. The beginning had so little plot that I skipped ahead to see anything of substance happened. I found the middle interesting, so I trucked on ahead only to find the end mired down down in fake strokes and endless repetition of what happens to the old man again and again. I love reading but hate when books give me nothing.

[Koz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worst title ever. I am practically embarrassed to tell people the title. Every time I did, I'd have to give a disclaimer that it's way better than it sounds.

It's an excellent book. Very well written. I love Clara, the protagonist. Clara from this book and Oskar from "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" should get married. Clara is funny, sweet, heartbreaking and brilliant.

So well done.

[Gretchen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. I finished out of respect to my book club and being able to have a conversation. I was happy to get closure out of the book and would have loved to have an alternate perspectives of Tamar and the old man in this book.

I honestly didn't see a purpose to this book as it felt like "a year in a life" of a child that struggled to separate truth and fiction.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully told, somewhat meandering story of a young teen coming to grips with the loss and grief that surrounds her. Clara has a wonderfully-developed, distinctive narrative voice that brims with personality.

A brief digression to reference an article from the New York Times, The Stories That Bind Us.

What is the secret sauce that holds a family together? What are the ingredients that make some families effective, resilient, happy? . . .

The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative. . . .

The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned. The “Do You Know?” scale turned out to be the best single predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness. . . .

Clara has no family narrative. She has a mother. A taciturn mother who refuses to speak about the past, about Clara's unknown father, estranged grandfather, or twin who died in childbirth. She knows only that they existed. Her solution has always been to invent stories of her own. About everything. Her missing family, the people she encounters, objects. She creates fake books for her school book reports. She lives in stories, so much so she sometimes gets fuzzy about what is real and what she has invented.

And that, I think, is all I should say about Clara's tale. It's the way she would want things. Instead, I'll let some of her own words say more.

Let me tell you that a girl of eleven is capable of far more than is dreamt of in most universes.

-----

Tamar took a cursory look. How I love that word. There may not be anyone in the world who loves the word cursory as much as I do. That's how I am about certain words.

-----

Books? Books are sacred. Books are to me what the host is to the priest, the oasis to the desert wanderer, the arrival of winged seraphim to a dying man. That's the main reason why I can't write a book report. I can't stand what a book report does, boils a book down to a few sentences about plot. What about the words that make each book unique, an island unto itself, words like cursory and ingenuous and immerse? What about the heart and soul?

Plot? Who cares?

-----

The chives were the first things up in the spring. You could see them poking their narrow green stalks up before the snow melted, like miniature quills from the olden days. Chives thrive in the cold. They are not intimidated by lingering snow and ice. They are indomitable.

-----

Exclamation marks kept stabbing out into the air after the words that I didn't want to let out. Stab and stab and stab, words and more hurtful words pushing against each other inside me, dying to get out.

-----

I couldn't answer him. I was already into my train of thought. Words had piled themselves up in my brain and they could not be stopped. They had to emerge in the order I had already given them.

-----

"Stories? What about stories?"

"I told him that stories are the way you look at the world. That stories are your salvation."

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clara winter (with a small "w") is a feisty and imaginative 11-year-old girl who is captivated by pioneer life and the mysteries of her own life. She desperately wants to know the truth about her dead twin sister, her absent father, and her "hermit" grandfather, but her mother, Tamar, is mute on all counts. Clara befriends an older man, Georg (without an "e") Kominsky, an immigrant from a country that no longer exists, one who lives in a trailer and creates beautiful lanterns out of metal. Clara is known to write book reports for books that don't exist, mostly revolving around the themes of lost siblings, hard winters, and pioneer life.

What a quirky and unusual character Clara is! I loved her and her way of talking and interacting with the people in her life.

"Do most eleven-year-olds talk like you?" the old man said.
"Nay sir, I think not."

Clara imagines stories behind the people in her life: the old man Georg and his childhood, her hermit grandfather. She also has a whole story in her mind of a midwife who tried but failed to save her twin sister when she was stillborn after Clara was born alive in a truck stuck in a ditch along a snowy road. There are stories layered upon stories here in this tale of the Adirondacks, of winters that steal lives, of people who keep secrets, of little girls who create tales to explain away the mysteries of life.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard to decide about 4 or 5 stars for this book. The story is deftly written from the viewpoint of an 11 and 12-year-old girl. While there is melancholy to it, there is also quiet joy in a new friend and learning new things. The girl likes words and language and invents stories for the people in her life she doesn't know and that her mother won't tell her about, like her grandfather. Her new friend, Georg, an immigrant, is a metal worker and this plucky, unusual child need someone to be with while her mother is a choir practice each week. And Georg gently teaches her a different way of thinking that stays with her for life.

It's the story of a clip in time in their lives, where the girl wants to know about her family -- her twin that was lost, the father and grandfather she doesn't know. Her mother won't talk about it. At age 11-12, we all had a little world all our own and so does this child. I love the way the author made this voice so authentic.

I understand the book was up for a Pulitzer Prize and the author has won other accolades for her writing.

[Liv Kirk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shadow Baby is one of the worst books I ever remember reading, and if I had to describe it in one word it would be "tedious." For me it was a completely dismal story that tells you the end in the beginning. It's so unbearably repetitive that there's perhaps 100 pages too many. Literally the same sentences appear over & over. I found myself wondering if we are supposed to glean that the narrator Clara is autistic or she is simply an odd child as repeatedly stated. The relationship with the old man is sweet, the father's "origin" is predictable, the mother figure/relationship too remote to be believable. I read this book while on a boat and sincerely considered throwing the pages one by one in the sea so no others need be subjected to such tedious misery, but couldn't bring myself to soil the sea however artfully. One passage spoken by the mother triumphs, all else disappoints.

[CynthiaA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curious and precocious, eleven year old Clara forms an unlikely friendship with an old man who lives in a nearby trailer park. In doing so, she learns a little about him and his past and ultimately, a lot more about herself and her own story. Clara is a magnificent fictional character, full of spunk and so very bright. Her observations are a wonderful combination of 11-year-old naïveté and thoughtful inquisitiveness (bordering on meddlesome) about the people around her. Her fascination with words appealed to me. I too think a lot about the way a word sounds.

This is a charming, poignant and thoughtful book, sad in places but never depressing, thought-provoking and beautifully crafted. Themes of love, regret and forgiveness weave together in this easy-to-read tale. Highly recommended.

[Mary Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always in awe of Alison McGhee's writing. Poetic, descriptive, and full of heart. I always find myself rereading paragraphs to take in the beauty of her words. This story touched me on many levels. As a child who created fictional stories to cope with childhood trauma, I could relate to Clara's imagination and her coping mechanisms to deal with questions about her unanswered past (the death of her twin, the absence of her father). The pairing of an illiterate immigrant and a young reader with a strong vocabulary worked. I enjoyed the friendship that developed between the elderly man and Clara, the main character. Shadow Baby is a book I found hard to put back on my bookshelf. There are lines I want to return to again and again.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter was required to read this book for her AP lit class, so we own it. I am currently waiting for a book at the library that I really want to read and I am first in line for the next copy, so I read this as a place holder. It was a really funny book, which was a surprise. It is written from the perspective/narration of an 11 year old girl, and her thought process is hysterical. It does deal with some adult topics toward the end. She was conceived in rape. It never says so explicitly, but it is implied. I think this is a YA book, so parents may want to know that before they let young kids read. Recommended.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt the author was able to convey the thoughts and feelings of an 11 year old, trying to find answers about her birth and life from a Mother who dismisses her. Her creative, yet child’s, mind fills in the blanks with scenarios she wants to believe about her life and the people she cares about. Her relationship with the old man was a way for her to be heard…and he helped her to find answers. This story was heartfelt! I saw other reviews that said they disliked that words and their definitions were in the story, but Clara’s whole focus was words and stories to get her through a life that was less than great.

[Lori Greenlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me longer to finish this book . It wasn’t a favorite of mine , but I didn’t dislike it either . The main character is an eleven year old girl that tells stories and is very mature and odd . She befriends an elderly man and he sort of becomes her friend or grandfatherly role . She wants to understand why her baby sister isn’t alive , who her father is , and why she doesn’t have any contact with other family besides her mother . It’s a difficult book to understand what the plot really is , but there’s a bit of good story telling also .

[Sherry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm leaving this one unfinished, about halfway through. A boring repetitive story told from the perspective of an 11 year old that the author tried to make sound smart and precocious, but it fell extremely flat. The story meanders between the girl's imaginative stories (which are not interesting or add meaning to the story), current events (also not interesting), and her own more recent memories (which surprisingly are more interesting). Peaking ahead it seems the book may become more interesting, I just can't get there.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After I started reading this I realized it was the same author who wrote a book called Never Coming Back. Shadow Baby had been written several years before and chronicled the life of the character in Never Coming Back as a little girl, Clare, in Shadow Baby. Very precocious child,strange even, a lot of that having to do with her mother. Clare found it easier to make up things rather than facing the truth, and had an obsession with words and their meanings

[Maristone2539 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well written book with well developed characters, and there were parts that touched me deeply. My problem with the book was that there wasn’t enough of a story, and this resulted in too much repetition of the “baby” theme and other parts which felt like filler to pad the story. Maybe it would have worked better as a short story. That being said, I’m going to look for more by this author.

[Timothy Merrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed her writing in SB, and this kept me going. The plot is quite thin, and not resolved in a way that is strong or satisfying. This, plus trying to surmount what McGhee asks me to accept — that these are the words and thoughts of an 11-year-old girl — was a difficulty that did not go away. Therefore, it was an ongoing distraction. I would think, “Oh right! An 11 year old would not, could not say that!” But, yet, I enjoyed reading the book. I will give another of her books a chance.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly sweet, incredibly sad story. It is beautifully crafted. I fell in love with the characters who were almost painfully real. I will only share this book with those who have not recently experienced great loss, as it will be too raw. But those who can embrace the tenderness and strength they will witness in these characters who have each lost much, but can move forward in strength, will appreciate and love this story.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not for me at this time. I typically enjoy quirky characters and books that require reading each word, but I was looking for a quick read this time. McGhee did a good job setting a scene and creating solid characters. This is not a book for readers looking for a happy ending. There are answers provided for questions being asked but this is not a sunny, cheery book.

[Sandee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I would like this book but I did. A story about loss and questions that need answers for a young girl, that has stories and words in her head that she needs because no one will give her answers when she asks. Its a quirky read, but everything makes sense in the end. It brought tears to my eyes and I'm glad I kept reading.