How I Got Him Back

Due East #2

by Valerie Sayers

In Due East, South Carolina, the lives of Becky Purdue, Marygail Dugan, Mary Faith Rapple, and a collection of other locals unfold as they struggle with temptation, adversity, and the powerful effect of the Catholic Church

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published December 16, 1988

About the author

Valerie Sayers was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, which became the thinly disguised Due East of her fiction, and educated in New York, where she lived for many years. She is the author of a collection of stories, The Age of Infidelity, and six novels: The Powers; Brain Fever and Who Do You Love, which were named "Notable Books of the Year" by the New York Times; Due East, which also appeared in five foreign editions; and How I Got Him Back. A film based on her first two books, Due East, premiered on Showtime, and she has published many stories, essays, and reviews. Her literary awards include a National Endowment for the Arts literature fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. She is Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, where her students keep her hopping and experimenting with new ideas and new forms.

Reviews

[Julie Moronuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read Due East, so this was my first introduction to these characters, and what characters! Vivid and alive they are, especially the two main women. I enjoyed the book all the way through and then at the end felt like it left me hanging. It wasn't a *terrible* ending, just a little abrupt and unsatisfying.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit-this started off pretty slow for me and I didn't think too much of it at first. But as I got farther along, I realized the characters weren't as superficial as originally thought. Enjoyed the ending-it wasn't exactly what I expected given the era. Now I would like to discuss the complexity of the characters with the author!