Quickening

by Laura Brown, Emily Schirner (Reader)

"Quickening" is the stage in pregnancy when a fetus shows signs of having a life of its own - a stage in the development that this first-time novelist likens to the equally dramatic step of a child moving away from home. Nineteen-year-old Mandy Boyle is leaving for college - full of ambition and anticipation, more than ready to sever ties with her blue-collar family and their backwater town. But then the sudden death of her father shatters her exciting new world and shows her that her connection with home is stronger than she thought. The first-person narrative of Quickening becomes compelling as Mandy, caught between her old and new lives, struggles to find a way through her increasingly turbulent world, where she's buffeted by problems she's too young and inexperienced to handle. During the six-month course of this novel, we observe the transformation - the quickening - of this young No longer simply reacting to the people and circumstances around her, Mandy begins to choose, for the first time, a life for herself.

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Laura Brown is the founder of LB Media, and the chair of (RED)’s Creative Council. She sits on the boards of (RED), The Fashion Trust US, and me too. Movement, and Foot Soldiers Park, Selma. Previously, she was editor-in-chief ofInStyle, executive editor of Harper’s Bazaar, and senior editor at W. She earned her BA in arts and communication from Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia. She lives in Manhattan with her husband.