Afbeelding van de auteur.

Rilla Askew

Auteur van Kind of Kin

8+ Werken 512 Leden 13 Besprekingen Favoriet van 3 leden

Over de Auteur

Rilla Askew is the author of "Strange Business," a collection of stories, & the novel "The Mercy Seat," which was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner award & the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association Award, & was the winner of the Western Heritage Award & the Oklahoma Book Award. (Bowker Author toon meer Biography) toon minder

Werken van Rilla Askew

Kind of Kin (2013) 150 exemplaren
The Mercy Seat (1997) 144 exemplaren
Fire in Beulah (2001) 104 exemplaren
Harpsong (2007) 52 exemplaren
Strange Business (1992) 48 exemplaren
Prize for the Fire: A Novel (2022) 5 exemplaren

Gerelateerde werken

Best of Isele Anthology (2022) — Medewerker — 1 exemplaar

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Geboortedatum
1951
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
USA
Prijzen en onderscheidingen
American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (Literature, 2009)

Leden

Besprekingen

First sentence: They live meanly here, Maddie, and demand of me that I do the same. It is not poverty of purse but meanness of spirit which causes them to crimp their mouths if one but ask for a bit of beef for one's supper.

Premise/plot: Prize for the Fire is historical fiction based on the life of Anne Askew (aka Anne Kyme). She lived during the reign of Henry VIII and suffered greatly, or, perhaps reaped much spiritually from her many, many, many sufferings. She was Protestant and an advocate for reading the Bible in English at a time when England was having an identity crisis of sorts spiritually. The country could not decide how much access people should have to the Word of God in English, particularly in terms of class and gender. Her reading the Bible in private AND forming her own opinions of what the text means led to many difficulties. But first and foremost this one is about how HARD her life was because she could not separate from her A**H*** of a husband. She lived at a time when men could literally do anything and everything to punish their wives for any perceived faults. Perhaps not all took advantage of this power, but some did. Anne sought help from her family--her parents, her brothers, etc. But no one was willing or able to help 'save' her from this abuse. Some even, in my opinion, betrayed her and sided with her husband his his family. Her own family saw her as TROUBLE in her insistence that she had the right to read the Word of God on her own privately. She also shared what she learned with others. Wikipedia says she was a preacher. I'm not sure I took that away from reading the novel. I saw her speaking with other women, other ladies, about the Word of God. I don't see her preaching [from a pulpit] to audiences. I suppose it depends on how you define preaching. OR the accuracy of Wikipedia.

My thoughts: Honestly this one started off so incredibly sluggish. I persisted because I knew if the story ever really began to pick up, it would be worth it. The last third of the novel was quite INTENSE and fast-paced. Much of this one--if not all--is heartbreaking. The thought that it could be deemed WRONG or even ILLEGAL to read the Bible in one's own home in one's own language is shocking. I think I knew this in the back of my mind. I knew that the transition from Roman Catholic to Protestant was ROUGH and deadly. That there were many who were imprisoned and/or martyred for matters of faith. Owning the Bible in English was novel during her lifetime. Being able to read AND study the Word of God was still "new" during this century.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
blbooks | Nov 27, 2023 |
If you're going to write a novel about illegal Mexican immigration you might want to spend more time developing Mexican characters than Rilla Askew did in "Kind of Kin". She did include some great characters; including dirt bag politicians, slime ball politicians, courageous ministers, and sweet little boys, just to mention a few. But there was really only one Mexican character that the author took the time to flesh out, and I found that to be a serious shortcoming to what could have been a wonderful novel.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
kevinkevbo | 8 andere besprekingen | Jul 14, 2023 |
Even though this novel was released 10 years ago, the topic of illegal immigration is just as much of a "hot button" now as it was then. This was an okay read, but nothing special. I wish that the plot had delved into the topic with a bit more substance. The characters were well defined and the setting fit the topic. Also not a fan of the ending of this novel.
 
Gemarkeerd
AndreaHelena | 8 andere besprekingen | May 30, 2023 |
Still processing my thoughts on this novel. I loved it, and I will recommend this book to so many people.
 
Gemarkeerd
tntbeckyford | 8 andere besprekingen | Feb 16, 2019 |

Lijsten

Prijzen

Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk

Gerelateerde auteurs

Statistieken

Werken
8
Ook door
2
Leden
512
Populariteit
#48,444
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
13
ISBNs
31
Favoriet
3

Tabellen & Grafieken