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    Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence: A Novel
    Ebook345 pages5 hours

    Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence: A Novel

    By David Samuel Levinson

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A literary thriller about a mysterious death and an ambitious young novelist, “full of delicious prose” (Entertainment Weekly).
     
    Following the death of her husband—which may have been an accident, a suicide, or perhaps even murder—Catherine Strayed is living a quiet life in a secluded upstate New York college town. But now her former mentor and onetime lover has arrived. A powerful literary critic who single-handedly destroyed her late husband’s promising writing career, he has an exotic young female protégé in tow. Her name is Antonia Lively, and her debut novel has made her a darling of the publishing world.
     
    Antonia likes to take real crimes and mysteries and turn them into fodder for fiction, with little concern about the lives she affects. Unbeknownst to Catherine, the rising star has targeted her for subject matter for the next book—and the fallout could be deadly.
     
    This “fast-paced page-turner” (The Denver Post) is filled with mystery and psychological suspense, and asks the provocative question: What does stealing another’s life do to your soul?
     
    “A sleepy town, charming on the surface, conceals a nest of vipers . . . Sharpened by plot swerves and an undercurrent of violence, this intelligent psychological thriller exudes the aplomb associated with Patricia Highsmith.” —Interview Magazine
     
    “It hooked me from the start.” —Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJun 4, 2013
    ISBN9781616202736
    Unavailable
    Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence: A Novel
    Author

    David Samuel Levinson

    David Samuel Levinson is the author of a story collection, Most of Us Are Here Against Our Will. His stories have appeared as well in Prairie Schooner, West Branch, and the Brooklyn Review, among others. He lives in New York City. This is his first novel. 

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    Reviews for Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence

    3.5/5

    40 ratings20 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Catherine, the widow of a college professor and novelist, is gradually putting herself back together in a small college town in New York. She works at the local bookstore and has three very close friends, but she's rapidly running out of money.Catherine decides to rent the writer's studio that her late husband built on their property. Her first impulse is to rent the studio to Antonia Lively, a graduate student at the small liberal arts college. That opportunity slips by, and instead Catherine rents to a her former writing professor, with whom she had had a long and troubled relationship.As the summer progresses the relationships between the three main characters develops in unexpected and nasty ways. the final chapter is something of a surprise.The book is partly an academic satire, partly an exploration of a very damaged and ambiguous young woman, and a compelling page-turner. This reader became completely engrossed in the story and the characters, racing through the pages to see what ulitmately would happen.One or two improbable coincidences and an unresolved plot thread did little to reduce my enthusiasm for this book. Mr. Levinson has produced a very good first novel. I'll be looking for his next book.
    • 5/5
      Stunning thriller exploring storytelling, grief,ambition and betrayal among writers the summer Antonia Lively spends researching her next book.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this well-written book......up until the end. The character descriptions were detailed and I felt I couldn't put the book down because the story-line really kept my interest. But, then there is a "twist" and what came after is what I felt was lacking...the author left too many loose-ends with the characters. I felt the book was "cut-off" and I was interested in knowing what happened with the characters - more closure would have been appreciated!
    • 4/5
      David Samuel Levison is a wonderful writer. The writing kept me in this book although I did have to put it aside a few times. The world of writers and publishing is fascinating to me and I do admire those talented people who can write. The story however didn't keep me wanting more and the last chapter, although quite a surprise, didn't bring things together at the end.
    • 4/5
      A tense, smart book that I read straight through in a single sitting because I couldn't bear to set it aside even for a moment. Just go read it. If you like James Hynes-style academic satire, this is for you. A warning, though: the characters are all pretty rotten.
    • 3/5
      This is another one of those well written books filled with unlikeable characters. You can't help but keep reading because the writing is terrific, but you don't really care what happens to anyone in the book. I found my attention captivated, but in the end was glad to be done with the book. I would describe this one as a mixed bag of a read.
    • 2/5
      Catherine Strayed finds out more than she bargained for about her late husband and the circumstances surrounding his death. Set in a small college town, Antonia Liveley, young author breezes into town and causes havoc with several characters' lives. Her much older lover, Henry, a renowned book critic, is Catherine's former teacher/lover. The plot and the setting had the potential to be an explosive and exciting novel.Unfortunately, for me anyway, I found the characters too unlikeable, too un-relatable and much too one dimensional in a plot that bored me immensely. The one interesting aspect of the book was the twist at the end. Other than that, If this had not been a book for review, I would have quit one- third into it.
    • 4/5
      This debut novel had all of the elements I like in a good read--engaging characters, a setting that is a character in itself and a mystery or two at its heart. The writing was very good, and the surprise identity of the narrator made me start it over as soon as I finished. Beyond all that, the book explores the relationship between life and fiction: how should life stories be used by writers; do we own our own stories; what does a writer owe his characters and his readers.Worth a read, and in fact a re-read.
    • 3/5
      Antonia Lively has just published a highly successful novel. She has come to a small college town, Winslow, to work on her second novel, where she meets Catherine Strayed. And then things get complicated as Antonia seems very interested in Catherine and her deceased husband, author Wyatt Strayed. Antonia's lover is renting a cottage on Catherine's property; and he is Catherine's former lover. Antonia is looking for her next story.Because her first story is also based on real people: her father and uncle. And they are not happy with what she's written.Mr. Levison has written excellent characters -- they are so real and sometimes I liked them and others times I was angry or confused by them. Just like real people. But I just couldn't get into the story. I found it over-written in the sense of too many missed opportunities for the characters to confront each other, and too many unanswered questions revolving at any one time. I did, though, like the ideas explored by the author: what is fiction? If stories are based on real people, how far from the truth can they stray? What is loyalty and how much of it do we owe to those who have wronged us? So, I'm glad I read it because it made me think.
    • 3/5
      There is good news and bad news. The good is that this book is well-written. The bad news is I didn't care. The characters are difficult to like and the story takes too long to get going. And even when it did start, I was still left with the feeling of not getting the point. More than half-way through and I still didn't know. Just seemed to be a lot of 'adults' stagnated and whining and feeling sorry for themselves. Still, I gave it 2.5 stars because I was interested enough to pick up the book again every time I put it down, hoping that the plot would take shape and coalesce and do the writing justice. I realized it was too late for that near the end.
    • 5/5
      The heart of David Samuel Levinson's first novel, Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence, is the lure of a story and the conflicting points of view of participants and observers. Each character sees the story in a different light influenced by conscious and unconscious memories. The characters who want to write the story must choose between a memoir and a novel, descriptions including their own views or fiction that keeps them out of the story. Either way, the writers believe that their own take on the story is the most important one. That means that in the competition for each story there is only one victorious writer. What is the payoff for the victory? Is fame and fortune of publication worth the enmity of the vanquished competitor?Some people may want to give their story to someone to write it (or withhold it)and do not want fame and fortune. They may give or take their stories with motives of redemption and revenge. Characters who do/do not want the story released to the public attempt to prevent the writers from knowing the real details, blocking access to the heart of the narrative.The memoir gives access to real people in a definite presentation while the novel allows the writer to imagine characters indefinitely. The skill of the writer is to include herself honestly in the realism of the memoir or keep herself completely out of the impressionism of the novel.In this context, Mr. Levinson creates interesting characters attending to three stories, two from the past already published and one evolving with the characters' interactions. Is it acceptable for a writer to deceive others in life to obtain their story, like a journalist, then write it without including herself in the narrative? Is this the same as writing fiction purely from imagination where the task is to keep the writers' voice out of the novel? Fame and fortune of the first work does little to set the stage for the second book when the story is stolen. However, it does have a positive effect when the literati consider the writer to have more novels in her because the first one is a successful work of imagination.The cast of characters includes: the widow of a novelist Catherine, a renowned book reviewer Henry, a young writer with a new successful novel Antonia, a bookstore clerk Jane, and Antonia's father and uncle who together have a very shady past. Mr. Levinson starts his own fictional story in the middle and works back and forth. Frequently his long paragraphs are descriptive of the settings and ration out important information about the characters unexpectedly just a few sentences at a time. Although the writing is not as lyrical as that of Chad Harbach, the style does remind me of The Art of Fielding: A Novel in its realistic depiction of settings and the thoughts and actions of the characters. Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence is only the first of many excellent novels David Samuel Levinson has in him.
    • 4/5
      Living in Mr. Levinson's world for a short while felt just right. Quirky characters, writers, books and book stores - all things I love and love in a well-written story. And Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence is, indeed, quite well written. I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to more from this author.
    • 4/5
      I thank the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book prior to publication. I liked this story a lot. The characters were interesting, and the story was just quirky enough to make me want to know more. Perhaps I was also drawn to the story because of the idea of writers and book stores, a world that fascinates me. Whatever it was, I was transfixed by this book, and found myself looking for excuses to go back to reading until I was done. The ending is a bit unpredictable, but it seems to keep with the author's style. He choses to write about people who can't seem to let go of the hurts and errors of their pasts. They are unwilling to bring them out into the open, even with those closest to them. Eventually their secrets erode their relationships and caused things to go rotten much like a bruise on a banana. This book is a great character study in passion, ambition, and false loyalty. It will not particularly make you feel good at the end, but It will stay with you and continue to make you think. The ending was the one drawback of the book for me. It was a bit rushed and didn't work as well for me as I had hoped, but I found it a delightful premiere effort on the part of Mr Levinson. I will be looking for more from him, and I recommend this book to people who enjoy complex and character driven stories.
    • 4/5
      Set in a small liberal arts college in New York state, this is a debut novel about an intriguing mystery with a complex set of engaging characters. It is always fascinating to read about writers and literary critics, particularly within the academic world. The plot moves at a reasonable pace and the writing is excellent. If I had seen this book in a bookstore or library, I would have passed it by because of the title and the cover - neither of which indicates the depth within its covers.
    • 2/5
      I thought this sounded really interesting but I had a hard time even finishing it. The characters were superficially described and unlikeable. I could not get emotionally involved at all with the story.
    • 3/5
      The book was a letdown for me. I had high hopes when I read the summary, but soon found out it was less than what I thought it was going to be. Don’t get me wrong; it was well thought out and the writing was very good, but there seemed to be something missing. (Part of that could be contributed to the fact that the book I read before this one was a fantasy novel.) The story was slightly intriguing but was at times hard to follow due to new characters that showed up without warning and scenes I had to reread in order to understand what had happened. The ending was a twist and one which was slightly alluded to through the book, but came at me from left field. Overall, it was a good read but not one I will likely read again.
    • 2/5
      The blurbs compare this title to THE SECRET HISTORY and REBECCA, so perhaps my expectations were too high with this novel. The premise: Catherine Strayed gave up her own career to support her husband’s writing, even moving to an insufferable small town to do so. When her former professor/lover, Henry Swallow (who is also the reviewer who destroyed her husband’s career), moves to town, things get awkward. Now widowed, she leads a quiet life until Antonia Lively, Henry’s latest protege, turns up at her door.First, the Big Ideas: What is fiction? What responsibilities does an author have? Who owns a story – the writer, or those who lived it? At what point is fiction separate from the reality that inspired it? These are certainly interesting questions, and Levinson explores them thoroughly. He doesn’t reach any Big Conclusion, but it would have been shocking if he had. As an intellectual exercise, this novel provokes discussion admirably.The plot: The “shocking” twists and turns are somewhat random, and Levinson relies overmuch on coincidence. One “revelation” surprised me only because the characters hadn’t realized it earlier. The pacing is very slow, and I’m a patient reader. Sixty pages in, I had only managed to reach the emotion “bored.” It took me two weeks to slog through the first 100 pages because I kept putting it down in favor of books that actually held my interest.The characters: ANTONIA LIVELY BREAKS THE SILENCE reminded me a bit of THE GREAT GATSBY, in the sense that it was very well-written, but I cared not a whit for any of the characters. I had developed some minor sympathy for Catherine by end of the first third, but then Levinson changed points of view, and I could barely be bothered to continue. There’s an “I” in the third-person-wandering point-of-view, and I believe I was supposed to be surprised when the identity is revealed. I wasn’t; rather, I couldn’t see the point. Something something clever metafiction, I suppose. Or something.I don’t have to like characters, but I need something besides an intellectual exercise to keep me going. If I hadn’t committed to write a review for this novel, I would have chucked it after the first sixty pages without concern that I would miss anything.Source disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.
    • 4/5
      Catherine, the widow of a college professor and novelist, is gradually putting herself back together in a small college town in New York. She works at the local bookstore and has three very close friends, but she's rapidly running out of money.Catherine decides to rent the writer's studio that her late husband built on their property. Her first impulse is to rent the studio to Antonia Lively, a graduate student at the small liberal arts college. That opportunity slips by, and instead Catherine rents to a her former writing professor, with whom she had had a long and troubled relationship.As the summer progresses the relationships between the three main characters develops in unexpected and nasty ways. the final chapter is something of a surprise.The book is partly an academic satire, partly an exploration of a very damaged and ambiguous young woman, and a compelling page-turner. This reader became completely engrossed in the story and the characters, racing through the pages to see what ulitmately would happen.One or two improbable coincidences and an unresolved plot thread did little to reduce my enthusiasm for this book. Mr. Levinson has produced a very good first novel. I'll be looking for his next book.
    • 3/5
      There is good news and bad news. The good is that this book is well-written. The bad news is I didn't care. The characters are difficult to like and the story takes too long to get going. And even when it did start, I was still left with the feeling of not getting the point. More than half-way through and I still didn't know. Just seemed to be a lot of 'adults' stagnated and whining and feeling sorry for themselves. Still, I gave it 2.5 stars because I was interested enough to pick up the book again every time I put it down, hoping that the plot would take shape and coalesce and do the writing justice. I realized it was too late for that near the end.
    • 4/5
      Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence is what Daphne du Maurier might produce is she were to write an academic novel (and if she were alive). The characters are compelling, the writing is excellent, and anyone who lives in a small college town will be nodding in recognition at the descriptions of that life. This is a great first novel, and I look forward to seeing what Mr. Levinson produces in the future.