logo
Wrong email address or username
Wrong email address or username
Incorrect verification code
Bitter in the Mouth - Monique Truong
Bitter in the Mouth
by: (author)
3.00 65
From Monique Truong, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Book of Salt, comes a brilliant, mesmerizing, beautifully written novel about a young woman’s search for identity and family, as she uncovers the secrets of her past and of history. Growing up in the small town of Boiling... show more
From Monique Truong, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Book of Salt, comes a brilliant, mesmerizing, beautifully written novel about a young woman’s search for identity and family, as she uncovers the secrets of her past and of history. Growing up in the small town of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in the 70’s and 80’s, Linda believes that she is profoundly different from everyone else, including the members of her own family. “What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two” are the cruel, mysterious last words that Linda’s grandmother ever says to her.Now in her thirties, Linda looks back at her past when she navigated her way through life with the help of her great-uncle Harper, who loves her and loves to dance, and her best friend Kelly, with whom Linda exchanges almost daily letters. The truth about my family was that we disappointed one another. When I heard the word “disappoint,” I tasted toast, slightly burnt. For as long as she can remember, Linda has experienced a secret sense—she can “taste” words, which have the power to disrupt, dismay, or delight. She falls for names and what they evoke: Canned peaches. Dill. Orange sherbet. Parsnip (to her great regret). But with crushes comes awareness. As with all bodies, Linda’s is a mystery to her, in this and in other ways. Even as Linda makes her way north to Yale and New York City, she still does not know the truth about her past. Then, when a personal tragedy compels Linda to return to Boiling Springs, she gets to know a mother she never knew and uncovers a startling story of a life, a family. Revelation is when God tells us the truth. Confession is when we tell it to him.This astonishing novel questions many assumptions—about what it means to be a family and to be a friend, to be foreign and to be familiar, to be connected and to be disconnected—from others and from the past, our bodies, our histories, and ourselves.
show less
Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9781400069088 (1400069084)
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Pages no: 304
Edition language: English
Bookstores:
Community Reviews
EpicFehlReader
EpicFehlReader rated it
“What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two” are the prophetic last words that Linda Hammerick’s grandmother says to her. Growing up in small-town North Carolina in the 1970s and ’80s, Linda already knows that she is profoundly different from everyone else, including the members of h...
calisoleil
calisoleil rated it
3.0 Bitter in the Mouth
3 and a half stars.
Between The Bookends
Between The Bookends rated it
4.0 Bitter in the Mouth
Really Really enjoyed this one!
Sharon E. Cathcart
Sharon E. Cathcart rated it
4.0 Bitter in the Mouth
Monique Truong's "Bitter in the Mouth" is the story of Linda Hammerick, a young woman growing up in the tiny town of Boiling Springs, North Carolian. Linda has a type of synesthesia (where senses become confused with one another) in which words that she speaks or hears have particular tastes for he...
miscellaneous debris
miscellaneous debris rated it
4.0 Bitter in the Mouth
Several days after finishing Bitter in the Mouth, characters and flavors are still bouncing around in my head. I grew along with Linda to understand how to sort out the flavors from their corresponding words. Themes of abandonment, alienation within the family, and fear of discovery provided a st...
Other editions (6)
Books by Monique Truong
On shelves
Share this Book
Need help?