When their hard-drinking, but loving, father dies in a car accident, teenage brothers Kyle and Klint Hayes face a bleak prospect: leaving their Pennsylvania hometown for an uncertain life in Arizona with the mother who ran out on them years ago. But in a strange twist of fate, their town's matriarch, an eccentric, wealthy old woman whose family once owned the county coal mines, hears the boys' story. Candace Jack doesn't have an ounce of maternal instinct, yet for reasons she does not even understand herself, she is compelled to offer them a home.
Suddenly, the two boys go from living in a small, run-down house on a gravel road to a stately mansion filled with sumptuous furnishings and beautiful artwork - artwork that's predominantly centered, oddly, on bullfighting. And then there's Miss Jack's real-life bull: Ventisco - a regal, hulking, jet-black beast who roams the land she owns with fiery impudence.
Kyle adjusts more easily to the transition. A budding artist, he finds a kindred spirit in Miss Jack. But local baseball hero Klint refuses to warm up to his new benefactress and instead throws himself into his game with a fierceness that troubles his little brother. Klint is not just grieving his father's death; he's carrying a terrible secret that he has never revealed to anyone. Unbeknownst to the world, Candace Jack has a secret too - a tragic, passionate past in Spain that the boys' presence threatens to reveal as she finds herself caring more for them than she ever believed possible.
From the muted, bruised hills of Pennsylvania coal country to the colorful, flamboyant bull rings of southern Spain, Tawni O'Dell takes us on a riveting journey not only between two completely different lands, but also between seemingly incompatible souls, casting us under her narrative spell in which characters and places are rendered with fragile tenderness.
Suddenly, the two boys go from living in a small, run-down house on a gravel road to a stately mansion filled with sumptuous furnishings and beautiful artwork - artwork that's predominantly centered, oddly, on bullfighting. And then there's Miss Jack's real-life bull: Ventisco - a regal, hulking, jet-black beast who roams the land she owns with fiery impudence.
Kyle adjusts more easily to the transition. A budding artist, he finds a kindred spirit in Miss Jack. But local baseball hero Klint refuses to warm up to his new benefactress and instead throws himself into his game with a fierceness that troubles his little brother. Klint is not just grieving his father's death; he's carrying a terrible secret that he has never revealed to anyone. Unbeknownst to the world, Candace Jack has a secret too - a tragic, passionate past in Spain that the boys' presence threatens to reveal as she finds herself caring more for them than she ever believed possible.
From the muted, bruised hills of Pennsylvania coal country to the colorful, flamboyant bull rings of southern Spain, Tawni O'Dell takes us on a riveting journey not only between two completely different lands, but also between seemingly incompatible souls, casting us under her narrative spell in which characters and places are rendered with fragile tenderness.
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Used availability for Tawni O'Dell's Fragile Beasts
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
September 2010 : Hardback
| Title: Fragile Beasts (Thorndike Basic) Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 1-4104-2864-8 / 978-1-4104-2864-6 (USA edition) Publisher: Thorndike Press Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
March 2010 : Hardback
| Title: Fragile Beasts: A Novel Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 0-307-35168-8 / 978-0-307-35168-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Crown Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
March 2011 : Paperback
| Title: Fragile Beasts: A Novel Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 0-307-35169-6 / 978-0-307-35169-2 (USA edition) Publisher: Broadway Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
November 2010 : Paperback
| Title: Fragile Beasts Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 0-7195-6928-1 / 978-0-7195-6928-9 (UK edition) Publisher: John Murray Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
April 2010 : Paperback
| Title: Fragile Beasts Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 0-7195-5679-1 / 978-0-7195-5679-1 (UK edition) Publisher: John Murray Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Audio Editions
April 2010 : MP3 CD
| Title: Fragile Beasts: A Novel Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 1-4001-6696-9 / 978-1-4001-6696-1 (USA edition) Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
April 2010 : Audio CD
| Title: Fragile Beasts: A Novel Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 1-4001-4696-8 / 978-1-4001-4696-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
April 2010 : Audio CD
| Title: Fragile Beasts: A Novel Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 1-4001-1696-1 / 978-1-4001-1696-6 (USA edition) Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Other Editions
July 2010 : Unknown
| Title: Fragile Beasts (Playaway Adult Fiction) Author(s): Tawni O'Dell ISBN: 1-61587-476-3 / 9781615874767 (USA edition) Publisher: Tantor Audio Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
April 2010 : Kindle edition
| Title: Fragile Beasts Author(s): Tawni O'Dell Publisher: John Murray Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
March 2010 : Kindle edition
| Title: Fragile Beasts: A Novel Author(s): Tawni O'Dell Publisher: Crown Availability: Amazon More details... |
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