Product Description

Praised as a deeply felt, deeply moving tale...chilling and finely tuned (Publishers Weekly), Susan Palwicks first novel, Flying in Place, won widespread acclaim for its haunting exploration of a troubled childhood. Now, after a decade, Palwick returns with the powerful tale of a family cast out of an idyllic realm, learning to live in our troubled worldan exciting and insightful examination of humanity in the spirit of Ursula Le Guins The Disposessed and Robert Heinleins Stranger in a Strange Land.Lmabantunk, the Glorious City, is a place of peace and plenty. But it is also a land of swift and severe justice. Young Darroti has been accused of the murder of a highborn woman who had chosen the life of a Mendicant, a holy beggar whose blessing brings forgiveness. Now his entire family must share his shame, and his punishmentexile to an unknown world.Grieving for the life they have left behind, Darroti and his family find themselves in a hostile landan all-too-familiar American future, a country under attack in a world torn by hatred and war.Some will surrender to despair. Some will strive to preserve the old ways. Some will be lured by the new worlds temptations. And some, sustained by extraordinary love, will find a way to heal the familys grief and give them hope.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1547713 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-01
• Released on: 2005-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. A triumphant testament to the transcendent power of love and tribute to what being a stranger in a strange land truly means, Palwick's long-awaited second novel (after 1992's Flying in Place) succeeds as a heart-wrenching romance, a sharp meditation on refugees and displaced persons and a tragicomedy of cultural differences. Palwick's exiles arrive in Reno, Nev., through a shimmering blue portal from another dimension—Lémabantunk, "Glorious City" of Gandiffri. Darroti-Frella Timbor, his father, brothers and their families have been banished to Earth by the judges of Gandiffri for killing Gallicina, a young Mendicant (or sacred beggar). After they become residents of a refugee camp, a depressed Darroti kills himself, and Lisa, a feisty American, helps them escape after a terrorist attack. In the years that follow, the family adapts with unsettling results as Darroti's ghost tries to reveal what really happened with Gallicina. A lyrical denouement and discovery that the gifts of self are "the most prized presents" of all conclude this outstanding fantasy novel.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* In Gandiffri, a world of peace and abundance, no one goes homeless or hungry. Idyllic existence is ensured by the people's spiritual beliefs and practices and by the Judges, whose justice is prompt, efficient, and, in one family's case, extreme. Twentysomething Darroti and a devout young noblewoman, Gallicina, fall in love. She is serving a year as the Mendicant, a holy beggar whose blessing at a marriage brings peace and forgiveness to all. Darroti comes to be accused of murdering her and is sentenced to exile in another dimension. Gandiffri's Law of the Heart states that family members may not abandon one another, so Darroti's father, brothers, and the latter's wives and children accompany him. Taking only what they can carry, they walk through a strange blue door and into a refugee camp in Nevada. There Darroti inexplicably commits suicide, which marks each remaining family member differently and becomes the shadow under which they struggle to build a life together in the harsh land of America. Yet the magic of Gandiffri isn't lost to them. It lives in a tiny, undying pet beetle; in the unbreakable bond of Darroti and Gallicina; in a ghost seeking redemption; and in the healing power of love. Graced with exceptionally intimate understanding of its characters, Palwick's beautifully crafted tale of exiles struggling to come to terms with a deeply troubled Earth is exquisite. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

A lovely book
Susan Palwick's "A Necessary Beggar" is a work of extreme richness, both fascinating and moving. The highly believable and convincing parallel-dimensional culture she has created would float a whole series of novels if she were inclined to write them, and yet, in a sense it's merely the "back story". The main story, told with a huge emotional range from deliciously wry satire to heart-rending pathos is about humanity and inhumanity. We see from the outside and the inside what xenophobia, religious intolerance, and unfeeling, unimaginative bureaucracy mean in the immigrant experience, as well as how the good in people (of whatever ethnicity) can overcome this. By the end of the novel I was almost cheering with delight. And Mike, yes this could make a movie-of-the-week on the Lifetime channel, but so could "The Scarlet Letter"! Don't confuse openness to feeling with sentimental wallowing.

A Breath of Fresh Air
"The Necessary Beggar" is a breath of fresh air in the SF/Fantasy market place. Rather than having the stereotypical, and all too common these days, bombs, guns and aliens, Palwick weaves a story about the humanity in us all. Her story of the exiles from Lemabantunk is about redemption and understanding.

I strongly disagree with Mike's review. Palwick's story is told with emotion, but it doesn't make it melodramatic. Her characters are trying to come to grips with a new language, and a new culture, and, heck, a new dimension. The struggle of the elders to change is crafted with believability, as shown in the grudging acceptance by Timbor, and with the slow-boiling hatred shown by Macsofo. Reminiscent of tales of multi-cultural families in the U.S. where children adapt to new culture much better, Zama is able to adopt the culture much easier, yet her willingness to embrace her family's cultural connection brings about the resolution in the novel. Palwick varies points of view in the chapters to show the struggles of Timbor's family in the literal "new" world, while a back story of Darroti and Gallicina provide a haunting mystery that is shocking to the reader in its unraveling.

The treatment of the exiles and the social commentary provided by Palwick in the novel holds a mirror up to our current beliefs in America. This self-reflection offered can be uncomfortable when we see how our society treats other people who are considered outsiders or undesirables. But this mirror also shows that there are good people. Mike objects to Palwick's characterization of Jerry the jock. I say it is refreshing because she doesn't stereotype him into a typical jock. She makes him compassionate. This is a strength to the novel, not a weakness.

In the dark post 9/11 world, if you're seeking to read a novel that reaffirms hope and humanity, I strongly recommend "The Necessary Beggar."

An incredible book
I read this book in one long sitting, staying up most of the night to do so. The story, which is told without ostentation, grows in power as it progresses. It depicts struggles -- and answers to them -- in a realistic and unflinching way without ever giving way to bathos, and the end is both unexpected and yet necessary given what came before. When I finished the book I felt deeply satisfied. The novel resonated for me on many levels, and continues to do so months after I first read it.