Product Description

"Combining deep emotional candor and spare, elegant prose, Hallstrom's debut novel is a poignant exploration of family, faith, and the ties that bind." -Kathryn Lynard Soper, editor of Segullah: Writings by Latter-Day Saint Women "Bound on Earth is a book in which the reader draws connections to the self; we see our own struggles, betrayals, hard loves, desire. It is a beautiful, honest chronicle of one family's journey through time." -Sheila O'Connor, author of Where No Gods Came and winner of the Minnesota Book Award "[The novel's] language is beautiful and transparent, evocative in its descriptiveness.. Its characters are complex and well-rendered, its ambitions serious and sincere. A compelling exploration of one family's struggles toward intimacy and self-awareness in a world that pulls people asunder, Bound on Earth succeeds on many levels." -Robert Van Wagoner, Utah Arts Council judge and author of Dancing Naked "Angela Hallstrom demonstrates an admirable mastery of the art of fiction. The subtle background to this novel is the Mormon world view, established without preaching or assumptions of superiority. But it presents a far from idealized vision of reality. By moments the members of this extended family writhe with conflict, tension, depression, self-pity, and misbehavior. If there's a lesson to be learned from this novel, it's that the pain and endurance required to create a family are worth it." -Levi Peterson, author of The Backslider and editor of Dialogue magazine

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #558451 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 212 pages

Review
Bound on Earth is a book in which the reader draws connections to the self; we see our own struggles, betrayals, hard loves, desire. It is a beautiful, honest chronicle of one family's journey through time. --Sheila O'Connor, author of Where No Gods Came and winner of the Minnesota Book Award

In this book of interconnected narratives, the language is beautiful and transparent, evocative in its descriptiveness. Its characters are complex and well-rendered, its ambitions serious and sincere. A compelling exploration of one family's struggles toward intimacy and self-awareness in a world that pulls people asunder, Bound on Earth succeeds on many levels. --Robert VanWagoner, author of Dancing Naked and Utah Arts Council judge

In this novel, Angela Hallstrom demonstrates an admirable mastery of the art of fiction. In essence, it is the history of an extended Mormon family. Composed of vignettes, some of which have been published as stories, the novel advances from the present into the future, retreats momentarily to the past, or works laterally to include nearly simultaneous episodes. The point of view shifts deftly among a widowed grandmother, her son and daughter-in-law, their three daughters and their husbands. The style is strong and functional, unerring in its cadence and nicely balanced between the formal and the colloquial.

The subtle background to this novel is the Mormon world view, established without preaching or assumptions of superiority. But it presents a far from idealized vision of reality. By moments the members of this extended family writhe with conflict, tension, depression, self-pity, and misbehavior. The attempts of the strong willed mother to guide and intervene often disrupt rather than heal. Her husband nearly succumbs to the veiled allurement of a seductive sister in their ward. A teen aged daughter conceives a baby out of wedlock. Another daughter is distraught by the birth of a fourth son, deeply disappointed that she has not at last borne a daughter. Yet another daughter marries and determines to stay with a bi-polar husband who periodically lapses into abuse. Yet ultimately their underlying bond with one another--their willingness to affirm whoever claims a place among them--triumphs. Though bound on earth, this is a family that will endure in eternity.

In the final vignette, the dying matriarch of the family attends the celebration of the wedding anniversary of her son and daughter-in-law. She is greatly comforted just to be there, watching while 'wives turn to husbands, fathers to children, and life keeps spinning forward, loose and free as a ribbon off a spool.' In heaven, she concludes, 'there will be children there, and music, and cake, and husbands and wives and daughters and sons.' That is a picture of eternity that she can accept. If there s a lesson to be learned from this novel, it s that the pain and endurance required to create a family are worth it. --Levi Peterson, author of The Backslider and editor of Dialogue magazine

About the Author
Angela Hallstrom lives in South Jordan, Utah, with her husband and four children. Her fiction has received awards from the Utah Arts Council and has appeared or is forthcoming in Dialogue, the New Era, Irreantum, and Salt Flats Annual. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University and teaches writing at Salt Lake Community College.

Customer Reviews

Levi Peterson
"In this novel, Angela Hallstrom demonstrates an admirable mastery of the art of fiction. In essence, it is the history of an extended Mormon family. Composed of vignettes--some of which have been published as stories--the novel advances from the present into the future, retreats momentarily to the past, or works laterally to include nearly simultaneous episodes. The point of view shifts deftly among a widowed grandmother, her son and daughter-in-law, their three daughters and their husbands. The style is strong and functional, unerring in its cadence and nicely balanced between the formal and the colloquial.
"The subtle background to this novel is the Mormon world view, established without preaching or assumptions of superiority. But it presents a far from idealized vision of reality. By moments the members of this extended family writhe with conflict, tension, depression, self-pity, and misbehavior. The attempts of the strong willed mother to guide and intervene often disrupt rather than heal. Her husband nearly succumbs to the veiled allurement of a seductive sister in their ward. A teen aged daughter conceives a baby out of wedlock. Another daughter is distraught by the birth of a fourth son, deeply disappointed that she has not at last borne a daughter. Yet another daughter marries--and determines to stay with--a bi-polar husband who periodically lapses into abuse. Yet ultimately their underlying bond with one another--their willingness to affirm whoever claims a place among them--triumphs. Though bound on earth, this is a family that will endure in eternity.
"If there's a lesson to be learned from this novel, it's that the pain and endurance required to create a family are worth it. In the final vignette, the dying matriarch of the family attends the celebration of the wedding anniversary of her son and daughter-in-law. She is greatly comforted just to be there, watching while "wives turn to husbands, fathers to children, and life keeps spinning forward, loose and free as a ribbon off a spool." In heaven, she concludes, "there will be children there, and music, and cake, and husbands and wives and daughters and sons." That is a picture of eternity that she can accept.

Levi Peterson, author of The Backslider and editor of Dialogue magazine

A Triumph!
Bound on Earth is the best, most finely crafted novel featuring complex, fully-rendered Mormon characters to date. Many have tried, but Hallstrom got it right. My copy of Bound on Earth takes its place proudly next to the works of Anne Tyler and Barbara Kingsolver on my bookshelf.

Legitimately Good
When I finished the first chapter, I loved this book. Beth is struggling through Thanksgiving with her family after just leaving her husband who suffers from Bipolar disorder and quit taking his medication. By its middle, I had changed my mind. Tina seemed to be every character in a Jack Weyland novel. She does bad things and bad things happen to her. As I turned the last page, I loved it again. Wait a minute. This is it. These are the stories of families trying. Some of their tales are quite extraordinary.

I don't generally read much LDS fiction. I find the stories usually a bit too tidy and my most important qualifier for really good literature is that it be honest. A lot of time, LDS fiction can be fluffy. Yes, there is usually some necessary conflict that involves the bad character doing bad things. By its end, however, the punishment usually fits the crime and when a miracle is in order, it rarely fails to show up.

I saw a recommendation for this book on Blog Segullah and it got such rave reviews from some seemingly picky readers that I requested it from my library. It's brand new and I was the very first person to check it out. If you consider where I live and what kind of book it is, you'll agree that it was a special moment.

At just under 200 pages, this is the kind of book you can easily read in a day or two. I started it last night and have had a hard time putting it down. Bound on Earth follows the Palmer family through many generations, although not chronologically. The chapters bounce around in time and between family members, a writing technique I'm not always super fond of. Part of me thinks it's a shortcut, to eliminate the tricky transitions that progress a plot. But I also admit that as a reader, it can work well to experience multiple first hand narratives; it makes it much easier to get the "BIG" picture. And this is a book that is all about the big picture.

What is marriage? What is family? How do they survive? Do our trials break us apart or bind us together? Hallstrom doesn't cut corners with heartache. The situations she puts her characters in are vividly real, so real that I felt like I knew these people. I do know them. They just have different names.

If you're wary of LDS literature, give this a try. If you are looking for a great book to read with your ward bookgroup, this is your book. Or if you simply want to discover some great characters that you feel sad to part with at the end...read it. It's legitimately good.