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Title details for Sophie by Guy Burt - Available

Sophie

A Novel

by Guy Burt
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
“[Sophie] combines the creepy narrative power of a young William Golding with the disturbingly accurate memory of what it is like to be a child. . . . So good that one can only wonder what [Burt] will do next.”
—The Times (London)
In a dark room of a dilapidated house, as a storm rages outside, Matthew lights a candle and places it in the center of the floor. Its light spreads across the wall and illuminates Sophie, tied up in a chair facing him. She is frightened, fearful of what he might do next. But for now, it seems, all Matthew wants to do is talk. Talk about the events of nearly twenty years ago, about their strange childhood, and about the summer when Sophie grew up and everything changed . . . forever.
Young Mattie and Sophie lived in a world seemingly without constraints. Their cold mother barely paid attention to her children. Their father, a mere shadow in their lives, was never home. So Mattie and Sophie had the run of the gardens and the woods beyond. They played youthful games, but Sophie was extraordinarily intelligent, a fact she took great pains to hide from her teachers, so as not to stand out. Sophie was everything to Mattie, and he worshiped her. He wanted to know her secrets, the things that went on inside her brilliant mind. But Sophie was changing. And the summer before she went away to boarding school, the things she had worked so hard to conceal would come spilling out—and Mattie would have to live with the shocking consequences.
Now he’s all grown up, too, and Matthew wants answers to the questions that still darken his mind—no matter what the cost. . . .

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    July 1, 2003

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780345464422

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780345464422
      • File size: 663 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 4.9
    • Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
    • Text Difficulty: 3

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 7, 2003
      Haunting, enigmatic and suspenseful, Burt's second novel (after The Hole) is a tightly woven tale of psychological horror, in which two children shape and destroy their small world. Sophie and Matthew live in a large house in rural England with a distant, mentally ill mother and a father who comes and goes. The remoteness of both of their caretakers allows the children complete freedom to fill their days as they wish, usually with long rambling walks in the woods, digging in the nearby abandoned quarry and exploring abandoned farms. Sophie's extraordinary brilliance means she can easily manipulate the adults in her life—at school, on tests and at home. Over the course of six years—from the time Sophie is seven and Mattie five—Burt tantalizes the reader with unsettling glimpses of Sophie's cunning, disturbing plans and shows how Mattie follows Sophie's lead with the love and admiration of a younger sibling. Narrated in part by an adult Sophie and Mattie 20 years later, the novel cleverly shifts perspective more than once, leading up to an explosive series of final twists. Mattie is forced to see Sophie for who she was as a child and himself for the adult he has become. At the dark denouement, the reader will be tempted to start the book over again to see just how Burt wrought this ingenious tale. (July)Forecast:Prolific as well as precocious, Burt wrote
      The Hole at 18 and
      Sophie at 19. Fans of William Golding and J.G. Ballard might profitably be steered to his novels.

    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2003
      Burt's first novel, The Hole, published when he was 18, delved into the emotional lives of five teens trapped together for days. In Sophie, he embarks on a similar exploration with sibling protagonists who are trapped in a relationship as claustrophobic as it is protective and loving. As the book opens, an adult Mattie is holding Sophie captive. Incapable of moving on with his life, Mattie needs Sophie to listen as he attempts to piece together and understand the life-altering events of their childhood. Because Sophie is two years older, all Mattie's memories are of their lives in tandem. From as far back as he can remember, Sophie was there, guiding, protecting, and controlling him. In a spare and subtle style, Burt ratchets up the suspense, already inherent in Sophie's immediate danger, with a dreamlike narration that takes the reader deeper into Mattie's tainted and troubling childhood. This psychological thriller is recommended for most public libraries.-Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

      Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.9
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:3

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