My Old Sweetheart

Susanna Moore's novel astonished me--one of those brilliant objects that come along only rarely, all light on clear water, and then one realizes the faster currents underneath, the terrible swiftness of sex and time.
--Joan Didion

In this mesmerizing novel, Susanna Moore displays a naturalist's eye for the landscape of her native Hawaii and an uncanny sensitivity to the despairing love between mothers and daughters. Lily Shields grows up amid the fragrance of night-jasmine and burning sugar cane, and the heady atmosphere of her mother's madness. For if Anna Shields is an island unto herself--fragile, glamorous, and fearfully needy--Lily is the bridge that connects her to reality.

But now Lily is a young woman and a mother herself, self-exiled from Hawaii but still attached to Anna's tragedy. And as she tries to untangle those threads of love and loyalty, Moore gives us a novel of shimmering beauty and sadness. My Old Sweetheart is a small classic, perfectly formed and mysteriously wise.

Susanna Moore is a gifted and compelling novelist . . .in possession of her own unique voice.
--The New York Times Book Review

I can't recall another novel like this about mothers and daughters. . . . Lily's mysterious, half-told tale delighted and touched me.
--Susan Lydon, Village Voice