From Publishers Weekly Honor Duvall is a woman with great beauty, an independent spirit, three dead husbands, two stepsons, a mother-in-law and a reputation. What she doesn't have is money. In order to get some, she holds a raffle for her horse. But when Texas ranger Luke Prescott shows up to claim his prize, it turns out there is a hitch?the horse is dead. Despite this inauspicious beginning, Luke agrees to protect Honor and her family against her scurrilous politician father, who is trying to force her to marry a British lordling. For Luke, it's a way to assuage the guilt he feels over his absence at the Alamo, where his compatriots died, and the flight from Santa Anna called the Runaway Scrape that claimed his family. Honor has many skeletons in her closet?and they emerge with dismaying regularity. But Dawson's (Tempting Morality) dialogue is smart and fast-paced; her history is right on without being intrusive (at least until Sam Houston pays a visit) and Honor, Luke, her stepsons and, particularly, her mother-in-law, Luella, are great characters, funny, earthy and brave. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Literary Times There's quite a stir going on in the town of Bastrop as folks gather to witness the thrice widowed Honor Duvall raffle off the fastest filly in Texas. Ex-Texas Ranger, Luke Prescott, observes the excitement with bored indifference until the winning number is called and no one responds. Even as he lifts the forgotten ticket from his pocket his eyes lock with Honor's and he knows his luck is about to change. Healing from a stray bullet that ended his career with the Rangers six months before, Luke considers that it may be time to settle down. Owning the Widow Duvall's champion quarter horse may be just the thing he needs to start up the horse ranch he's always dreamed of having. At least he thinks so, until he sees his prize belly-up in an awkwardly made coffin, looking suspiciously dead. Furious at being duped by the notorious black widow, Luke doesn't want to hear her hasty explanations, yet something in the desperate tone of her voice makes him take notice. The raffle had been rigged, - that much he'd figured out - a ruse to get him out to her ranch where she, her two young stepsons and her second husband's elderly mother need his protection. If he's to believe the willful, incredibly tantalizing, widow, someone is out to murder them. Oddly, the situation appeals to his Ranger's instincts. Whether she's seriously in trouble or merely leading him into her web of treachery, he intends to get to the bottom of it before moving on. And if someone is out to do her harm, he won't rest until he finds out just who it is. Honor Duvall knows exactly who it is that is out to destroy her and everyone she loves. The less-than honorable Texas congressman, Richard Armstrong - her father. She's allowed herself to be manipulated for his selfish purposes all her life, even going so far as to marry the men of his choosing three times. But this time, when he insisted that she marry a lecherous viscount, she'd put her foot down and flatly refused him. She had more than just herself to consider, the boys and their grandmother were her family now and she'd sworn to take whatever steps necessary to keep them safe, especially from her father, who she knows to be a spy to the British government. Luke soon finds that the need to protect Honor Duvall has as much to do with his attraction to her as with her extreme predicament. In a frantic move to prevent her father from marrying her off once again, Luke and Honor pretend to have eloped. The congressman then begins an evil plan to see his daughter widowed a fourth time. Honor's devotion must transcend blood ties to save the only man she's ever loved.Geralyn Dawson has incomparable style! Ms. Dawson's aptitude for fabulous dialog showcases her natural knack for humor. The Wedding Raffle is a truly riveting romance with characters that are more than exceptional.Lori Wright -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved See all Editorial Reviews
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我必须承认,这部作品在处理人性复杂性方面,达到了一个令人敬畏的高度。它没有提供任何简单的道德标签,也没有试图去美化任何角色的行为。相反,它将人类的自私、软弱、以及在极端压力下爆发出的惊人韧性,一丝不苟地摊在了读者面前。故事中的主要冲突,并非来自外界的强大反派,而是源于人物内心深处的欲望和恐惧的自我拉扯。例如,那个一直被视为“无私奉献者”的角色,在一次关键性的抉择面前,其自保的本能和对荣誉的渴望被激发出来,展现出令人心寒的算计。这种“全员有缺陷”的设定,让整个故事充满了真实感和代入感——因为我们每个人身上,都或多或少地背负着相似的矛盾。更令人玩味的是,作者通过旁观者的视角,巧妙地引导我们去思考:我们是如何定义“英雄”与“罪人”的?当环境的压力达到临界点时,我们的道德罗盘会如何摇摆?读完后,我对自己内心深处的一些隐秘动机进行了长久的审视。它不是一本读起来令人感到愉悦的书,但它绝对是一本能让人“成长”的书,因为它迫使你直面那些你宁愿视而不见的阴影。
评分这本书最让我感到震撼的是其构建的世界观的密度和粘稠感。虽然故事的背景设定在一个看似普通的当代环境中,但作者通过无处不在的隐喻和象征,赋予了每一个日常物件、每一个场景以超乎寻常的重量。走廊尽头那扇永远上着锁的门,不仅仅是一扇门,它代表着角色们无法触及的过去或被压抑的渴望;而镇上那条常年被雾气笼罩的河流,则更像是一个活生生的情感容器,承载着一代人的秘密和哀伤。作者在铺陈背景时,几乎没有使用大段的解释性文字,而是通过反复出现的意象和场景的重现,让这些象征意义自然而然地渗透进读者的意识。这种“潜移默化”的叙事技巧,使得整个故事的层次感极强,每次重读都会发现新的符号体系在运作。我甚至开始在现实生活中寻找类似的“象征物”,试图用这种小说的逻辑去重新解读我自己的生活经历。这无疑是一部具有高度文学野心的作品,它超越了简单的情节叙述,试图建立起一套属于它自己的微型宇宙,一个逻辑自洽、情感丰沛的独立现实。
评分这本书的语言风格,对我来说,简直是一种听觉上的享受,即便我是在用眼睛“阅读”。作者的句式变化极其丰富,时而使用短促、跳跃的短句来营造紧张感和压迫感,那种感觉就像是在狭窄的巷道中被快速追赶;转瞬间,他又会切换到那种华丽而冗长的复句结构,每一个分句都如同精心打磨的珍珠,串联起复杂的情感层次和深邃的哲学思考。特别是在描写主角面对困境时的内心独白时,那种诗意和哲理的结合达到了近乎完美的平衡。我特别喜欢他用“光影”来比喻“希望与绝望”的方式,比如“希望是下午四点半,阳光恰好能够穿过百叶窗,在冰冷的大理石地面上投下清晰而短暂的几何图形”,这种具象化的表达方式,使得抽象的情感变得触手可及。而且,这部作品的对话处理也极具匠心,角色间的交流常常是“言在此而意在彼”,很多时候,未说出口的话,比说出来的更有分量。这要求读者必须保持高度的专注力,去解读那些潜台词和肢体语言所承载的巨大信息量。这绝非是一部可以一边刷手机一边读的小说,它要求你全身心地沉浸其中,才能真正领略到文字背后的韵律和力量。
评分坦率地说,我一开始是抱着一种审视的态度去阅读这本小说的,毕竟这类聚焦于“边缘人物群像”的作品,很容易陷入矫揉造作的泥沼。然而,作者在这部作品中展现出的叙事张力,彻底颠覆了我的预期。它不是那种依靠突发事件推动情节发展的“快餐文学”,而更像是一部精密的钟表结构,每一个齿轮——无论是看似无关紧要的邻里纠纷,还是某人童年时无意中目睹的一场意外——都精确地咬合在一起,共同驱动着故事缓慢而必然地走向终点。最让我印象深刻的是关于“记忆的不可靠性”这一主题的处理。故事通过多重视角,不断地对同一事件进行回溯和重构,每一次重述都带来了新的阴影和光亮。例如,关于那场传说中的“大火”,不同的人给出了截然不同的版本,读者的心绪也随之在真相与谎言之间摇摆不定。作者的高明之处在于,他从不直接给出最终的答案,而是将解读的权利交给了读者。我需要不断地在字里行间寻找那些微小的线索,像一个福尔摩斯,拼凑出那个被时间扭曲的真实面貌。这种主动参与式的阅读体验,极大地提升了作品的深度和耐读性,我甚至愿意再翻阅一两遍,去捕捉那些第一次阅读时可能忽略的微妙暗示。
评分这部作品的气氛营造得实在是太到位了,从一开始翻开扉页,那种扑面而来的怀旧感和一丝挥之不去的忧郁就紧紧抓住了我。作者对于细节的描摹,简直可以用精雕细琢来形容。比如,他对于某个小镇上老旧咖啡馆里光线的处理,那种透过蒙尘玻璃洒进室内,将空气中漂浮的尘埃描绘得如同星尘一般细碎而迷离,让人仿佛能闻到那股陈年咖啡豆混合着潮湿木头的独特气味。人物的刻画也极为立体,没有脸谱化的善恶之分。那个表面上风光无限,内心却困顿不堪的市长,他的每一次不经意的抽搐、每一次故作轻松的笑声背后,都隐藏着无法言说的重负。而那位沉默寡言的图书馆管理员,她收集旧明信片的小爱好,成为了贯穿整个故事情感脉络的关键线索。我尤其欣赏作者在叙事节奏上的掌控,他并非急于抛出高潮,而是像一个技艺高超的织工,慢慢地,耐心地将每一根丝线编织进挂毯。读到一半时,我甚至忍不住停下来,合上书本,让那些尚未揭晓的谜团在脑海中发酵。这不仅仅是一个关于小镇生活的故事,更像是一部关于时间如何腐蚀和塑造人心的深刻寓言,读完之后,那种怅然若失的感觉久久不散,仿佛我也成了那个小镇上挥之不去的幽灵之一。
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