Not been this excited about a book in years

books:

	• The Monsters of Templeton Lauren Groff Voice, 2008 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 62 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

definitely ambitious

While The Monsters of Templeton is not a "great" book, it is interesting and employs a very nice prose style. I liked the shift in voice and the use of journals, letters, etc. to counter the voice of the protagonist. I think the author was maybe overly-zealous, as the book seems to be trying to do so much in relatively few pages. But fun to read -- a positive experience over all.

Not been this excited about a book in years

This book totally drew me in. This writer has a great future. I was totally drawn in to the story. I could not put it down for a day and a half. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a character-driven but fast-moving novel.

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Wonderful Reader

The other reviewers have told the story line so this is mainly a review of the reader. I am on the next to the last cd in this book. Nicole Roberts is a wonderful reader. I am so intrigued by the story and the story telling that I could probably sit and listen to the whole book all at once! It takes a good reader to make someone do that. Audio is always to me 50% author and 50% reader and this set is a good match for The Monsters of Templeton. This performance makes me want to find more audiobooks that Nicole Roberts has narrated.

Monsters of the Past

I selected The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff because Stephen King recommended it. The Memory of Running is one of my all time favorite books that Stephen King also raved about, so anytime I see a recommendation of his, I run right out and buy the book.

Monster's is a unique story told from the point of view of multiple characters. The main character is Willie Upton, who comes home to Templeton pregnant, after having an affair with her graduate professor. She feels as if she is a failure having to rebound back home to live with her mother, who raised her as a single mother. The main characters are the direct descendents of the founders of Templeton. To Willie's shock, her mother tells her she had deceived her about not knowing who her father is, but he is indeed alive and well, and now and it is up to her to figure out who he is.

The story revolves around Willie's quest for her father. She digs back through her history of ancestors to try to figure out who he is. Along the way we meet a rich cast of characters from the past and present. Each chapter is told by someone different until they all connect into a great mystery. Oh yeah, and there actually was a big blubbery dead monster caught from the city lake, called Glimmey.

This book offers a great mother and daughter tale as they look to heal their relationship throughout the story. Willie learns about the important links between her past and her present in this exciting and mysterious saga.

This book provides that you cannot judge a book by its cover. While the cover might suggest a horror story, this is a truly a story of historical fiction and family relationships. I liked reading the chapters about the ancestors because I love historical fiction. I did find it confusing at points trying to keep everyone straight, but it was well worth it. I think the Monsters of Templeton are not poor Glimmey, but are the monsters of the past. If you like reading about small town life, family secrets, historical fiction, and beautifully descriptive writing, this book is for you! I would pick up any of her future books. If you too like this book, make sure you put the Memory of Running on your book pile too!

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A Monstrous Good Tale

The first line of a story can be a crucial factor in whether you will continue reading.

In this, her debut novel, Lauren Groff has crafted a first sentence I couldn't resist: "The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass."

Her character, Willie Upton, has come home after a disastrous affair with her married archaeology professor. Hoping to heal in familiar surroundings, she is thrown another curve when her hippie-turned-born again mother confesses her father was not a free-love experience but a respected member of the Templeton community. Rather than identifying the man, Willie's mother challenges her to use her scientific skills to dig out the facts of her lineage.

We are the product of our ancestors (in terms of genes) and our environment. In her quest, Willie discovers intriguing truths about both and learns monsters aren't as easy to classify as one might imagine.

As a writer, I found Groff's portrayal of small town life and assortment of odd characters intriguing. As a genealogist, I nodded my head in agreement with some of her conclusions. For instance, toward the end of the novel, she states: "We need a mass of ancestors at our backs as ballast. Sometimes, we feel it's impossible to push into the future without such a weight behind us, without such heaviness to keep us steady, even if it is imaginary. And the more frightening the future is, the more complicated it seems to be, the more we steady ourselves with the past."

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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