Ms. Hempel Chronicles

Reviews

“Utterly winning…[Bynum] creates a seamless, intuitive novel of short stories…Each is a small gorgeous thing on its own, but the wise and whimsical Ms. Hempel Chronicles gives them their collective due, deploying them on a broader canvas, their colors more layered, their impact more powerful.”

“When I opened this utterly charming novel, I fell in love with it.”

“A marvelous new book…Each of these eight stories dazzles on its own terms; all together they create a stunning portrait of an unforgettable character at a crossroads.”

“Bynum’s first novel, the dreamlike Madeleine is Sleeping, was a finalist for the National Book Award, but it’s her second book that’s the real miracle…With each chapter, Bynum adds to her portrait of Ms. Hempel, quietly offering us small jewels of information that transform her into a complex and disarming character…Bynum is an inventive writer with talent to spare.”

“Teachers, take note: You’ve got an articulate new advocate in novelist Sarah Shun-lien Bynum. Bynum’s Ms. Hempel Chronicles is not only a warmhearted novel-in-stories about a young seventh-grade teacher navigating the final passage to her own adulthood even as she ushers her students through the tricky narrows of adolescence; it is also a testament to how hard—and important—the work of teaching is.”

“A National Book Award finalist in 2004, Bynum returns with an intricate and absorbing collection of eight interconnected stories about Beatrice Hempel, a middle school English teacher…Bynum’s sympathy for her protagonist runs deep, and even the slightest of events comes across as achingly real and, sometimes, even profound. Bynum writes with great acuity, and the emotional undercurrents in this sharp take on coming-of-age and growing up will move readers in unexpected ways.”

“[Gilbert’s] performance is perfectly suited to the writing…For anyone who has worked with or taught young adolescents, this is a delicious glimpse into life from their point of view.”

“Bynum’s second novel provides a narrative voice as unique and engaging as that in her award-winning debut, Madeleine Is Sleeping (2004)…Rather than focus on the major events of Ms. Hempel’s current life, including a broken engagement and the death of her father, Bynum instead uses these as a net to cradle smaller, more telling moments—a troublemaker buried in sand on class “beach day,” a magic routine at the talent show, dancing with colleagues at happy hour. Bynum dares to put much stock in these small moments and in the dreamy perspective of her heroine, and the result is charming without being quirky. This tightly composed novel favors character over a traditional narrative…The attention to detail is spectacular.”

“The idea that we’re all just aging, idiosyncratic children snatching at happiness is central to Ms. Hempel Chronicles, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum’s gently, deeply affecting second novel…Ms. Hempel’s consciousness is a joy to inhabit.”

“Subtle, dazzling…There is so much elliptical richness in the multifaceted character of Ms. Hempel that every chapter in this short, taut novel brings revelation…No sign of sophmore slump in this masterful illumination of character.”

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