Summary and Reviews of Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber

Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber

Origin

A Novel

by Diana Abu-Jaber
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • First Published:
  • Jun 25, 2007, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2008, 384 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

A fingerprint expert's investigation of a series of crib deaths leads her back to the mystery of her own childhood.

Lena is a fingerprint expert at a crime lab in the small city of Syracuse, New York, where winters are cold and deep. Suddenly, a series of crib deaths—indistinguishable from SIDS except for the fevered testimony of one distraught mother with connections in high places—draws the attention of the police and the national media and raises the possibility of the inconceivable: could there be a serial infant murderer on the loose?

Orphaned as a child, out of place as an adult, gifted with delicate and terrifying powers of intuition, Lena finds herself playing a critical role in the case. But then there is the mystery of her own childhood to solve....Could the improbable deaths of a half-dozen babies be somehow connected to her own improbable survival?

The beauty and originality of Diana Abu-Jaber's writing are here accompanied by deft, page-turning narrative tension and atmosphere, tugging the reader to an unforgettable conclusion.

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

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A good choice for book clubs looking to read a mystery. Many book clubs are rightly cautious of selecting mysteries because, although they might offer an entertaining read, they often provide slim pickings when it comes to conversation. Origin is one of the relatively rare breed of who-dunnits that successfully combines mystery with the opportunity for good discussion...continued

Full Review (458 words)

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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).

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Beyond the Book



Children raised by animals?

In Origins, Lena believes she spent her early years in the jungle being raised by apes, which begs the question, are there any real cases of children being raised by animals? You will find the answer at feralchildren.com which has collated a number of claims and attempts to separate fact from fiction.


Mirror-touch synesthesia

Lana is able to sense things that others can't, such as the emotional residue left in a ...

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Read-Alikes

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