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Liza Nelson captures that pivotal time when a parent's power to shape and shield her child is drawing to an end.
In her vibrant and wise novel, Liza Nelson captures that pivotal time when a parent's power to shape and shield her child is drawing to an end.
The year is 1986, when airport terrorism, serial killers, and Iran-Contra have put most of the population into a collective funk. But artist Godiva Blue feels safe. A refugee from the late sixties, self-proclaimed visionary, and "lady janitor" at the local elementary school, Godiva believes she has found a haven for herself and her daughter, Dylan, in the backwaters of northwest Florida. Then, on a casual trip to the post office, Godiva glances at the FBI most-wanted poster and recognizes the face of the man with whom she conceived Dylan during an antiwar rally. Meanwhile, at fifteen Dylan is chafing under her mother's overwhelming personality. When she discovers the poster that Godiva had hidden in a rare moment of self-doubt, Dylan begins to build a fantasy future centered on reuniting with her father, setting her--and Godiva's--course.
Anne Lamott
Liza Nelson is a terrific writer, and these are wonderful characters. Pam Durban
A tough, tender, and unabashed meditation on the joys and dangers of motherhood and the longings of a daughter for her father. Elegant, moving, and true. Pat Conroy
Playing Botticelli is one of those wonderful novels that treat the mother-daughter relationship for what it is part mine field, part love nest.
If you liked Playing Botticelli, try these:
Massachusetts, California, Timbuktu
by Stephanie Rosenfeld
Published 2004
Smart and poignant, charming and witty this is a wonderful debut novel, a mother-daughter story that proves it's always those who give you the most trouble that end up getting access to the purest part of your heart.
by Sarah Bird
Published 2002
'Who else can write about dancing, music, JP-4 fuel, the military, and strawberries, make it funny, and also make it about matters of the heart? Only Sarah Bird. This is her best book yet, a big book that you'll want to read again as soon as you finish it the first time.'
