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| Plot Summary of The First Time |
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"Mattie Harte has just discovered that her husband of sixteen years is cheating on her again, and this time Jake decides to move out to be with his girlfriend. When Mattie discovers that she has Lou Gherig's disease, Jake decides to move back home to help out until she dies--which, the doctors tell her, will be a few years at the most. Mattie and Jake make an arrangement: he will pretend to love her as long as he stays. But Jake comes to find that he does, and he doesn't know how to deal with it. Their daughter (and the reason they got married) deals outwardly with her mother's illness, but begins looking for trouble, causing even more stress in the family."
Sarrah, Resident Scholar
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"In this tear-jerker story, Mattie Hart discovers that her husband Jake, a high-profile Chicago attorney, is involved in yet another love affair. But a far greater crisis descends upon the Hart family after Jake leaves home: Mattie receives devastating news that will forever alter their lives. Wracked by guilt, Jake returns to the wife he has never really loved and the teenaged daughter who wants nothing to do with him. But because of their life-crisis they are facing, everyone will have a test of love and endurance."
Boppy, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The First Time |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Kind of romance:
- playing footsy while inconveniently married
- rekindling lost love/marriage
Family, caring for ill
Yes
Who is sick?
- wife
because he/she is
- physically ill
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Taboo sex story?
Yes
Lover is
- totally uninterested
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- homemaker
- scholar
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- obsessed
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- physically sick
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a substantial amount
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 3 (some)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Europe
Yes
European country:
- France
City?
Yes
City:
- Chicago
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- touching of anatomy
- actual description of hetero sex
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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