The Perfect AgeHelen is just fifteen, lanky and striking. She is a lifeguard at the pool at The Dunes hotel this summer—her first job, a step toward independence in a world beginning to treat her as an adult and a woman. Her mother, Kathy, watching Helen grow up, suddenly finds herself in a place equally uncertain: her children getting older, her stable marriage perhaps too stable, the slow days of summer leaving her adrift. When she meets Helen's boss, the manager at the pool, she chooses an affair that opens her to the idea of a different sort of life. Following Helen and Kathy through three summers, this novel is an intimate picture of two sexual awakenings under one roof and their aftershocks on a family. Heather Skyler shows us that the validity of life's deepest experiences—love, betrayal, acceptance—is never compromised by age. Reading group guide included. |
Contents
The Daughter | 1 |
The Boyfriend | 20 |
The Father | 37 |
The Mother | 61 |
The Party | 85 |
Locust Shells | 115 |
Love Song for a Snare Drum | 138 |
The Egg | 157 |
Molting | 191 |
Two | 221 |
Heartbeats | 245 |
Turquoise Faces | 276 |
Drumbeats | 313 |
A Manageable Paradise | 341 |
Implosions Quick and Slow | 381 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
7-Eleven arms asks bedroom begins beneath beside blue breath Caesars Palace casinos chair chaise lounge chest cicadas close condom cool dark daugh daughter decides deck desk dinner door dress Dunes Dunes Hotel Edward Ernie Ernie's eyes face father feels front frowns frozen custard Gerard girl glass hair hand Helen read Helen says Helen thinks inside Iron Maiden Jenny Kathy's kiss kitchen Lake Mead Las Vegas Boulevard laughs lawn leans leave lectern legs Leo's lifeguard looks Miles mother mouth moves never night nods Okay once palm palm tree parking lot pick pool pulls seems shakes her head shoulders shrugs sits skin sleep smiles someone sorry sound stands steps summer swim takes talk tank top tells thought tonight Traci turns UNLV waiting walks watches wearing What's window woman wonders worry