Give Me Your Answer True
by Suanne Laqueur
Published June 20, 2015 by
Cathedral Rock Press
“What
I feel has no name…”
Following
her award-winning debut novel The Man I Love, author Suanne Laqueur now gives
Daisy Bianco a chance to tell her story.
It’s
been three years since an egregious error of judgement cost Daisy the love of
her life. Erik was a conduit to her soul but now he’s chosen a path of total
disconnection, refusing to speak to her. Alone and shattered, she attempts to
take responsibility for her actions while building her career as a professional
dancer in New York City. But Erik’s unforgiving estrangement proves too much
for her strength. Plagued by flashbacks to the shootings at Lancaster, she
falls into a dangerous spiral of self-harm, cutting into her own skin as a
means to atone. Only the timely appearance of an old friend, John “Opie”
Quillis, saves her from self-destruction and gives her a chance to love again.
Laqueur
skillfully weaves flashbacks to the years at Lancaster with Daisy’s present
life. Supported by John’s patient affection, she works to separate her evolution
as an adult from the unresolved guilt and grief of her youth. As her
professional accomplishments lift her out of depression, Daisy learns to hold
onto her accountability without letting it become her identity. Years pass and
she builds a beautiful life filled with dance and friends. Lovers come and
eventually go, leaving her on her own with the old thought: Come back to me.
In
this parallel narrative, Laqueur peels open the beloved characters from The Man
I Love to reveal new and complex layers of vulnerability. The scars from the
shooting are deep and pervasive within this circle of friends. Like Daisy, they
evolved without being resolved. Because when questions from the past go
unheeded, you alone must find and give your answers true.
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“’It’s the first time I understand how love
can have a physical expression,” she said.
“Because everything I like about you I want to have inside me. I want to put it with mine and make it us.’”
In
Suanne Laqueur’s first novel, The Man I
love, we read the story from Erik’s point of view and what a story it was –
I loved every minute of it. Truth be
told, I was somewhat reluctant to read the author’s newest novel, Give Me Your Answer True because this
time it’s told from Daisy’s point of view and I was quite afraid it was going
to be the same story with just some minor changes. My fear was for nothing though as this story
is far from the same. This new perspective gives a truly epic story even more
depth as we take this journey with Daisy.
Give Me Your Answer True is an
absolutely beautiful story that flows as effortlessly as a well-choreographed
dance. I was majorly impressed with the
author’s debut novel, but with her second novel, I am just simply astounded at
the talent she has. If I had to sum up
Ms. Laqueur’s talent and ability to tell a story in just one word it would have
to be perfection.
This
is Daisy’s side of the story – her words - and is at first told via flashbacks
as she is talking with her therapist, Rita – trying to remember the buried
memories of that tragic day in April and working through her issues with not
only Erik but other things that have plagued her with despair and hopelessness
– the need to hurt, the need for pain. Once
the past catches up to the present, Rita really starts to dig into the ‘why’ of
everything and helping Daisy deal with her post-traumatic stress disorder and
her experience with self-harming. After
discovering the root of her emotional problems, it was a pure joy to ‘see’
Daisy blossoming into the happy person she deserved to be.
I
feel that this way of retelling the story really worked as I had a better and
deeper understanding of Daisy and the other supporting characters within the
story. I actually felt the love, the despair and the heartache in Daisy’s words
as the story unfolded. The many layers
of the complex characters are peeled away and the reader gets to see the
rawness, the vulnerability, the flaws and the beauty of each individual person
and every incident that makes this story an amazing showcase of brilliant, effortless
and beautiful writing. I must also
mention that even though I knew the ending of this story, this time around I
found the experience much more fulfilling and my heart is happy due to having a
greater connection with Daisy and getting to know her more through the poetic
and beautiful words that make this a truly epic and awe-inspiring story.
Give Me Your Answer True is more
than just a love story. It is also a
story of innocence lost, heartache and despair, discovery of one’s self and
being true to yourself. From true love,
to the loss of friends due to do a horrific act of hate and the need to feel
again through pain, to forgiveness, this
story will grab you and forever haunt you and stay within your heart even when
the last sentence has been read.
5
stars
Suanne
Laqueur graduated from Alfred University with a double major in dance and
theater. She taught at the Carol Bierman School of Ballet Arts in
Croton-on-Hudson for ten years. An avid reader, cook and gardener, she started
her blog www.eatsreadsthinks in 2010, and now writes at www.suannelaqueur.com.
Suanne lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and two children.
The Man I Love is her first novel, to be followed by Give Me Your Answer True
in June 2015.
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