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9780826337252 Academic Inspection Copy

Sorrow of Archaeology

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One hot Colorado afternoon, physician-turned-archaeologist Sarah MacLeish unearths the skeleton of an Ancestral Puebloan girl with a deformed leg. Her efforts to understand something of the long-ago life of that girl confront her with the flaws in her own body, and in her marriage. Sarah struggles with multiple sclerosis, and she is increasingly persuaded that her husband, archaeologist Harry MacLeish, is profoundly discontented in their childless marriage. Sarah must contend too with the question of where she comes from, what she remains capable of accomplishing in her life, how she can live up to the values of her grandmother -- whose long life is drawing to its inevitable close -- and whether she has either the power or the will to shape the days that remain to her. Employing archaeology as both subject and metaphor, this is a provocative and always lyrical book whose characters grapple with the deepest human questions: How can we know who we really are? What is best for us? How do we construct satisfying narratives of our lives out of the broken materials fate hands us? Set near Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado, where the author grew up and lived for many years, it is a novel rich with archaeological, cultural, medical, and emotional truths.
Russell Martin
"["The Sorrow of Archaeology"] is well written and the frightening details of multiple sclerosis seem authentic. . . The author keeps you turning the pages to see how it ends." ""The Sorrrow of Archaeology" offers a simple read about a woman's life with a nice tie to a mystery and an ancient culture. . . well-developed and interesting characters." "Y"The Sorrow of Archaeology"? is well written and the frightening details of multiple sclerosis seem authentic. . . The author keeps you turning the pages to see how it ends." "A memorable, thought provoking meditation on life, love, loss and truth." "Martin has written a satisfying regional novel, peopled with unpredictable characters whose attempts to cope with sorrow and archaeology and life ring true and unsteroetyped. The archaeology and our regional story is so strong that it might make an even better read for people who live far away than it does for us." "Russell Martin's "The Sorrow of Archaeology" is an intelligent, poetic novel with the complex characterization and layered plotlines of rich literature."
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