本書已改編為電影【繼承人生】,由《尋找新方向》亞歷山大派恩執導,喬治庫隆尼和茱蒂吉兒主演。
我看著我太太,我需要妳,我如此想著。
我需要妳在這裡幫助女兒們和我。
我不知道要怎麼與人交談,
我不知道什麼樣的生活才是正確的……
每一個家族就如同一座島群,看似緊密卻又各自獨立。
從死亡與忠貞開始,進而衍生出細膩而詼諧的情感。
「妳愛我,」我說,「我們有我們的相處之道,而且一切都會很好。妳會醒來的,對吧?」
故事從一場賽船意外開始,麥特那即有魅力又愛冒險的妻子喬安妮陷入重度昏迷並已決定放棄治療,導致他必須獨自負起維繫家庭運作之重責。平時忙於工作而與家人疏遠的他,被迫與兩個女兒-正值叛逆期的史嘉蒂以及對人生方向未明且正在戒毒中的雅莉,重新建立起荒疏已久的父女關係。在夏威夷悠然閑靜的時態裡,事情宛如一座被海潮悄悄拆卸的沙堡,時間的秩序一點一滴流逝,生活的線條與輪廓必須再填實與修補……
我看著我的女兒們,對我而言,就像一團迷霧,有那麼一瞬間我有種厭惡感油然而生,在這世上我一點也不想跟這兩個女孩一起過日子,還好她們沒有問我愛她們什麼,讓我頓時鬆了一口氣……
當父女決定聚集親友向妻子做最後道別時,卻發現得難堪地面對另一秘密存在之人-妻的情人……為了讓生者與死者都能得到應有的交代,他們決定上路,展開一段檢視生命意義的旅途。麥特繼承了祖先大片土地與攸關當地人未來的歷史責任,而兩個女兒也繼承著父親的憂傷與痛,兩代之間是相互承繼的血緣體,故事一旦開啟,角色命運便已被決定,所有情感的流動都在解釋彼此存在的理由。
Now a major motion picture starring George Clooney and directed by Alexander Payne
Fortunes have changed for the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty and one of the state’s largest landowners. Matthew King’s daughters—Scottie, a feisty ten-year-old, and Alex, a seventeen-year-old recovering drug addict—are out of control, and their charismatic, thrill-seeking mother, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident. She will soon be taken off life support. As Matt gathers his wife’s friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation is made worse by the sudden discovery that there’s one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair. Forced to examine what they owe not only to the living but to the dead, Matt, Scottie, and Alex take to the road to find Joanie’s lover, on a memorable journey that leads to unforeseen humor, growth, and profound revelations.
★本書中譯版《繼承人生》由凱特文化出版。
作者簡介
卡娃依.哈特.漢明絲(Kaui Hart Hemmings)
在夏威夷出生長大,畢業於美國克羅拉多學院及莎拉勞倫斯學院,並曾獲華萊士.斯特格納(Wallace Stegner)創意寫作獎學金,現定居夏威夷。
《House of Thieves》是她第一部出版的的短篇故事集,《繼承人生》則是她第一部小說作品。
Kaui Hart Hemmings is the author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection House of Thieves. Her work has been published in Zoetrope, Best American New Voices, and Best American Nonrequired Reading. Hemmings grew up in Hawaii and lives with her husband and daughter in San Francisco.