Bestselling author Hopkins turns her signature free verse style to modern war and its fallout for her second adult novel (after Triangles). College student Ashley Patterson meets Cole Gleason, a Marine, in a bar; they fall in like, in lust, in love. Their relationship spans the ups and downs of five years and four deployments. Cole’s experiences in the war zone, what he has to do to survive, and how it translates to the home front define the relationship, as Ashley struggles to build a life simultaneously with and without him: “Semper Gumby. Always flexible.” She works with veterans at the VA hospital: “A few showed me their ramblings. I could/ fix their grammar. But not their memories.” Free verse from two perspectives (using different fonts; san serif for Cole, serif for Ashley) mixes with earnest, often sorrowful poems written by Ashley and Cole: “Ask/ a soldier// what he believes in./ He’ll tell you God. Country./ The patient hands of death—.” The link between war and poetry is nothing new, and, over almost 500 pages, Hopkins turns the sum of her disparate parts into a clear narrative that is uplifting and heartbreaking, but also familiar and a little too easy, featuring characters grappling with the serious issues of our time. Agent: Laura Rennert, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Nov.)
Collateral
Narrated by Rebekkah Ross
Ellen HopkinsUnabridged — 8 hours, 38 minutes
Collateral
Narrated by Rebekkah Ross
Ellen HopkinsUnabridged — 8 hours, 38 minutes
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Overview
The last thing Ashley ever expected was to end up a military wife. But Cole doesn't match her stereotype of the aggressive Marine. He's passionate and romantic, and their relationship evolves into a deeply felt, sexually charged love affair that survives four deployments. Cole desperately wants Ashley to marry him, but when she meets another man, a college professor, she begins to see what life might be like outside the shadow of war.
Written in Ellen Hopkins's stunning poetic verse style, Collateral captures the hearts of the soldiers on the battlefield and the minds of their friends, family, and lovers who also sacrifice their lives and happiness for their country at war. Is the collateral damage worth the fight?
Editorial Reviews
Searing. . . . Hopkins examines the highs and lows of the mercurial nature of a relationship with someone whose first loyalty is to his (or her) country.
“Though Hopkins is known mostly for her young-adult novels, her latest is an absorbing grown-up story, told in beautiful blank verse, about three friends with messy family and romantic lives.
Though Hopkins is known mostly for her young-adult novels, her latest is an absorbing grown-up story, told in beautiful blank verse, about three friends with messy family and romantic lives.
YA author Hopkins's (Triangles) second adult novel examines the effects of war on those serving in the military as well as their spouses and loved ones back home. Ashley is not yet married to her Marine, Cole, but she is still deeply affected by the changes that war has brought to their relationship and to Cole's mental health. Since meeting and falling in love with Cole, Ashley has planned her life around his military career. Over the course of the novel readers start seeing the effects Cole's frequent deployments have on his psyche. Hopkins examines the difficulties often overlooked in military marriages, such as limited communication, infidelity, worry over injury, loneliness, and the physical and mental issues of returning veterans. VERDICT Though the story will appeal to many readers (including those interested in romance, beach reads, military life, and poetry) the fact that the book is written in verse might scare away less-than-confident readers. Recommended.—Brooke Bolton, North Manchester P.L., IN
Written in Hopkins' signature free verse (Triangles, 2011, etc.), this book examines the relationship between a young California woman and the Marine she loves in language that ranges from raw to tender. Ashley and her Marine boyfriend paint their relationship in searing physical terms in this uneven tale of two best friends and the men they love. Ashley, a college student who still relies on her parents to support her, and Darian, her roommate, meet Cole and Spencer at a club one night. The two Marines are stationed nearby, but Wyoming-born Cole seems gentle and poetic to Ashley, despite his brutal profession. Ashley's parents deplore the relationship, and her mother, who hates the military, is especially critical of the pairing. She believes Cole is a butcher, but Ashley, who knows that Cole writes poetry and has a loving, sweet side, is convinced he is a much more complex man than her parents realize. Darian and Spencer are another story, though. Their rocky relationship bounces from heaven to hell faster than a melting ice cube, and Darian's sexuality is like a sign she wears around her neck. Although eventually married to Spencer, she can't seem to stop finding other men with whom to occupy her time. Hopkins specializes in writing long-form free verse, and her fans are rabid about her work, but for those who've never before dipped a toe into this style, the book may prove tough going and, in some places, overtly sexual. Although the author assures readers she meticulously researched the book for details about the military and military life, she insists on calling Cole a "soldier," which is a term appropriate to the Army, but eschewed by members of the Marine Corps. She gets many of the other details of military life right and brings much passion to her work, but that one major stumble may turn off military readers. A melodramatic and very often overwrought volume that attempts to capture the heart and soul of what it's like to be the girl left behind.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940170975075 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 11/06/2012 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Collateral
About war, creating vivid images
of severed limbs, crusting body fluids
and restless final sleep, using nothing
more than a few well-crafted words.
Easy enough to jab philosophically
from the comfort of a warm winter
hearth or an air-conditioned summer.
But what can a sequestered writer know
of frontline realities—blistering
marches under relentless sand-choked
skies, where you’d better drink
your weight in water every day or die
from dehydration? Flipside—teeth-
cracking nights, too frigid for action,
bored out of your mind as you try
to stay warm in front of a makeshift fire.
How can any distant observer know
of traversing rock-rutted trails,
hyperaware that your camouflage comes
with a built-in bull’s-eye; or of sleeping
with one ear listening for incoming
peril; or of the way fear clogs your
pores every time you climb inside
a Humvee and head out for a drive?
You can see these things in movies.
But you can’t understand the way
they gnaw your heart and corrode
your mind, unless you’ve been a soldier
outside the wire in a country where
no one native is really your friend,
and anyone might be your enemy.
You don’t know till you’re ducking
bullets. The only person you dare rely
on is the buddy who looks a lot like
you—too young for this, leaking bravado,
and wearing the same uniform.
Even people who love soldiers—
people like me—can only know these
things tangentially, and not so much
because of what our beloveds tell us
as what they’ll never be able to.
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