Go to LB School and Library home

Search

Irreplaceable

Irreplaceable Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Stephen Lovely

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Feb 9, 2010
Page Count
352 pages
Publisher
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN-13
9781401341213

Price

$21.99

Format

Format:

  1. Trade Paperback $21.99
  2. ebook $9.99

Buy from Other Retailers:

One windy April afternoon, a young woman bicycles alone along a stretch of Iowa highway. She’s pedaling hard, hurrying to get home in time for dinner . . . Alex Voormann is a cerebral thirty-year-old archaeologist married to the woman of his dreams–a beautiful, ambitious botanist named Isabel. When Isabel, an organ donor, is killed by a reckless driver, Alex reluctantly consents to donate her heart. Janet Corcoran is a young, headstrong mother of two, an art teacher at an inner-city school in Chicago. Sick with heart disease, she is on the waiting list for a transplant, but her chances are slim. She watches the Weather Channel, secretly praying for foul weather and car accidents, a miracle. The day Isabel dies, she gets her wish. Flash forward a year. Janet sends Alex a long letter. She’d like to learn something about the woman who saved her life. Alex isn’t interested in talking to the recipient of his dead wife’s heart. Since Isabel’s accident, he’s become grief-stricken and bewildered. His closest companion is his mother-in-law, Bernice. They spend their nights reminiscing about Isabel and hiding out from the world. Meanwhile, a local blues musician named Jasper, the man responsible for Isabel’s death, attempts to atone for his misdeed. Jasper is devastated by the knowledge that he destroyed a life but attracted to the idea that he was partially responsible for saving another life — Janet’s. He sees her as his ultimate salvation.Irreplaceable is the story of what happens after the transplant — not only to Alex but within the concentric circles of family that spiral outward from him and from Janet. Stephen Lovely takes us vividly inside the lives of these characters to reveal their true intentions — however misguided — and gives us a stunning debut novel of loss and love.

Genre:

  • "Truly unique. [Lovely's] writing is thoughtful and keeps you plowing ahead to find out what else can come of a widower's grief and a mother's desperation. An utterly convincing portrait of people who have lost the person they love most in the world. It is a touching story."
    Associated Press
  • "Irreplaceable is tender and dear. It explores the mystery and vagaries of life, with such gentle understanding of the way things can fall apart in an instant and, just as suddenly, come together. Stephen Lovely knows the human heart."
    Luanne Rice, author of Last Kiss
  • "Vividly realizes the casualties and rebirths that occur when an organ is donated after a fatal accident. Lovely explores the nature of grief and guilt, salvation and healing."
    The Columbus Dispatch

You May Also Like

Liar, Dreamer, Thief
Liar, Dreamer, Thief $18.99 $24.99 CAD
The Woman I Was Before
The Woman I Was Before $8.99 $12.99 CAD
The Lies You Told
The Lies You Told $16.99 $22.99 CAD
The Falling Woman
The Falling Woman $16.95 $22.95 CAD
The Age of Anxiety
The Age of Anxiety $17.00 $23.00 CAD

Stephen Lovely

About the Author

Stephen Lovely is the Director of the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio and a graduate of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He lives in Iowa City with his girlfriend, a photographer. They have 3 dogs and 3 cats. Stephen enjoys reading, gardening, opera, and–for some reason he’s at a loss to explain–football.

Learn more about this author