Delaney went to the boy and sat beside him. The boy's need and
uncertainty - perhaps even fear - were almost tangible. He patted
the boy on the back, swift, steady pats like an extra pulse, and spoke
in a low voice. It's all right, boy. You're safe here. You will eat. You will
sleep. Your mama will be back. But as the child's sobs ended, Delaney
could sense unspoken questions rising in the warming air: Where am
I, and who is this man, and where is my mother? He placed his hand
fi rmly on the boy's back, steadying him the way he had steadied so
many people who were injured, hurting, confused, and full of fear.
On beds all over the neighborhood. At last the child fell into sleep.
The clock told Delaney it was two thirty-seven in the afternoon.
The end of a very long morning. He stood up as silently as possible
and put some fresh coals on the fi re. And now? What now? The letter.
I must read the letter from Grace. He fought off a shimmer of dread by
thinking only of the immediate needs of the boy. I can lay out a bed
for him on the floor, made of blankets and pillows, just for tonight.
Or take him to one of the two bedrooms upstairs. But what if he wakes
up in the dead of night? I can't have him roaming the stairs in the
dark. Christ . . .
His own exhaustion was eating at him now. As he undressed and
donned pajamas, he wondered about Eddie Corso. About who shot
him and why. About whether he would live. As always, questions but
no answers. He'd have to wait. The nuns had taken Eddie into their
consoling hands. Now he had other things to do. Or one big thing.
He had to read the fucking letter.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The best book I've read in a very long time and the first ever Bo Caldwell novel for me. I'd never before read anything about missionaries to China,...
read more
With a poetic voice, Ratner plunges us into this personal trial of a royal family wrenched from their home in Phnon Penh, Cambodia, during the late...
read more
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
read more
Amazon cuts off 5200 affiliates in Minnesota(Jun 19 2013) With Minnesota's online sales tax law due to take effect July 1, Amazon has played a familiar card by cutting ties with 5,200 members of its Associates...
Full Story
