Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesn’t believe in God. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.
It changes even more when Detective Mike Sullivan starts questioning her again about a body she prepared three years ago, an unidentified girl found murdered in a nearby strip of woods. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe. When Clara and Mike learn Trecie may be involved with the same people who killed Precious Doe, Clara must choose between the stead-fast existence of loneliness and the perils of binding one’s life to another.
BOOK REVIEWS
BookBrowse Tethered is the first book in recent memory that I absolutely could
not read fast enough to see how it comes out .... I still can't say whether
Tethered should be categorized as a mystery or a literary novel but what I
do know is that with her stupendous prose and intricate characterizations
MacKinnon has penned a winner. (Reviewed by Donna Chavez). Full Review (1122 words).
Media Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
A more resourceful writer would have painted a less monochromatic world and offered her heroine some hope for change.
Publishers Weekly
Some affecting, understated prose only partially redeems the flat story line.
Booklist
[A] haunting, gracefully rendered debut.
Kristy Kiernan, author of Catching Genius and Matters of Faith
Amy MacKinnon is a rarity among debut authors. Not only does she possess the raw talent, she already knows how to use it. Tethered is as good as it gets: a haunting plot, an exquisitely flawed heroine, and sophisticated, powerful prose that deftly explores the ties that bind us all—to each other, and to the complex worlds around us. A brilliant debut.
Jon Clinch, author of Finn
In Tethered, Amy MacKinnon starts with an unlikely narrator and an unlikely setting and delivers up that most unlikely (and sought-after) of results: a deeply engaging and memorable book. Brava.
Amanda Eyre Ward, author of Forgive Me
Haunting, thrilling, and beautifully drawn, Tethered is a novel full of heart. Love, and the search for love, fuels MacKinnon’s cast of characters. Settle somewhere comfortable: you’ll be reading all night.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by s.e.f.king tethered I started this book two days ago, and the housework is building up. I've come on line in the hope of finding that the Author has published another book as mesmerizing as this cold, sometimes cruel, spiritually uplifting journey. The story is so... Read More
Rated of 5
by Dakayla I Love Amy MacKinnon! Amy Mackinnon rules!!! This book is amazing and deep. Amy is smart,funny, and very caring person!This book is the best book ever written!!!! If I had a say what to read between a well experienced writer or Amy MacKinnon, I would choose this! Amy I... Read More
War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that AS Byatt weaves into this most timely of books. Linguistically stunning and imaginatively abundant, this is a landmark.
A beguiling, imaginative, inspiring story about the bigness of being alive as an individual, as a member of a tribe, and as a participant in history, exploring how we use storytelling to survive and shape our own truths.
Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants, Margaret Powell's classic memoir of her time in service is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.
Vivid, daring, and unforgettable, The Printmaker's Daughter shines fresh light on art, loyalty, and the tender and indelible bond between a father and daughter.
I read The Healing in two sittings it is a fascinating story of plantation life at the beginning of the Civil War. Granada, a slave newborn child...
read more
The Uncommon Reader is a novella by novelist and playwright, Alan Bennett. The story starts with the Queen coming across the mobile library van...
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Arizona bills Amazon for $53 million in uncollected sales tax(Feb 06 2012) The ongoing sales tax battle between many US states and large online retailers, most notably Amazon, continues with a thrust from Arizona which, last week,...
Full Story
Amazon rumored to be opening bricks and mortar stores(Feb 03 2012) There are mumblings in the blogosphere that Amazon is to open bricks and mortar stores. Launch.it offers four possible scenarios:
(1122 words).
Kirkus Reviews
Kristy Kiernan, author of Catching Genius and Matters of Faith
of 5
by s.e.f.king
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