S.J. Parris
S.J. Parris writes about her inspiration for Heresy, which masterfully blends true events with fiction into a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Adam Haslett
A conversation with Adam Haslett, author of Union Atlantic, a deeply affecting portrait of the modern gilded age, the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesnt 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 ones life to another.
Book Reviews
BookBrowse - Donna Chavez 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. Full Review (members only, 1122 words).
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.
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family.
The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during wartime, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right.
Masterfully blending true events with fiction, this blockbuster historical thriller delivers a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
Lisa See has written a great book! This story is satisfying on many levels, some scenes horrifying, but seemingly truthful, and her handling of the ...
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I was sorry to see that there were so few reviews. I started reading COAL and could not stop. The only thing I am going to say is that I wish ...
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The tragedy, the sorrow, the loss, is almost too much for me to recommend this; on the other hand Mistry made me believe I knew these characters. I ...
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Amazon 'buy button' rumors abound(Mar 18 2010) Rumors swirled today that Amazon could revoke the buy buttons for books by Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin, or Hachette if the major publishers can't...
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Amazon's e-pricing threats(Mar 18 2010) With Apple's iPad launch just weeks away, Amazon raised the stakes again when it threatened to stop directly selling the books of some publishers online...
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