Lovely, Dark and Deep: Summary and book reviews of Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara, plus links to an excerpt from Lovely, Dark and Deep and a biography of Amy McNamara.
Lovely, Dark and Deep
by Amy McNamara
Hardcover: Oct 2012,
352 pages.
Paperback: 12 Nov 2013,
352 pages.
A resonant debut novel about retreating from the world after losing everything - and the connections that force you to rejoin it.
Since the night of the crash, Wren Wells has been running away. Though she lived through the accident that killed her boyfriend Patrick, the girl she used to be didn't survive. Instead of heading off to college as planned, Wren retreats to her father's studio in the far-north woods of Maine. Somewhere she can be alone.
Then she meets Cal Owen. Dealing with his own troubles, Cal's hiding out too. When the chemistry between them threatens to pull Wren from her hard-won isolation, Wren has to choose: risk opening her broken heart to the world again, or join the ghosts who haunt her.
This haunting, lyrical story is Amy McNamara's debut, but it is clear that she is an accomplished poet who loves words and the very specific ways deep, true emotions can be conveyed by them. I highly recommend this book to young adults and adults alike, especially those who love lyrical writing and deep emotional exploration. (Reviewed by Tamara Smith).
Kirkus Reviews
Despite minor flaws, Wren's quiet emergence from despair rings true. Ages 14+.
Booklist
This first novel, like the poem alluded to in the title, finds beauty, wonder, trepidation, and determination quietly and in small moments.
E. Lockhart, author of The Boyfriend List and the Printz Honor and National Book Award Finalist The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
The story of Wren's overwhelming grief and fragile new love is truthful, poetic and unflinchingly raw. An emotional and deeply insightful read.
Nina LaCour, author of Hold Still and The Disenchantments
In achingly beautiful prose, Amy McNamara has written a story of grief and bravery and hope that has the power to both haunt and heal. Lovely, Dark and Deep is a masterful debut.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Louise J Lots of Emotion Mamie – but Dad calls her Wren. Her parents never agreed on anything when they married, so she answers to both names.
There is a lot of emotion packed into Lovely, Dark and Deep. While reading along you can empathize and feel Wren’s many... Read More
Amy McNamara is a Midwesterner who moved to Brooklyn where she lives with her husband, the artist Doug McNamara, and their two children.
She has an MFA in Poetry and was published first as a poet, but she says she was a writer of prose before all of that. She says she wrote her first story when she was eight and it was about a cricket hanging onto the hood ornament of her father's car for dear life. (So she seems to have a penchant for highly emotional topics!) She wrote prose until her mid-twenties and then turned to poetry, but she always read novels and short stories. When it was time to write Lovely, Dark and Deep it just came out as a novel, and so she let it be what it needed to be.
Poetry and prose both come from the same place for McNamara - an image. From there she builds her poem or her story. And the processes are...
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...
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(1363 words).
E. Lockhart, author of The Boyfriend List and the Printz Honor and National Book Award Finalist The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
of 5
by Louise J
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Amy McNamara is a Midwesterner who moved to Brooklyn where she lives with her husband, the artist Doug McNamara, and their two children.
