Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2016
272 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A debut novel about a wealthy man who has reached a crossroads after a lifetime of repression and denial, sending him - and his family - into a slow spiral towards a total breakdown.
When Michael sees his wife Nancy chatting with a stranger at a party, his intuition tells him that he's watching her with the man she should have married. He quickly begins a campaign to replace himself within his own family with this other man - who, to him, is worthier, better, and kinder - all so his faithful wife Nancy, his beautiful teenage daughter Ryan, and his young son Max can live the lives they deserve.
While Michael pursues this man's friendship, Ryan goes through a period of sexual awakening and rebellion and distances herself from her family, and the quiet, weak Nancy becomes increasingly befuddled and frustrated by the behaviors of her husband and daughter. As tension and uncertainty build in their home, the James family slowly unravels
With the quiet intensity of the film American Beauty and the emotional sensitivity of Lorrie Moore, Taylor Larsen creates a powerful and moving story about the fracturing of a family and its descent into chaos.
"Starred Review. An emotionally intelligent family drama that examines the breaking point of a marriage." - Kirkus
"Larsen makes her elements fresh with the quiet authority of her prose and the ease with which she transitions from the perspective of one main character to another. This is an intimate and involving story by a promising new voice." - Publishers Weekly
"A mesmerizing, unsparing exploration of one man's descent, told in subtle, precise language that is reminiscent at times of Raymond Carver, Haruki Murakami, and Carson McCullers, but entirely Larsen's own creation; a wonderful debut." - Karen Russell, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and author of Swamplandia! and Vampires In The Lemon Grove
"[A] terrific debut - elegant and thoughtful, intelligent and haunting. Taylor Larsen had me thinking about her beautifully drawn characters - and their secrets - for days. A wonderful book." - Molly Antopol, National Book Award Finalist for The Unamericans
"There is a timeless quality to Taylor Larsen's bold and luminous debut novel. Her style is supple, musical and Flaubertian in its rigor. But Larsen is no throwback: her themes, acute perceptions, and devastating irony are supremely relevant to our time." Jaime Manrique, author ofOur Lives are the Rivers and Cervantes Street
"[A] compelling, unsparing debut novel about a family on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Taylor Larsen is a talented writer with an uncanny ability to tease out the secrets of her characters." - Tom Perrotta, award-winning author of The Leftovers and Little Children
This information about Stranger, Father, Beloved was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Taylor Larsen is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA program in fiction writing. Taylor taught fiction writing at Columbia University as part of the Columbia Artist/Teachers faculty and at The Sackett Street Writers Workshop, as well as literature courses for Pace University. Stranger, Father, Beloved is her first novel. Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, she currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
