Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2008
528 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
In the summer of 1952, twenty prominent men gather at a secret meeting on Martha's Vineyard and devise a plot to manipulate the President of the United States. Soon after, the body of one of these men is found by Eddie Wesley, Harlem's rising literary star. When Eddie's younger sister mysteriously disappears, Eddie and the woman he loves, Aurelia Treene, are pulled into what becomes a twenty-year search for the truth. As Eddie and Aurelia uncover layer upon layer of intrigue, their odyssey takes them from the wealthy drawing rooms of New York through the shady corners of radical politics, all the way to the Oval Office.
"Council will grip readers, but it will also make them think. Enthusiastically recommended." - Library Journal.
"Starred Review. Though aspects of the plot require more suspension of disbelief than in Carter's previous novels, the rich characterization and elegant writing more than compensate." - Publishers Weekly.
"Starred Review. The so-called masters of the genre could learn something from Carter's intoxicating blend of political street smarts and literary skill. This is Grade-A entertainment." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Stephen Carter can really write. I loved every page of Palace Council and am eager for more." - Robert B. Parker.
This information about Palace Council 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.
Stephen L. Carter was born on October 26, 1954 and raised in Ithaca, New York, graduating from Ithaca High School in 1972. He earned a B.A. from Stanford University in 1976 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. After graduation, Carter clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
He is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale University, where he has taught since 1982. He is the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books, including The Culture of Disbelief and Civility; and several novels - His first The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002), and the most recent The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln was published in 2012. He lives with his wife near New Haven, Connecticut. His son, Andrew, was a student at Yale and his daughter, Leah, was at Dartmouth.
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Stephen L. Carter's Website
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 Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
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.
