Author: Christine Shan Shan Hou
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780998736204
Category : American poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Poetry. Christine Shan Shan Hou's newest collection of poems, COMMUNITY GARDEN FOR LONELY GIRLS depicts a journey that traverses imagined histories and various states of consciousness. In Hou's poems, "the now moves with such glacial intensity"--folkloric myth and cultural detail are weaved together in animated modulation. These poems assert that desire for the unknown is pertinent to understanding one's identity and survival: "I know I could die, but if / I could be anything // I would be an aquarium full of / colorful fish and deep // breathing, / You know // like nude and / without age." Like a feminist spiritual quest or the act of a messenger delivering consequential information to a participant community, Hou's poems shape shift while simultaneously evoking its changeability: "I open my legs and a saint comes out / like a tiny blessing." Here, the subtle, gross, and causal body get in alignment despite the complexities and controversies of living a life. "Enough dilly-dallying. The love is coming."
Community Garden for Lonely Girls
Author: Christine Shan Shan Hou
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780998736204
Category : American poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Poetry. Christine Shan Shan Hou's newest collection of poems, COMMUNITY GARDEN FOR LONELY GIRLS depicts a journey that traverses imagined histories and various states of consciousness. In Hou's poems, "the now moves with such glacial intensity"--folkloric myth and cultural detail are weaved together in animated modulation. These poems assert that desire for the unknown is pertinent to understanding one's identity and survival: "I know I could die, but if / I could be anything // I would be an aquarium full of / colorful fish and deep // breathing, / You know // like nude and / without age." Like a feminist spiritual quest or the act of a messenger delivering consequential information to a participant community, Hou's poems shape shift while simultaneously evoking its changeability: "I open my legs and a saint comes out / like a tiny blessing." Here, the subtle, gross, and causal body get in alignment despite the complexities and controversies of living a life. "Enough dilly-dallying. The love is coming."
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780998736204
Category : American poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Poetry. Christine Shan Shan Hou's newest collection of poems, COMMUNITY GARDEN FOR LONELY GIRLS depicts a journey that traverses imagined histories and various states of consciousness. In Hou's poems, "the now moves with such glacial intensity"--folkloric myth and cultural detail are weaved together in animated modulation. These poems assert that desire for the unknown is pertinent to understanding one's identity and survival: "I know I could die, but if / I could be anything // I would be an aquarium full of / colorful fish and deep // breathing, / You know // like nude and / without age." Like a feminist spiritual quest or the act of a messenger delivering consequential information to a participant community, Hou's poems shape shift while simultaneously evoking its changeability: "I open my legs and a saint comes out / like a tiny blessing." Here, the subtle, gross, and causal body get in alignment despite the complexities and controversies of living a life. "Enough dilly-dallying. The love is coming."
Meet Me Here at Dawn
Author: Sophie Klahr
Publisher: YesYes Books
ISBN: 9781936919420
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Poetry. Women's Studies. Eroticism tinged with elegy, gratitude knit with doubt; MEET ME HERE AT DAWN contains an unmistakably open voice. Sophie Klahr's debut poetry collection careens from hunger to hunger. With lyric energy and narrative determination, the poems are missives sent back from a threshold, chronicling disease, the unspoken pains of family, the fabric of an extra-marital affair. "What aperture makes a woman?" Klahr asks in "One Slaughter." In MEET ME HERE AT DAWN, even the unanswerable is unfaltering, every question brightly wrought and necessary. "Sophie Klahr moves through the chambers of the mind and heart like an expert escape artist, keys hidden in the body's coverts are revealed in a 'rush of knowing, ' the body's 'first breaking and entering' that feels both clandestine and disclosive. This is poetry of immense vulnerability and fierce mettle; determined, convincing and heroically alive with courage of every kind."--D.A. Powell
Publisher: YesYes Books
ISBN: 9781936919420
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Poetry. Women's Studies. Eroticism tinged with elegy, gratitude knit with doubt; MEET ME HERE AT DAWN contains an unmistakably open voice. Sophie Klahr's debut poetry collection careens from hunger to hunger. With lyric energy and narrative determination, the poems are missives sent back from a threshold, chronicling disease, the unspoken pains of family, the fabric of an extra-marital affair. "What aperture makes a woman?" Klahr asks in "One Slaughter." In MEET ME HERE AT DAWN, even the unanswerable is unfaltering, every question brightly wrought and necessary. "Sophie Klahr moves through the chambers of the mind and heart like an expert escape artist, keys hidden in the body's coverts are revealed in a 'rush of knowing, ' the body's 'first breaking and entering' that feels both clandestine and disclosive. This is poetry of immense vulnerability and fierce mettle; determined, convincing and heroically alive with courage of every kind."--D.A. Powell
The Joy and Terror Are Both in the Swallowing
Author: Christine Shan Shan Hou
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781733408233
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 92
Book Description
Poetry. Christine Shan Shan Hou's THE JOY AND TERROR ARE BOTH IN THE SWALLOWING offers a new mythology for our "smooth and violent era." Together, these poems map a constellation of desire, addressing "the female pleasure gap," the exhilaration of submission, and all the mundanity and peculiarities of planetary life. Hou asserts that "you cannot rely on algorithms to take you to your destination," instead arduously pushing past habits, expectations, instincts, and other "nameless forces," toward the singular spark of enlightenment. In these fable-like poems, readers traverse landscapes both foreign and familiar. The result is a peregrination towards an afterlife "opaque & without backstory," where tame animals return to the wild and nature forgives us for our failures.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781733408233
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 92
Book Description
Poetry. Christine Shan Shan Hou's THE JOY AND TERROR ARE BOTH IN THE SWALLOWING offers a new mythology for our "smooth and violent era." Together, these poems map a constellation of desire, addressing "the female pleasure gap," the exhilaration of submission, and all the mundanity and peculiarities of planetary life. Hou asserts that "you cannot rely on algorithms to take you to your destination," instead arduously pushing past habits, expectations, instincts, and other "nameless forces," toward the singular spark of enlightenment. In these fable-like poems, readers traverse landscapes both foreign and familiar. The result is a peregrination towards an afterlife "opaque & without backstory," where tame animals return to the wild and nature forgives us for our failures.
Historical Dictionary of Asian American Literature and Theater
Author: Wenying Xu
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538157322
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 513
Book Description
A Library Journal Best Reference Book of 2022 This book represents the culmination of over 150 years of literary achievement by the most diverse ethnic group in the United States. Diverse because this group of ethnic Americans includes those whose ancestral roots branch out to East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia. Even within each of these regions, there exist vast differences in languages, cultures, religions, political systems, and colonial histories. From the earliest publication in 1887 to the latest in 2021, this dictionary celebrates the incredibly rich body of fiction, poetry, memoirs, plays, and children’s literature. Historical Dictionary of Asian American Literature and Theater, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 700 cross-referenced entries on genres, major terms, and authors. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about this topic.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538157322
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 513
Book Description
A Library Journal Best Reference Book of 2022 This book represents the culmination of over 150 years of literary achievement by the most diverse ethnic group in the United States. Diverse because this group of ethnic Americans includes those whose ancestral roots branch out to East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia. Even within each of these regions, there exist vast differences in languages, cultures, religions, political systems, and colonial histories. From the earliest publication in 1887 to the latest in 2021, this dictionary celebrates the incredibly rich body of fiction, poetry, memoirs, plays, and children’s literature. Historical Dictionary of Asian American Literature and Theater, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 700 cross-referenced entries on genres, major terms, and authors. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about this topic.
Alonement
Author: Francesca Specter
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 1529412633
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
*A Sunday Times Book of the Year* 'A hugely generous and thoughtful book which reminds us of the distinction between loneliness on the one hand and solitude on the other - and emphasises the dignity and adventure of a life lived on one's own terms' - ALAIN DE BOTTON 'A kind, wise celebration of solo living - a joyous invitation to make your own declaration of independence' - DAISY BUCHANAN 'Thoughtful and thought provoking, it made me genuinely excited about spending time in my own company' - FELICITY CLOAKE How to be alone and absolutely own it, by founder of the Alonement blog and podcast, Francesca Specter. Being alone has a serious branding issue. We've only ever had negative language to talk about flying solo - but what about when time spent alone is restorative and joyful? What if it's something you crave? What if it's even just an hour you've carved out for yourself in the middle of a hectic week? Enter: Alonement, Francesca Specter's empowering new word to express valuing your own company and dedicating quality time to yourself, whoever you are and whatever your relationship status. Between shared homes, social plans and smartphone addictions, most of us don't know how to be alone - yet our life-long relationship with ourselves is the most important one we'll ever have. A reformed 'extreme extrovert' who struggled to spend even an hour on her own, Francesca made the resolution in January 2019 to improve her solitude skills. A year later, facing months of lockdown as a household-of-one, she valued those skills more than ever - and began sharing her wisdom with others on how to cherish time alone. Packed with practical tips, insights from key experts and lessons from guests of the Alonement podcast - including Alain de Botton, Florence Given, Konnie Huq, Vick Hope and Camilla Thurlow - Francesca reveals how we can all thrive alone, whatever our circumstances, and harness the untapped power of some meaningful time with me, myself and I.
Publisher: Quercus
ISBN: 1529412633
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 214
Book Description
*A Sunday Times Book of the Year* 'A hugely generous and thoughtful book which reminds us of the distinction between loneliness on the one hand and solitude on the other - and emphasises the dignity and adventure of a life lived on one's own terms' - ALAIN DE BOTTON 'A kind, wise celebration of solo living - a joyous invitation to make your own declaration of independence' - DAISY BUCHANAN 'Thoughtful and thought provoking, it made me genuinely excited about spending time in my own company' - FELICITY CLOAKE How to be alone and absolutely own it, by founder of the Alonement blog and podcast, Francesca Specter. Being alone has a serious branding issue. We've only ever had negative language to talk about flying solo - but what about when time spent alone is restorative and joyful? What if it's something you crave? What if it's even just an hour you've carved out for yourself in the middle of a hectic week? Enter: Alonement, Francesca Specter's empowering new word to express valuing your own company and dedicating quality time to yourself, whoever you are and whatever your relationship status. Between shared homes, social plans and smartphone addictions, most of us don't know how to be alone - yet our life-long relationship with ourselves is the most important one we'll ever have. A reformed 'extreme extrovert' who struggled to spend even an hour on her own, Francesca made the resolution in January 2019 to improve her solitude skills. A year later, facing months of lockdown as a household-of-one, she valued those skills more than ever - and began sharing her wisdom with others on how to cherish time alone. Packed with practical tips, insights from key experts and lessons from guests of the Alonement podcast - including Alain de Botton, Florence Given, Konnie Huq, Vick Hope and Camilla Thurlow - Francesca reveals how we can all thrive alone, whatever our circumstances, and harness the untapped power of some meaningful time with me, myself and I.
Off the Sidelines
Author: Kirsten Gillibrand
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804179085
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recounts her personal journey in public service and galvanizes women to make a meaningful difference in the world around them. “One of the most helpful, readable, down-to-earth, and truly democratic books ever to come out of the halls of power.”—Gloria Steinem Off the Sidelines is a playbook for women who want to step up, whether in Congress or the boardroom or the local PTA. If women were fully represented in politics, Gillibrand says, national priorities would shift to issues that directly impact them: affordable daycare, paid family medical leave, and equal pay. Pulling back the curtain on Beltway politics, she speaks candidly about her legislative successes (securing federally funded medical care for 9/11 first responders, repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) and her crushing disappointments (failing by five votes to pass a bill protecting survivors of sexual assault in the military). Gillibrand also shares stories of growing up the daughter and granddaughter of two trailblazing feminists in a politically active family in Albany, New York, and retraces her nonlinear path to public office. She lays bare the highs and lows of being a young (pregnant!) woman in Congress, the joys and sacrifices every working mother shares, and the support system she turns to in her darkest moments: her husband, their two little boys, and lots of girlfriends. In Off the Sidelines, Gillibrand is the tough-love older sister and cheerleader every woman needs. She explains why “ambition” is not a dirty word, failure is a gift, listening is the most effective tool, and the debate over women “having it all” is absurd at best and demeaning at worst. In her sharp, honest, and refreshingly relatable voice, she dares us all to tap into our inner strength, find personal fulfillment, and speak up for what we believe in. Praise for Off the Sidelines “Gillibrand has written a handbook for the next generation of women to redefine their role in our world.”—Arianna Huffington “There are moments of immensely appealing self-disclosure that seldom appear in other books of this genre. . . . This isn’t your mother’s political memoir.”—The New York Times Book Review
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804179085
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recounts her personal journey in public service and galvanizes women to make a meaningful difference in the world around them. “One of the most helpful, readable, down-to-earth, and truly democratic books ever to come out of the halls of power.”—Gloria Steinem Off the Sidelines is a playbook for women who want to step up, whether in Congress or the boardroom or the local PTA. If women were fully represented in politics, Gillibrand says, national priorities would shift to issues that directly impact them: affordable daycare, paid family medical leave, and equal pay. Pulling back the curtain on Beltway politics, she speaks candidly about her legislative successes (securing federally funded medical care for 9/11 first responders, repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) and her crushing disappointments (failing by five votes to pass a bill protecting survivors of sexual assault in the military). Gillibrand also shares stories of growing up the daughter and granddaughter of two trailblazing feminists in a politically active family in Albany, New York, and retraces her nonlinear path to public office. She lays bare the highs and lows of being a young (pregnant!) woman in Congress, the joys and sacrifices every working mother shares, and the support system she turns to in her darkest moments: her husband, their two little boys, and lots of girlfriends. In Off the Sidelines, Gillibrand is the tough-love older sister and cheerleader every woman needs. She explains why “ambition” is not a dirty word, failure is a gift, listening is the most effective tool, and the debate over women “having it all” is absurd at best and demeaning at worst. In her sharp, honest, and refreshingly relatable voice, she dares us all to tap into our inner strength, find personal fulfillment, and speak up for what we believe in. Praise for Off the Sidelines “Gillibrand has written a handbook for the next generation of women to redefine their role in our world.”—Arianna Huffington “There are moments of immensely appealing self-disclosure that seldom appear in other books of this genre. . . . This isn’t your mother’s political memoir.”—The New York Times Book Review
The Samurai's Garden
Author: Gail Tsukiyama
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1429965142
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Gail Tsukiyama's The Samurai's Garden uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for this extraordinary story. A 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1429965142
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Gail Tsukiyama's The Samurai's Garden uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for this extraordinary story. A 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.
Seedfolks
Author: Paul Fleischman
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062283685
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
Book Description
ALA Best Book for Young Adults ∙ School Library Journal Best Book ∙ Publishers Weekly Best Book ∙ IRA/CBC Children's Choice ∙ NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot. Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads. Newbery-winning author Paul Fleischman uses thirteen speakers to bring to life a community garden's founding and first year. The book's short length, diverse cast, and suitability for adults as well as children have led it to be used in countless one-book reads in schools and in cities across the country. Seedfolks has been drawn upon to teach tolerance, read in ESL classes, promoted by urban gardeners, and performed in schools and on stages from South Africa to Broadway. The book's many tributaries—from the author's immigrant grandfather to his adoption of two brothers from Mexico—are detailed in his forthcoming memoir, No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page One. "The size of this slim volume belies the profound message of hope it contains." —Christian Science Monitor And don’t miss Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, the Newbery Medal-winning poetry collection!
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062283685
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
Book Description
ALA Best Book for Young Adults ∙ School Library Journal Best Book ∙ Publishers Weekly Best Book ∙ IRA/CBC Children's Choice ∙ NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot. Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads. Newbery-winning author Paul Fleischman uses thirteen speakers to bring to life a community garden's founding and first year. The book's short length, diverse cast, and suitability for adults as well as children have led it to be used in countless one-book reads in schools and in cities across the country. Seedfolks has been drawn upon to teach tolerance, read in ESL classes, promoted by urban gardeners, and performed in schools and on stages from South Africa to Broadway. The book's many tributaries—from the author's immigrant grandfather to his adoption of two brothers from Mexico—are detailed in his forthcoming memoir, No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page One. "The size of this slim volume belies the profound message of hope it contains." —Christian Science Monitor And don’t miss Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, the Newbery Medal-winning poetry collection!
Garden of Angels
Author: Lurlene McDaniel
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
ISBN: 0307433404
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
It is 1974 and the country is still struggling to come to terms with the Vietnam War. In the small town of Conners, Georgia, Darcy has just started high school, her older sister Adel goes to weekend dances at the local Army base, and their mother tends her beautiful garden–the biggest and best in town. But Darcy’s world is soon changed forever when her mother goes to Atlanta for tests. The diagnosis is not good–breast cancer. There is so much Darcy wants to talk to her mother about: the war and what happened to the soldiers who were there; the feelings she is having for the new (and troubled) boy in school. But she can’t. So she finds solace in her mother’s garden. There she can help the flowers her mother planted bloom.
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
ISBN: 0307433404
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 290
Book Description
It is 1974 and the country is still struggling to come to terms with the Vietnam War. In the small town of Conners, Georgia, Darcy has just started high school, her older sister Adel goes to weekend dances at the local Army base, and their mother tends her beautiful garden–the biggest and best in town. But Darcy’s world is soon changed forever when her mother goes to Atlanta for tests. The diagnosis is not good–breast cancer. There is so much Darcy wants to talk to her mother about: the war and what happened to the soldiers who were there; the feelings she is having for the new (and troubled) boy in school. But she can’t. So she finds solace in her mother’s garden. There she can help the flowers her mother planted bloom.
The Girl In
Author: Melanie Wallace
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0544784200
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
A “soulful and exquisite” (Shelf Awareness) novel about an abandoned young woman and her infant son, the townspeople who provide them with shelter, and the secrets that all of them are keeping. “In this exceptional novel, Melanie Wallace conveys the depths and complexities of life in a seemingly uneventful New England village. The Girl in the Garden strikingly affirms Eudora Welty’s belief ‘that one place understood helps us understand all other places better.’?”—Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena When June arrives on the coast of New England, baby in arms, an untrustworthy man by her side, Mabel—who rents them a cabin—senses trouble. A few days later, the girl and her child are abandoned. June is soon placed with Mabel’s friend, Iris, in town, and her life becomes entwined with a number of locals who have known each other for decades: a wealthy recluse with a tragic past; a widow in mourning; a forsaken daughter returning for the first time in years, with a stranger in tow; and a kindly WWII veteran who serves as the town’s sage. Surrounded by the personal histories and secrets of others, June finds the way forward for herself and her son becoming determined by the others’ pasts, including loves—and crimes—from years ago. In vivid, nuanced prose, Melanie Wallace—“a writer with a tender regard for the marginal, the missing, and the lost” (Hilary Mantel)—explores the time-tested bonds of a small community, the healing power of friendship and love, and whether the wrongs of the past can ever be made right. “Powerful…A quiet, contemplative novel that builds slowly and leaves a lasting impact.”—Publishers Weekly
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0544784200
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
A “soulful and exquisite” (Shelf Awareness) novel about an abandoned young woman and her infant son, the townspeople who provide them with shelter, and the secrets that all of them are keeping. “In this exceptional novel, Melanie Wallace conveys the depths and complexities of life in a seemingly uneventful New England village. The Girl in the Garden strikingly affirms Eudora Welty’s belief ‘that one place understood helps us understand all other places better.’?”—Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena When June arrives on the coast of New England, baby in arms, an untrustworthy man by her side, Mabel—who rents them a cabin—senses trouble. A few days later, the girl and her child are abandoned. June is soon placed with Mabel’s friend, Iris, in town, and her life becomes entwined with a number of locals who have known each other for decades: a wealthy recluse with a tragic past; a widow in mourning; a forsaken daughter returning for the first time in years, with a stranger in tow; and a kindly WWII veteran who serves as the town’s sage. Surrounded by the personal histories and secrets of others, June finds the way forward for herself and her son becoming determined by the others’ pasts, including loves—and crimes—from years ago. In vivid, nuanced prose, Melanie Wallace—“a writer with a tender regard for the marginal, the missing, and the lost” (Hilary Mantel)—explores the time-tested bonds of a small community, the healing power of friendship and love, and whether the wrongs of the past can ever be made right. “Powerful…A quiet, contemplative novel that builds slowly and leaves a lasting impact.”—Publishers Weekly