“...a haunting coming-of-age story...sun-dazzled prose that hides a cold, foreboding underbelly...gorgeous writing.” - Gillian Flynn, author of Sharp Objects
“...a vivid portrait of the summer of ‘73...the relationships it expores are timeless...a genuine literary accomplishment.” - Dan Chaon, author of You Remind Me of Me
“[McLain’s] writing is gorgeous, and Jamie and Fawn are heartbreakingly real.” - Katrina Kittle, author of The Kindness of Strangers
“McLain’s writing is lyrical (she’s published two poetry collections), and the characters are achingly real. This is truly the sort of novel that, once started, is difficult to put down. - Bust Magazine
“…poet and memoirist McLain compels as she excavates two tragedies.” - Chicago Sun-Times
“Dark, edgy . . . McClain nails the sense of vulnerability, desperation and undying willingness to comply that many insecure girls experience when they suddenly find themselves basking in the glow of another, more-popular girl.” - Chicago Tribune
“Assured and ambitious... the complicated bonds of a makeshift family... lyrical precision. A deft and haunting book.” - Katharine Noel, author of Halfway House
“Paula McLain has put a poet’s ear to the urgency of adolescence...a strong throb of a first novel.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Filled with mystery and longing, McLain lays bare the raw emotion that guides us all...” - Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle
“...[A] beautifully written book...deeply felt and engrossing--an immense pleasure to read.” - Leah Stewart, author of The Myth of You and Me
“Absorbing, tantalizing, and super-heated as an endless summer day.” - Michelle Wildgen, author of You're Not You
In the long, hot Illinois summer of 1973, insecure, motherless Jamie falls under the dangerous spell of her older, more worldly cousin Fawn, who’s come to stay with Jamie and her uncle as penance for committing an “unmentionable act.”
It is a time of awakenings and corruptions, of tragedy and loss, as Jamie slowly discovers the extent to which Fawn will use anything and anyone to further her own ends—and recognizes, perhaps too late, her own complicity in the disaster that takes shape around them.
“A captivating story about a teenager’s struggle to be accepted by her peers. . . . The story is more than believable—it simply comes alive. The book perfectly captures the free-spirited attitude of the decade and the curiosity of adolescence.”—Tampa Tribune
“McLain compels as she excavates two tragedies.” —Chicago Sun-Times
About the Author
Paula McLain received an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan, and has been a resident of Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. She is the author of two collections of poetry, two novels, and a memoir, and lives in Cleveland with her family.
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