Greenbrier County, West Virginia 1897, the
trial of Trout Shue, on the charge of killing his young wife, is underway.
Two
women stand alone in believing Zona Shue died at the hands of her abusive
husband. But now they must prove it. Inspired by a true story, this book is not
just a page turner but is exceptional in its prose and a masterclass in how to
write beautiful sentences.
The
characters are well drawn, especially the lead Lucy Frye, who is herself a
gifted writer with the desire to be published in a male-dominated world that
says she cannot. She is clever and loyal and strong, seeing through all that
her dear-battered friend Zona could not.
Spanning two continents, the tragedies of the Irish
Famine and the theft of Native American lands, this novel achieves a huge
amount.
In 1849, Honora O’Donoghue survives the horror of her small town’s
enforced starvation, the loss of her child, and the disappearance of her
husband. She escapes to America, and to worlds darker than she ever could have
imagined. Then she meets Joseph, or Blue Horse of the Cayuse people, and for the first time she feels she can at last take flight.
The
comparison of two dispossessed communities is beautifully dealt with here. The
loss, the injustice, the indignity, is stitched into every sentence. Sing, Wild Bird, Sing is not just a
compelling read, but reveals lessons from history that everyone should know
about.
A courageous woman journeys from nineteenth-century Ireland to the American West in a powerful novel about the indomitable will to survive-and to flourish-against nearly impossible odds.
It's 1849 on the west coast of Ireland. Resilient Honora O'Donoghue is accustomed to fending for herself and to reading the language of the natural world. It was always said she'd been marked for something different, but it's not until she suffers devastating losses in a country gripped by the Famine that Honora begins to understand how that difference will save her. With the hope of a better life in America calling, Honora keeps…
In Somebody’s Fool Richard Russo lives up to his name as a writer of
great depth and humour.
Russo simply
makes me laugh and makes me want to live in the towns and alongside the lives
of the characters he creates. These are ordinary everyday folk caught in
situations not usually of their choosing. The town of North Bath is being
subsumed by its wealthier neighbour Schuyler Springs.
As the residents grapple
with these changes and their individual crises, a body is discovered in the
rundown Sans Souci Hotel. Doug Raymer, ex-Chief of Police, finds himself taking
charge as North Bath and its residents unravel. There is delicious warmth and laughter
here in this modern tale of human misunderstanding and tragedy.
'A wise and witty drama of small-town life . . . delivering the generous humour, keen ear for dialogue, and deep appreciation for humanity's foibles that have endeared the author to his readers for decades' Publishers Weekly
Ten years after the death of the magnetic Donald 'Sully' Sullivan, the town of North Bath is going through a major transition as it is taken over by its much wealthier neighbour, Schuyler Springs. Peter, Sully's son, is still grappling with his father's tremendous legacy as well as his relationship to his own son, Thomas, wondering if he has been all that different…
At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish
town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual – though tonight
is anything but. Over the course of this one evening he will raise five toast
to the five most important people in his life. Through these stories – of unspoken
joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found
its voice – the lie of one man is powerfully and poignantly laid bare.
Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan
will stay with you long after all is said. A number-one international
bestseller, When All Is Said is
available on e-book, audio, or hard print worldwide.
