| Vendor | |
|---|---|
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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher |
| Original language | |
| English | |
| Categories | |
| Weblink | |
| http://www.olgagrushin.com | |
FORTY ROOMS
FORTY ROOMS is the literary journey of an extremely imaginative female protagonist from childhood in Moscow to love and seemingly happy marriage in America. What follows are the decades of births and deaths, the celebrations and material accumulations—until one day, her children grown and gone, her husband absent, she finds herself alone, except for the ghosts of her youth.
The much-loved child of a late marriage, our protagonist is nearing five when FORTY ROOMS opens. Her parents are Moscow intelligentsia, and their apartment rings with the voices of their friends as they argue about poetry and life late into the night.
The child understands only bits of this. For her, these people are gods and mermaids, myths and fairy tales. We follow this child as she reaches adolescence, leaves home for America, discovers sexual happiness and love. But her hunger for adventure and her longing to be a great poet conspire to kill the affair. She seems to have made her choice.
But one day, she runs into a college classmate. He is sure of his aims, protective of her, and, as an added inducement, a great cook—they drift into love and marriage. What follows are the decades of births and deaths, the celebrations and material accumulations—until one day, her children grown and gone, her husband absent, she finds herself alone, except for the ghosts of her youth.
Compelling and complex, FORTY ROOMS is also deeply affecting, its ending shattering but true.
Olga Grushin was born in Moscow in 1971 and became a US citizen in 2002. Her first novel, The Dream Life of Sukhanov, earned her a place on Granta’s list of Best Young American Novelists and the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award and was a finalist for both The Los Angeles Times’ Best First Novel and the Orange Prize. Both it and her second novel, The Line, earned international accolades and made many best-of-the-year lists. (See the attached selection of praise.)
The child understands only bits of this. For her, these people are gods and mermaids, myths and fairy tales. We follow this child as she reaches adolescence, leaves home for America, discovers sexual happiness and love. But her hunger for adventure and her longing to be a great poet conspire to kill the affair. She seems to have made her choice.
But one day, she runs into a college classmate. He is sure of his aims, protective of her, and, as an added inducement, a great cook—they drift into love and marriage. What follows are the decades of births and deaths, the celebrations and material accumulations—until one day, her children grown and gone, her husband absent, she finds herself alone, except for the ghosts of her youth.
Compelling and complex, FORTY ROOMS is also deeply affecting, its ending shattering but true.
Olga Grushin was born in Moscow in 1971 and became a US citizen in 2002. Her first novel, The Dream Life of Sukhanov, earned her a place on Granta’s list of Best Young American Novelists and the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award and was a finalist for both The Los Angeles Times’ Best First Novel and the Orange Prize. Both it and her second novel, The Line, earned international accolades and made many best-of-the-year lists. (See the attached selection of praise.)
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Book
Published 2016-02-01 by Marian Wood Books/Putnam |
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Book
Published 2016-02-01 by Marian Wood Books/Putnam |