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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
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English
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THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE

Zoe Whittall

Shortlisted for the 2016 Giller Prize

George Woodbury, an affable teacher and beloved husband and father, is arrested for statutory rape at a prestigious prep school in Connecticut. While he awaits trial, his family is left to pick up the pieces. His wife, Joan, a trauma nurse, is unable to triage her emotional reactions, vaulting between denial and rage. Daughter Sadie, the consummate overachiever, finds herself paralyzed on her boyfriend's couch with a bong, while a local author attempts to exploit her story. Their son, Andrew, a lawyer in New York, assists in his father's defense while wrestling with the unhappy memories of his own teen years in high school. The story unfolds over a one-year period as the family waits for the trial to begin and as they each struggle to support George while privately grappling with the possibility of his guilt.

Zoe Whittall is a tour de force - one of the sharpest, young talents we have in Canada right now. She has a large following and has received much acclaim for her previous novels, including a Lambda Literary Award for Holding Still for as Long as Possible, which was also an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book.
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Book

Published 2016-07-01 by House of Anansi Press

Comments

Profile: Zoe Whittall's timely new novel shows her to be a writer who defies easy categorization Read more...

Sarah Polley options Zoe Whitall's bestselling novel.Polley will write the screenplay and plans to direct the feature film. Read more...

Zoe Whitall's THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE delves into rape culture with a family broken by secrets. Read more...

(... ) Whittall's intuitive understanding of human nature makes The Best Kind of People a gripping novel, one that shines a light on family dynamics under extreme pressure. Read more...

THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE shortlisted for the Giller Prize 2016. Jury Citation: The jury found Zoe Whittall's The Best Kind of People urgent and timely, nuanced and brave. This gripping story challenges how we hear women and girls, and dissects the self-hypnosis and fear that prevent us from speaking disruptive truth. With subversive precision and solid veracity, Whittall calls into question pervasive forms of silence and acquiescence. Read more...

USA: Ballantine (Andrea Miller); UK: Hodder & Stoughton (2017);

(...) The morality tale by this Toronto writer depicts the banality of rape culture and malfeasance when a sex scandal blows up in rural Connecticut. (...) Read more...

The Best Kind of People arrives at exactly the right moment. Interview with Zoe Whitall Read more...