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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
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THE STARBOARD SEA

Amber Dermont

Exciting debut novel.

After the alleged suicide of his friend and sailing partner, Jason Prosper transfers to a New England boarding school to finish his senior year. Here amidst the stock market collapse of 1987, the abuses of class privilege, the mutability of sexual desire, and the risks of competitive sailing Jason must navigate the depths of his emotions, while finding his moral center, forgiving himself, and accepting the gift of love. AMBER DERMONT received her MFA in fiction from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. Her short stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, including Dave Eggers' Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005, Ann Patchett's The Best American Short Stories 2006, and Jane Smiley's Best New American Voices 2006. A graduate of Vassar College, she received her Ph.D. in creative writing and literature from the University of Houston. She currently serves as an assistant professor of english and creative writing at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

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Book Published 2023-03-10 by St. Martin's Press

Comments

"The Starboard Sea is a touching, beautiful and deeply wise novel, a hymn to the bittersweet glories of youth. You will be enthralled."

"With unflinching wit, Amber Dermont examines the harsh vicissitudes of life, and though the worlds she creates are often unsettling places, her sense of detail always makes for a pleasurable read. There is a vibrant lucidity to her language, a daring music Her characters are simultaneously able to articulate their pain, pass judgment on their own behavior and pardon themselves for their transgressions."

"Amber Dermont has conjured up a preppy hall of mirrors, filled with hauntingly complex characters, grand houses and borrowed art, privilege and paybacks, and friendship touched with malice. The Starboard Sea blends propulsive mystery, lost love, and mournful coming of age into something layered, wise, and completely riveting."

"...a rich, quietly artful novel that is bound for deep water, with questions of beauty, power and spiritual navigation..." Read more...

"engrossing debut novel"

"In a series of seemingly effortless strokes, Amber Dermont's The Starboard Sea has brought to life one of America's great literary outcasts. Set adrift in a storm of his own making, Dermont's Jason Prosper takes us on a journey into the darker depths of our human capabilities. Damaged and dangerous, by turns as despicable as he is lovable, Prosper's voyage is a treasure from a writer of dazzling gifts."

"...a portrait of teenage love, the exquisite pain of grief and regret, and the exhilarating world of competitive sailing...in more than a few instances The Starboard Sea feels like a distant cousin of The Great Gatsby.” Read more...

"Amber Dermont's beautiful first novel explores just what it should: the dangers and joys of emergence into adulthood. Dermont has an extraordinarily observant eye and an elegant voice, and she illuminates particular aspects of her world sailing, gender, class -- with intelligence and compassion. Brava for this impressive debut."

"The Starboard Sea is a beautifully layered novel with an authenticity that takes the reader beyond the clichés of rich preppies and exposes a world that is vivid, compelling, and heart wrenching. With it, Amber Dermont establishes herself as an exciting new American talent."