Critical Praise

"Hypnotic . . . [A] beautiful gasp of a book."

——Judith Warner, The Washington Post

"Affecting . . . A wonderfully observed portrait of a family fractured and fragmented by grief . . . The delicate emotional fabric of the narrative [is] meticulously woven."

——Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Exquisite . . . The reader watches, in genuine suspense, the struggles of the [novel's three main characters] . . . A master of limited third-person narration, [Dennis McFarland] completely absorbs us . . . The language here is always apt [and] McFarland writes with such integrity about Sarah, Deckard, and Harry that the reader can't help sharing their proud, exclusionary grief. Their actions are true. We care enormously about these people . . . Above all, we come to experience the logic of mourning . . . McFarland's view is focused, and it is also deep."

——Allegra Goodman, The New York Times Book Review

"No novel I've read in recent years conveys with greater accuracy, intensity, and artistry the agonies of grief . . . As with any work of breathtaking prose, the effect is exhilarating."

——Dan Cryer, Newsday