|
Water and Abandon, Water and Abandon, 0803238061, 0-8032-3806-1, 978-0-8032-3806-0, 9780803238060, Robert Vivian, Flyover Fiction, Water and Abandon, 0803244630, 0-8032-4463-0, 978-0-8032-4463-4, 9780803244634, Robert Vivian, Flyover Fictio
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 It’s been a year since the body of seventeen-year-old Kelsey Little was found in the river outside Dark Vespers, Nebraska. Although the town may have reached an uneasy equilibrium, those who loved her most have certainly not: Javier Martinez, her troubled ex-boyfriend and the father of the child no one knew she was carrying; Sam and Hank, her parents, whose marriage is coming apart under the pressure of grief and not-knowing; and Ike Parrish, a reclusive eccentric whose clairvoyant “river spells” compel him to come forward with information about Kelsey’s disappearance and death. A prismatic look at the impact of loss on individual lives, Water and Abandon tells the moving and paradoxical story of those brought together by the very thing that tears them apart. Haunted by Kelsey’s death, each struggles with his or her own demons of blame and guilt, despair and fury—until one, in a confusion of pain, grief, and unrequited love, decides to do something dire. As deeply felt as it is finely crafted, the novel confirms Robert Vivian’s place among the most interesting fiction writers of our day.
 Robert Vivian is a professor of English and creative writing at Alma College in Michigan and a core faculty member in the low-residency MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. He is the author of, most recently, The Least Cricket of Evening and the Tall Grass Trilogy, which includes The Mover of Bones, Lamb Bright Saviors, and Another Burning Kingdom, all available from the University of Nebraska Press.
 "In a mesmerizing story that unfolds at a leisurely pace. Vivian deftly illustrates the fragility of life and the consuming nature of loss. Readers who enjoy literary fiction that delves into the nuances of the human psyche will want to read this novel."—Library Journal "In a mesmerizing story that unfolds at a leisurely pace. Vivian deftly illustrates the fragility of life and the consuming nature of loss. Readers who enjoy literary fiction that delves into the nuances of the human psyche will want to read this novel."—Library Journal Review “Robert Vivian’s new gorgeous, haunting novel—so lyrical, precise, and finely wrought—takes us deep into the secret recesses of human life in Dark Vespers, Nebraska, exploring with both grace and power what it is that we can and cannot truly know about one another.”—Richard McCann, author of Mother of Sorrows “In prose that is at once lush and startlingly luminous, Robert Vivian’s latest novel lays bare the complexities of loss and grace. Water and Abandon reminds us of the power of language to reveal the mysterious wonders of deeply felt truths. Vivian understands the human heart like few others.”—Connie May Fowler, author of How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly
Publication of this volume was assisted by the Virginia Faulkner Fund, established in memory of Virginia Faulkner, editor in chief of the University of Nebraska Press.
|
|
Also of Interest
|
|
|
|