Brief Description
Joan Didion's electrifying first novel begins with a murder on the bank of the Sacramento River--a murder that is at once an act of vengeance and a blind attempt to shore up a disintegrating marriage. Out of that act, Didion constructs a tragic and beautifully nuanced work of fiction.
Learn More about the Book
Joan Didion's electrifying first novel is a haunting portrait of a marriage whose wrong turns and betrayals are at once absolutely idiosyncratic and a razor-sharp commentary on the history of California. Everett McClellan and his wife, Lily, are the great-grandchildren of pioneers, and what happens to them is a tragic epilogue to the pioneer experience, a story of murder and betrayal that only Didion could tell with such nuance, sympathy, and suspense.
Review Quotes
1. " There hasn't been another American writer of Joan Didion's quality since Nathanael West.... [She has] a vision as bleak and precise as Eliot's." -- John Leonard, "The New York Times"
" A slant of vision that is arresting and unique . . . Didion might be an observer from another planet-- one so edgy and alert that she ends up knowing more about our own world than we know ourselves." " "-- Anne Tyler, "New Republic"
" A beautifully told first novel . . . written in prose both witty and imaginative." -- "The Times Literary Supplement "(London)
2. "There hasn't been another American writer of Joan Didion's quality since Nathanael West.... [She has] a vision as bleak and precise as Eliot's." John Leonard, "The New York Times""A slant of vision that is arresting and unique . . . Didion might be an observer from another planet one so edgy and alert that she ends up knowing more about our own world than we know ourselves."" " Anne Tyler, "New Republic""A beautifully told first novel . . . written in prose both witty and imaginative." "The Times Literary Supplement "(London)"
