Written with the precision of Cynthia Ozick and the blunt passion of Alice Munro, this riveting story takes place on a landscape--the deserts of Eastern Oregon--itself a deeply important character in this remarkable first novel.

Avery is no stranger to the weight of loss, the way it shapes and defines the expanse of a life. The death of her sister, when Avery was just a child herself, engulfed her and her family--a mother driven mad, a father who disappeared, and all the while, neighbors and friends ignoring and surviving. The loss shades Avery's full being, becoming a deep part of her past and her future.

As a young woman, Avery's life in Eastern Oregon ranch country is filled with an acquired family: her partner Davis Lovell, a ranch hand and father figure; Lennie, Lovell's daughter; and Davis's grandparents. When Avery suffers the loss of her and Davis's newborn child, it triggers and revives in her a familiar sense of guilt, one she has carried since childhood over the disintegration of her family.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Counterpoint LLC
Published: 11/08/2011
ISBN: 9781582437705
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 7.80h x 4.90w x 0.60d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 10/10/2011
Library Journal 11/01/2011 pg. 75