{"product_id":"the-kept-9780062236654","title":"The Kept","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Dark and mysterious. . . . A novel whose daring is found in its bleakness. . . . The plot unfolds with a weighty languor reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. . . sparse, elegant. . . haunting.\" -- \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSet in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with \u003cem\u003eThe Kept\u003c\/em\u003e--a propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, in which a mother and her young son embark on a quest to avenge a terrible and violent tragedy that has shattered their secluded family.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the winter of 1897, a trio of killers descends upon an isolated farm in upstate New York. Midwife Elspeth Howell returns home to the carnage: her husband, and four of her children, murdered. Before she can discover her remaining son Caleb, alive and hiding in the kitchen pantry, another shot rings out over the snow-covered valley. Twelve-year-old Caleb must tend to his mother until she recovers enough for them to take to the frozen wilderness in search of the men responsible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA scorching portrait of a merciless world--of guilt and lost innocence, atonement and retribution, resilience and sacrifice, pregnant obsession and primal adolescence--\u003cem\u003eThe Kept\u003c\/em\u003e introduces an old-beyond-his-years protagonist as indelible and heartbreaking as Mattie Ross of \u003cem\u003eTrue Grit\u003c\/em\u003e or Jimmy Blevins of \u003cem\u003eAll the Pretty Horses\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as a shape-shifting mother as enigmatic and mysterious as a character drawn by Russell Banks or Marilynne Robinson. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harper Perennial\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/06\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780062236654\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 4.90w x 0.90d","brand":"James Scott","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42916756324533,"sku":"9780062236654","price":13.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_abad51f3-38b3-4eca-8a8a-2a5caff99e01.jpg?v=1687270247","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-kept-9780062236654","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}