Book description
Hailed by Kent Haruf as 'one of the truest and most original new voices in American letters', Mark Spragg now tells the story of a complex, prodigal homecoming. Jean Gilkyson, pregnant when her husband was killed, is raising their daughter Griff when, in an Iowa trailerhouse with yet another brutal…
Why read it?
1 author picked An Unfinished Life as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I am a sucker for stories of redemption, especially those that show even the most entrenched people are capable of change.
Make the agent of change a child, and you’ve got me for sure. Place the story in the hands of a lyrical writer and then locate it in the hard-loved, haunting beauty of my native state—Wyoming—and it’s a hopeless match.
An Unfinished Life tells of the escape from an abusive boyfriend by Jean Gilkyson and her ten-year-old daughter Griff. With nowhere left to go, they take refuge with Jean's estranged father-in-law, Einar, a more-than-reluctant host who blames Jean for…
From Mark's list on The best novels that feature unlikely friendships or unexpected pairings.
If you love An Unfinished Life...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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