Book cover of The Burgess Boys

Book description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “What truly makes Strout exceptional . . . is the perfect balance she achieves between the tides of story and depths of feeling.”—Chicago Tribune

This edition includes an original essay by Elizabeth Strout about the origins of The Burgess Boys.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Burgess Boys as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Some writers (and readers) prefer the sledgehammer to the scalpel.

I prefer the scalpel and find that Elizabeth Strout consistently wields her blade with skill, subtlety, and soul. As we travel with brothers Jim and Bob from NYC back to the small New England town of their childhood, Strout unravels mysteries that will feel familiar to everyone with siblings.

Their mission is to save their nephew – son of their sister Susan – who has been accused of a hate crime. I find realism a key ingredient in Strout’s writing. These characters are flawed, but that is what makes them…

If you love The Burgess Boys...

Book cover of Resonant Blue and Other Stories

Resonant Blue and Other Stories by Mary Vensel White,

The first collection of award-winning short fiction from the author of Bellflower and Things to See in Arizona, whose writing reflects “how we can endure and overcome our personal histories, better understand our ancestral ones, and accept the unknown future ahead.”

In “Driftwood,” a woman in a sleepy desert…

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The coastal tourist town of Great Wharf, Maine, boasts a crime rate so low you might suspect someone’s lying.

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