The Kept - Hardcover

Scott MD, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062236733 ISBN 13: 9780062236739

Publisher: Harper, 2014

Synopsis

Set in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with The Kept--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.

In 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.

A scorching portrait of a merciless world--of guilt and lost innocence, atonement and retribution, resilience and sacrifice, pregnant obsession and primal adolescence--The Kept introduces an old-beyond-his-years protagonist as indelible and heartbreaking as Mattie Ross of True Grit or Jimmy Blevins of All the Pretty Horses, as well as a shape-shifting mother as enigmatic and mysterious as a character drawn by Russell Banks or Marilynne Robinson.

About this title

Review:

"Scott is a master of mood... This landscape is more mythic than historic, and Scott's characters are dark brush strokes of appetite and deceit. His central concern, as a storyteller, is the dynamic of consequence."--New York Times Book Review

"The Kept starts out as a straightforward revenge narrative, then slowly deepens into something much more mysterious and compelling. James Scott has written a riveting and memorable debut novel."-- Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers

"With its vivid sense of time and place, lyrical writing, and complex questions of what constitutes a family, The Kept is an outstanding debut by a bright new voice in American fiction."-- Ron Rash, author of Nothing Gold Can Stay

"The Kept is a brutal and beautiful novel. Written with emotional ascendancy, these rock-ribbed characters illuminate loss, desire, and love. James Scott's debut is a celebration of bracing action, evocative rendering of the past, and literary precision."-- Julianna Baggott, author of Girl Talk and Pure

"The Kept is both a thrilling adventure and a literary triumph. Following the journey of a mother and son who lose everything, only to find each other, James Scott's haunting tale will astonish and enchant you, the words echoing long after the final pages have turned."-- Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief

"What a gripping story teller James Scott is and what a dark and lyrical novel he has written. The Kept is a thrilling debut"--Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy

"A work of historical fiction that is both atmospheric and memorable, suffused with dread and suspense right up to the last page."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Scott is both compassionate moralist and master storyteller in this outstanding debut."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"The author has crafted a laudable, compelling, tightly woven tale with memorable characters. Scott writes with an eloquence that urges the reader to return to passages and reread them just to admire his superb skill. Highly recommended."--Library Journal (starred review)

"[A] bravura debut....It is a testament to the author's artisan-like control that he is able to tease us with Elspeth's crimes from the outset and yet keep the terrible measure of her dereliction at bay until the final clinch, as breathless as it is inevitable."--Boston Globe

Book Description:

How far would you go for your family, for love, for survival, for revenge?

A debut novel of big skies, deep snow, and open wounds, the ambition and sheer brilliance of The Kept is astonishing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062236733
• ISBN 13: 9780062236739
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368