Days of Awe (Vintage Contemporaries) - Softcover

Fox, Lauren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0307388271 ISBN 13: 9780307388278

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2016

Synopsis

Only a year ago Isabel Moore was married, was the object of adoration for her ten-year-old daughter, and thought she knew everything about her best friend, Josie. But in one short year Isabel's husband moved out; her daughter grew into a moody insomniac; and Josie--impulsive, funny, secretive Josie--was killed behind the wheel in a single-car accident that's left a mess of unanswered questions in its wake.

Suddenly, the relationships that have always defined Isabel--wife, mother, best friend--are changing before her eyes. As Isabel struggles to understand who she really is, Lauren Fox brings us a daring book that explores marriage, motherhood, and the often surprising shape of new love.

About this title

Review:

"Funny, mordant, and heartbreaking, Days of Awe is a marvel." --Christina Baker Kline, bestselling author of Orphan Train

"Darkly hilarious. . . . There are veins of Anne Lamott running through these pages, a sweet blend of sentimentality and wit." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"As Fox deconstructs the myth of perfect womanhood, her humor and humanity remind us that love's the only lifeboat through grief." --People, "Book of the Week"

"Fox paints touching portraits of the bonds between mothers and daughters. . . . Careful and nuanced." --Patricia Park, The New York Times Book Review

"[Has] the same sly humor and snappy dialogue that has made Fox one of my favorite novelists to recommend." --Meganne Fabrega, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The fearlessness with which Fox frees her women to behave badly heightens both the credibility and the pleasure of her fiction." --The Boston Globe

"No contemporary novelist makes me stop as often to mark or admire one of her sentences. . . . Were Days of Awe the pilot script for a TV series, elderly actresses would throw elbows to audition for Helene. . . . Poignant." --Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Days of Awe is clever, funny, and emotional, the kind of book another writer reads jealously, wishing to have written it. Honest and accurate about female friendship, this is my favorite Lauren Fox book yet." --Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses and The Smart One

"What makes the book so special is Isabel's smart, acerbic voice and her way of seeing everything from a sharp angle. . . . . Isabel (and Fox) has such an offbeat way of looking at things that you'll eagerly keep reading just to see what she's going to say next. Read it for the magnetic voice and Fox's ever interesting perspective on work, love, friendship, and parenthood." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"[Fox's] characters are undeniably human. Isabel is messy and imperfect, frustrating yet likable." --Entertainment Weekly

"Beautiful, heartfelt." --Bookreporter

"Raw and darkly humorous . . . Fox's novel is a winner." --Publishers Weekly

"An insightful novel . . . that explores how grief can make every arena of life feel suddenly disorienting. . . . Frank, thought-provoking. . . . Fox once again explores, with a smart and refreshing perspective, the underside of friendships, marriage, love and loss--and the range of emotions that can plague and liberate the human heart." --Shelf Awareness

"Fox delivers a story about all the things that keep us awake at night: marriage, parenthood, friendship, bereavement, workplace rivalries, aging parents, cultural identity, starting over. And yet with all it encompasses, this book never falters once. The pace is brisk, the suspense high, the heartache intense and the ending so authentic you'll want to turn back to page one and start all over, just so you can experience it again. Kind of like real life." --The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

About the Author:

LAUREN FOX is the author of the novels Still Life with Husband and Friends Like Us. She earned her MFA from the University of Minnesota, and her work has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Parenting, Psychology Today, The Rumpus, and Salon. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband and two daughters.

www.laurenfoxwriter.com

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0307388271
• ISBN 13: 9780307388278
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272