The Lotus Eaters - Hardcover

Soli, Tatjana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312611579 ISBN 13: 9780312611576

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2010

Synopsis

A New York Times Best Seller! A New York Times Notable Book!

A unique and sweeping debut novel of an American female combat photographer in the Vietnam War, as she captures the wrenching chaos and finds herself torn between the love of two men.

On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photojournalist, must take leave of a war she is addicted to and a devastated country she has come to love. Linh, the Vietnamese man who loves her, must grapple with his own conflicted loyalties of heart and homeland. As they race to leave, they play out a drama of devotion and betrayal that spins them back through twelve war-torn years, beginning in the splendor of Angkor Wat, with their mentor, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow, once Helen's infuriating love and fiercest competitor, and Linh's secret keeper, boss and truest friend.

Tatjana Soli paints a searing portrait of an American woman’s struggle and triumph in Vietnam, a stirring canvas contrasting the wrenching horror of war and the treacherous narcotic of obsession with the redemptive power of love. Readers will be transfixed by this stunning novel of passion, duty and ambition among the ruins of war.

About this title

Review:

'[A] haunting debut novel...quietly mesmerizing...tough and lyrical book. Its object lessons in how Helen learns to refine her wartime photography are succinct and powerful. By the end of the story – in ways that bring to mind the feverishness of the Iraqi war film “The Hurt Locker”, with its very different locations, job descriptions and wartime imperatives – [Helen] has been utterly transformed. She is no longer a witness to history. As Ms Soli makes her readers understand very viscerally, Helen has become part of the history that she set out to record.’ Janet Maslin, The New York Times

'Tatjana Soli's splendid first novel...Vivid battle scenes, sensual romantic entanglements and elegant writing add to the pleasures of The Lotus Eaters.' The New York Times Book Review (front cover review)

'If it's possible to judge a novel by its first few lines, then The Lotus Eaters, Tatjana Soli's fiction debut, shows great promise right from the start... The author explores Helen's psyche with startling clarity, and portrays the chaotic war raging around her with great attention to seemingly minor details. The real heartbreak in The Lotus Eaters is found in subtle, unexpected moments.' Boston Globe

'As with the Academy Award-winning The Hurt Locker, this novel examines the addiction to that adrenaline rush sometimes experienced by those unlucky enough to fall prey to..."terrible love of war"..."If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough," photojournalist Robert Capa famously said, and this is the dilemma that Helen faces: How close should she get?.. .The Vietnam conflict has receded into the history books, but The Lotus Eaters feels pulled from today's headlines, full of meaning for readers whose country is once again sending men and women to the battlefields, both to fight and to document that fighting.' Washington Post

'Gorgeous sensory details...[an] entrancing debut' People magazine

About the Author:

Tatjana Soli's short stories have been widely published, nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and twice cited in the 100 Distinguished Stories inBest American Short Stories. The Lotus Eaters, her debut novel, was aNew York Times bestseller and Editors Choice and a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Award. Born in Salzburg, Austria, Soli attended Stanford University and the Warren Wilson M.F.A. program. She lives in Orange County, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0312611579
• ISBN 13: 9780312611576
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 389