Sweet Lamb of Heaven – A Novel - Hardcover

Millet, Lydia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393285545 ISBN 13: 9780393285543

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016

Synopsis

Lydia Millet's chilling new novel is the first-person account of a young mother, Anna, escaping her cold and unfaithful husband, a businessman who's just launched his first campaign for political office. When Ned chases Anna and their six-year-old daughter from Alaska to Maine, the two go into hiding in a run-down motel on the coast. But the longer they stay, the less the guests in the dingy motel look like typical tourists--and the less Ned resembles a typical candidate. As his pursuit of Anna and their child moves from threatening to criminal, Ned begins to alter his wife's world in ways she never could have imagined.

A double-edged and satisfying story with a strong female protagonist, a thrilling plot, and a creeping sense of the apocalyptic, Sweet Lamb of Heaven builds to a shattering ending with profound implications for its characters--and for all of us.

About this title

Review:

Operating, as always, on multiple levels with artistic panache, emotional precision, and profound intent, Millet transforms a violent family conflict into a war of cosmic proportions over nothing less than life itself.--Donna Seaman (04/26/2016)

[O]nce it gets its hooks into you, it doesn't let go.--John Warner

[A] novel so eerie, so chilling and provocative, that you might find yourself rethinking everything you thought you knew about language, belief, and where our human race might be going.--Caroline Leavitt

[W]e have a real thriller on our hands...part of a higher-stakes game being played by Millet, one that will ultimately, unabashedly touch on time, beauty, horror, God, demons and the very nature of being. By novel's end...the stakes have been raised through the roof.--Laird Hunt

[A]n extraordinary metaphysical thriller from one of America's most inventive novelists.--Laura Miller"Where Is the Voice Coming From?" (05/05/2016)

A rare pleasure to read... Millet's fine prose [is] as rich with fresh imagery as it is open-minded to life's hidden possibilities.--Matthew Gilbert (05/03/2016)

Millet's prose is stunning...you'll have a hard time putting this down.--Isabella Biedenharn

Millet's sense of pacing is acute and her prose is glittering and exact.

We didn't know we needed a metaphysical thriller, but here Millet is with a fine one... A feat of genre-breaking.--Mark Athitakis

Millet evinces a rare capacity to surprise and fascinate readers... Unpredictable in the best sense, Millet's eye-opening stories and conceptions are irresistibly interesting. This may be her most beguiling and accessible creation yet.--David Wright

About the Author:

Lydia Millet has written twelve works of fiction, which have won PEN-USA and Academy of Arts and Letters fiction prizes and been New York Times Notables and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalists, among other honors. She lives in Arizona.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0393285545
• ISBN 13: 9780393285543
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256