Perfect - Hardcover

Joyce, Rachel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410467333 ISBN 13: 9781410467331

Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc, 2014

Synopsis

A spellbinding novel that will resonate with readers of Mark Haddon, Louise Erdrich, and John Irving, "Perfect "tells the story of a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world with far-reaching consequences.
Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning that looks like any other: his school uniform draped over his wooden desk chair, his sister arguing over the breakfast cereal, the click of his mother's heels as she crosses the kitchen. But when the three of them leave home, driving into a dense summer fog, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something happens, something completely unexpected and at odds with life as Byron understands it. While his mother seems not to have noticed, eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same.
What happened and who is to blame? Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron's perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, James, and together they concoct a plan. . . .
As she did in her debut, "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, " Rachel Joyce has imagined bewitching characters who find their ordinary lives unexpectedly thrown into chaos, who learn that there are times when children must become parents to their parents, and who discover that in confronting the hard truths about their pasts, they will forge unexpected relationships that have profound and surprising impacts. Brimming with love, forgiveness, and redemption, "Perfect "will cement Rachel Joyce's reputation as one of fiction's brightest talents.
Praise for Rachel Joyce
"Perfect"
""Perfect" is a poignant and powerful book, rich with empathy and charged with beautiful, atmospheric writing."--Tana French, author of "In the Woods "and" Broken Harbor"
"[Rachel] Joyce, showing the same talent for adroit plot development seen in the bestselling "The Unlikely Pilgrimage""of Harold Fry, " brings both narrative strands together in a shocking, redemptive denouement.""--Publishers Weekly"
" "
"["Perfect"'s] unputdownable factor . . . lies in its exploration of so many multilayered emotions. There is the unbreakable bond between mother and son, the fear of not belonging . . . and how love can offer redemption.""--London Evening Standard"
" "
"The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry"
"[Rachel Joyce] has a lovely sense of the possibilities of redemption. . . . She's cleared space where miracles are still possible."--Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"
" "
"Joyce's beguiling debut is [a] modest-seeming story of 'ordinary' English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds."--"People" (four stars)
" "
"[A] gorgeously poignant novel of hope and transformation.""--O: The Oprah Magazine"
" "
"A gentle adventure with an emotional wallop. It's a smart, feel-good story. . . . I can't think of a better recommendation for summer reading. And take your time, just as Harold does."--Bob Minzesheimer, "USA Today"

About this title

Review:

Praise for "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry"
" "
"[Rachel] Joyce's beguiling debut is [a] modest-seeming story of 'ordinary' English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds."--"People" (four stars)
" "
"[A] gorgeously poignant novel of hope and transformation.""--O: The Oprah Magazine"
" "
"A moving story about an ordinary man on an extraordinary journey."--Nancy Horan, author of "Loving Frank"
" "
""The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" is not just a book about lost love. It is about all the wonderful everyday things Harold discovers through the mere process of putting one foot in front of the other."--"The New York Times"

"[Rachel Joyce] has a lovely sense of the possibilities of redemption. . . . She's cleared space where miracles are still possible."--Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"

Advance praise for "Perfect"
" "
"Out of the smallest, most delicate building blocks, Rachel Joyce gradually builds a towering sense of menace. She understands people, in all their intricacy and vulnerability, in a way few writers do. "Perfect" is a poignant and powerful book, rich with empathy and charged with beautiful, atmospheric writing."--Tana French, bestselling author of "In the Woods" and "Broken Harbor"
"Joyce, showing the same talent for adroit plot development seen in the bestselling "The Unlikely Pilgrimmage of Harold Fry, " brings both narrative strands together in a shocking, redemptive denouement.""--Publishers Weekly"
Praise from the U.K.
"Readers who loved "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry "will not be disappointed."--"The Sunday Times"
" "
"Joyce is no novice--she has done something more ambitious, darker and more honest [than "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry"]."--"The Guardian"
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"A compelling novel about the crushing restrictions that class and gender can impose, the burden of parental expectation, and the stigma attached to mental illness . . . an affecting tale."--"The Independent"
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"If only there were more novelists like Rachel Joyce. . . . Diana herself is faultless. She is to "Perfect" what Harold Fry was to "Unlikely" a fully rounded hero, someone to fall in love with."--"The Telegraph"
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"You will end up grinning dippily and recommending this wild, searching book to everyone you know."--"The Times "(London)
" "
"["Perfect"'s] unputdownable factor . . . lies in its exploration of so many multilayered emotions. There is the unbreakable bond between mother and son, the fear of not belonging, loneliness, grief, guilt, depression, loss, the destructive nature of mental illness and how love can offer redemption. Although Joyce made her name as a playwright and gives great dialogue, it is her descriptive powers that make the novel so vivid."--"London Evening Stan

Praise for Rachel Joyce

"Perfect"

""Perfect" is a poignant and powerful book, rich with empathy and charged with beautiful, atmospheric writing."--Tana French, author of "In the Woods "and" Broken Harbor"

"[Rachel] Joyce, showing the same talent for adroit plot development seen in the bestselling "The Unlikely Pilgrimage""of Harold Fry, " brings both narrative strands together in a shocking, redemptive denouement.""--Publishers Weekly"
" "
"["Perfect"'s] unputdownable factor . . . lies in its exploration of so many multilayered emotions. There is the unbreakable bond between mother and son, the fear of not belonging . . . and how love can offer redemption.""--London Evening Standard"
" "
"The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry"

"[Rachel Joyce] has a lovely sense of the possibilities of redemption. . . . She's cleared space where miracles are still possible."--Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"
" "
"Joyce's beguiling debut is [a] modest-seeming story of 'ordinary' English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds."--"People" (four stars)
" "
"[A] gorgeously poignant novel of hope and transformation.""--O: The Oprah Magazine"
" "
"A gentle adventure with an emotional wallop. It's a smart, feel-good story. . . . I can't think of a better recommendation for summer reading. And take your time, just as Harold does."--Bob Minzesheimer, "USA Today"

Book Description:

A new Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry with a very different but equally unlikely and heartrending hero. A story of secrets, a terrible mistake, and the destructive nature of perfection.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1410467333
• ISBN 13: 9781410467331
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 545