The Girl Who Fell from the Sky - Hardcover

Durrow, Heidi W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565126807 ISBN 13: 9781565126800

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2010

Synopsis

After a family tragedy orphans her, Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., moves into her grandmother's mostly black community in the 1980s, where she must swallow her grief and confront her identity as a biracial woman in a world that wants to see her as either black or white. A first novel.

About this title

Review:

“Artfully constructed and beautifully written, ‘The Girl Who Fell from the Sky’ is at once a mediation on race and those who bridge its arbitrary distinctions and a mystery that involves and holds the reader to the very last page. Durrow writes with smarts and sensitivity about those who claim more than one identity."

(Hettie Jones - author of 'How I Became Hettie Jones')

“Heidi Durrow’s first novel stunned me and partially broke my heart ... Ms. Durrow has created a resonant world all of her own.”

(Susan Straight - author of 'A Million Nightingales')

"A stunning debut for a talented novelist, ‘The Girl Who Fell from the Sky’ will be read and reread as one of the most convincing, original, and moving novels in the distinguishing canon of American interracial literature."

(George Hutchinson - author of 'In Search of Nella Larson: A Biography of the Color Line')

“Captivating and moving ... It would be a mistake to think of ‘The Girl Who Fell from the Sky’ as an ‘issue’ novel when it engages the heart as much as it does the mind – Unforgettable.”

(Whitney Otto - author of 'A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity')

"Heidi Durrow is a wonderfully gifted writer who can summon a voice, a memorable character with bold, swift strokes ... a gem."

(Jay Parini - author of 'Promised Land')

“When I first envisioned the Bellwether Prize, I imagined all the best qualities of fiction: vivid language, compelling characters, and clear moral vision. Novels just like this one, Heidi Durrow’s breathless telling of a tale we’ve never heard before. Haunting and lovely, pitch-perfect, this book could not be more timely.”

(Barbara Kingsolver - author 'The Poisonwood Bible' and founder of the Bellwether Prize)

"A remarkable novel. It unfolds its secrets with the perfect placement of a mystery--I had trouble putting it down--while its core story about a mother's desperate act recalls the insights of a writer no less than Toni Morrison. Durrow writes fearlessly about race, memory, and family--she is a writer to watch."

(Joan Silber - author of 'Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories' (National Book Award Finalist))

"What can I say about a novel that kept me up reading until four in the morning? As exquisitely written as a poem, Durrow's novel about a biracial girl's struggle to reclaim what happened one shocking day on a city rooftop, lifts the veil on these stories we tell to save ourselves and those we love. An achingly powerful exploration of family, love and race, from a brilliantly talented author."

(Caroline Leavitt - author of Girls in Trouble and Pictures of You)

Book Description:

Winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction

Following in the footsteps of Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, comes the haunting portrait of a young girl and the inspiring tale of her survival against all the odds.

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1565126807
• ISBN 13: 9781565126800
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264