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From the author of Book of the Little Axe, nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the critically acclaimed 'Til the Well Runs Dry, a riveting literary novel with the sharp edges of a thriller about the abuses of history and the costs of revenge, set between Washington, D.C., and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Prudence Wright seems to have it all: a loving husband, Davis; a spacious home in Washington, D.C.; and the former glories of a successful career at McKinsey, which now enables her to dedicate her days to her autistic son, Roland. When she and Davis head out for dinner with one of Davis's new colleagues on a stormy summer evening filled with startling and unwelcome interruptions, Prudence has little reason to think that certain details of her history might arise sometime between cocktails and the appetizer course.
Yet when Davis's colleague turns out to be Matshediso, a man from Prudence's past, she is transported back to the formative months she spent as a law student in South Africa in 1996. As an intern at a Johannesburg law firm, Prudence attended sessions of the Truth and Reconciliation hearings that uncovered the many horrors and human rights abuses of the Apartheid state, and which fundamentally shaped her sense of righteousness and justice. Prudence experienced personal horrors in South Africa as well, long hidden and now at risk of coming to light. When Matshediso finally reveals the real reason behind his sudden reappearance, he will force Prudence to examine her most deeply held beliefs and to excavate inner reserves of resilience and strength.
Lauren Francis-Sharma's previous two novels have established her as a deft chronicler of history and its intersections with flawed humans struggling to find peace in unjust circumstances. With keen insight and gripping tension, Casualties of Truth explosively mines questions of whether we are ever truly able to remove the stains of our past and how we may attempt to reconcile with unquestionable wrongs.
"Thrillingly perceptive, Casualties of Truth is a reminder that no matter how much time passes, we can't escape actions of our own or our country's past." —Booklist (starred review)
"An engrossing story of the complex impacts of trauma stumbles when it pivots to present-day vengeance." —Kirkus Reviews
"The narrative is bracing but tonally unbalanced, veering haphazardly from a meditation on trauma to a high-stakes thriller. It's a mixed bag." —Publishers Weekly
"I could not put this down! Once again, Francis-Sharma's phenomenal prose delivers; here, with exquisite suspense in a revenge story chocked full of thorny characters. This is an unforgiving tale of cat-and-mouse begging us to confront just how far we'd go to take control in a society hell-bent on minimizing our pain. These pages set loose the raging, wicked what-ifs we keep deeply and shamefully hidden inside our basements." —Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming and Anita de Monte Laughs Last
"Clever, provocative, and deeply felt. Casualties of Truth takes a clear and unflinching look at a complex system of oppression and delivers a vividly told and unforgettable story." —Karin Slaughter, New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author
"With laser-sharp prose and a keen eye for psychology, Casualties of Truth gives us a story of vengeance, justice, and the mutations of memory ... This is a world in which no one is perfect, no one is at peace, and nothing can truly be forgotten. As riveting as it is important." —Rebecca Makkai, author of I Have Some Questions for You
This information about Casualties of Truth was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lauren Francis-Sharma is the author of Book of the Little Axe, a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the critically acclaimed novel 'Til the Well Runs Dry. She was a MacDowell fellow and is the Assistant Director of Bread Loaf Writers' Conference at Middlebury College. She resides near Washington, DC, with her family.
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