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A Novel
by Lise Saffran
Paperback Original. Jenny Alexander has sought refuge from a troubled past on a tiny, verdant island, off the coast of Washington state. Surrounded by the cold water of the Puget Sound, she does her best to raise her girls, innocent Frankie, and thrill-seeking Lilly, in a tight-knit community of eccentrics and dreamers.
The island bursts open each summer with the arrival of actors leading the annual Shakespeare production. A handsome thespian from New York reawakens Jenny to long-buried desires. As the intensity of rehearsals builds toward the live run of The Tempest, a potent mixture of actors, islanders and tourists, besotted by verse and swept up in the romance of the theater, spills the enchantment of the play into the lives of the players.
When Jenny finds her daughters caught up in a "brave new world" of love and heartbreak, she is ultimately thrust into a command performance that will resonate in all their lives.
"[A] wonderfully immersive debut...Saffran's prose is delicate and precise, and her focus on the Bard reveals an obvious affection for the English language." - Publishers Weekly
"Debut novelist Saffran paints a nice portrait of a close-knit, creative community and all the quirks that go along with it. Shakespearean references abound, which makes for a treat for literary fiction fans, yet it's done with a light enough touch that those unfamiliar with The Tempest or other such works won't feel left out." - Library Journal
"While the dialogue is occasionally wooden, and the plot mildly erratic, debut novelist Saffran presents an easy-to-read, heartwarming tale of the mother-daughter relationship." - Booklist
"Saffran's prose is wonderful, but her characters wax self-indulgent at times ... This debut novel will resonate with some and make others want to grab the main character, shake her by the shoulders and tell her to grow up already." - Kirkus
This information about Juno's Daughters 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.
Lise Saffran is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow. Her short fiction has appeared ina variety of literary magazines. She lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her husband and two sons.
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I like a thin book because it will steady a table...
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