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Book Summary and Reviews of Valley of Ashes by Cornelia Read

Valley of Ashes by Cornelia Read

Valley of Ashes

A Novel

by Cornelia Read

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Published:
  • Aug 2012, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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Madeline Dare trades New York's gritty streets for the tree-lined avenues of Boulder, Colorado when her husband Dean lands a promising job. Madeline, now a full-time homemaker and mother to beautiful toddler twin girls, has achieved everything she thought she always wanted, but with her husband constantly on the road, she's fighting a losing battle against the Betty Friedan riptide of suburban/maternal exhaustion, angst, and sheer loneliness. A new freelance newspaper gig helps her get her mojo back, but Boulder isn't nearly as tranquil as it seems: there's a serial arsonist at large in the city. As Madeline closes in on the culprit, the fires turn deadly - and the stakes tragically personal. She'll need every ounce of strength and courage she has to keep the flames from reaching her own doorstep, threatening all she holds most dear.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"There's an inevitable sense of doom throughout, which Read doles out in perfectly proportioned doses." - Publishers Weekly

"A fast-paced, well-written book that will appeal to readers not bothered by profanity." - Kirkus Reviews

"I have been on the Cornelia Read bandwagon since her remarkable debut, but even my already ardent admiration didn't prepare me for the heights she could achieve as a writer. Valley of Ashes, like all the Madeline Dare books, is smart and surprising, acknowledging the cumulative power of Madeline's troubled past while daring to suggest an even more challenging future. Riveting and devastating." - Laura Lippman

This information about Valley of Ashes 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.

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Author Information

Cornelia Read

Cornelia Read grew up in New York, California, and Hawaii. She is a reformed debutante who currently lives in New York City.

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