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Polished, well-educated Trudy can argue Kant over dinner and play a respectable portion of Mozart's Serenade in G major. Her parents have laid out a lovely future for her, and everyone understands that it's only a matter of time before she marries the son of their closest friends. All should be well in her world, and yet Trudy is restless, and desperate for more stimulation than 1890s Milwaukee will allow. When she falls in love with enigmatic and ambitious Oskar, she believes she's found her escape from the banality of her pre-ordained life.
Alienated from Trudy's family and friends, the couple moves across the country to take a job at a lighthouse Point Lucia, California - an unnervingly isolated outcropping, trapped between the ocean and hundreds of miles of inaccessible wilderness. They meet the light station's only inhabitants - the formidable and guarded Crawleys. In this unfamiliar place, Trudy will find that nothing is as she might have predicted, especially after she discovers what hides among the rocks.
Gorgeously detailed, swiftly paced, and anchored in the dramatic geography of the remote and eternally mesmerizing Big Sur, The Edge of the Earth is a magical story of secrets and self-transformation, ruses and rebirths. Christina Schwarz, celebrated for her rich evocation of place and vivid, unpredictable characters, has sup another haunting and unforgettable tale.
"Starred Review. This novel is a wonderful story and a deep meditation on the meaning of work and knowledge. It's also a compelling imagining of its time and place, making it a good choice for lovers of historical fiction." - Booklist
"The disconcertingly abrupt tragedy that concludes this plot thread is disruptive, but fortunately, it doesn't detract too much from an otherwise compelling period story." - Publishers Weekly
"Strong characters and plotting - including a nifty final twist involving Jane - maintain the interest in a rather slowly paced narrative." - Kirkus
"A gripping story." - Kate Alcott, bestselling author of The Dressmaker
"Schwarz is a masterful storyteller." - Laura Moriarty, bestselling author of The Chaperone
This information about The Edge of the Earth 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.
Photograph by Deone Jahnke
Christina Schwarz was raised in southern Wisconsin on farmland that has been in her family for generations. She has a B.A. and M.A. in English from Yale. Christina taught high school English while she was working on her first novel, Drowning Ruth, which was published in 2000 and was selected for Oprah's book club in September 2000. Her novels range from modern satire (All Is Vanity) to the chronicle of a contemporary marriage (So Long At the Fair) to gothic drama set in the past (Drowning Ruth). Her latest work, The Edge of the Earth is a return to a historical setting and a mysterious plot line.
In addition to Wisconsin, she has lived in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, England, New York City, Boston, and New Hampshire. She now lives in southern California, with her family of ...
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