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Editorial Content for We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence

Teaser

For readers gripped by IN COLD BLOOD and I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, WE KEEP THE DEAD CLOSE is both a haunting true-crime narrative of an unsolved 1969 murder at a prestigious institution and a lyrical memoir of obsession and love for a girl who dreamed of rising among men.

Promo

For readers gripped by IN COLD BLOOD and I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, WE KEEP THE DEAD CLOSE is both a haunting true-crime narrative of an unsolved 1969 murder at a prestigious institution and a lyrical memoir of obsession and love for a girl who dreamed of rising among men.

About the Book

For readers gripped by IN COLD BLOOD and I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, WE KEEP THE DEAD CLOSE is both a haunting true-crime narrative of an unsolved 1969 murder at a prestigious institution and a lyrical memoir of obsession and love for a girl who dreamed of rising among men.

You have to remember, he reminded me, that Harvard is older than the U.S. government. You have to remember because Harvard doesn't let you forget.`

1969: the height of counterculture and the year universities would seek to curb the unruly spectacle of student protest; the winter that Harvard University would begin the tumultuous process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister school; and the year that Jane Britton, an ambitious 23-year-old graduate student in Harvard's Anthropology Department and daughter of Radcliffe Vice President J. Boyd Britton, would be found bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment.

Forty years later, Becky Cooper, a curious undergrad, will hear the first whispers of the story. In the first telling the body was nameless. The story was this: A Harvard student had had an affair with her professor, and the professor had murdered her in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology because she'd threatened to talk about the affair. Though the rumor proves false, the story that unfolds, one that Cooper will follow for 10 years, is even more complex: a tale of gender inequality in academia, a "cowboy culture" among empowered male elites, the silencing effect of institutions, and our compulsion to rewrite the stories of female victims.

WE KEEP THE DEAD CLOSE is a memoir of mirrors, misogyny and murder. It is at once a rumination on the violence and oppression that rules our revered institutions, a ghost story reflecting one young woman's past onto another's present, and a love story for a girl who was lost to history.

Editorial Content for White Ivy

Book

Teaser

From prize-winning Chinese American author Susie Yang, this dazzling coming-of-age novel about a young woman’s dark obsession with her privileged classmate offers sharp insights into the immigrant experience.

Promo

From prize-winning Chinese American author Susie Yang, this dazzling coming-of-age novel about a young woman’s dark obsession with her privileged classmate offers sharp insights into the immigrant experience.

About the Book

From prize-winning Chinese American author Susie Yang, this dazzling coming-of-age novel about a young woman’s dark obsession with her privileged classmate offers sharp insights into the immigrant experience.

Ivy Lin is a thief and a liar --- but you’d never know it by looking at her.

Raised outside of Boston, Ivy’s immigrant grandmother relies on Ivy’s mild appearance for cover as she teaches her granddaughter how to pilfer items from yard sales and second-hand shops. Thieving allows Ivy to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen --- and, most importantly, to attract the attention of Gideon Speyer, the golden boy of a wealthy political family. But when Ivy’s mother discovers her trespasses, punishment is swift and Ivy is sent to China, and her dream instantly evaporates.

Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. Back in Boston, when Ivy bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon’s sister, a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable --- it feels like fate.

Slowly, Ivy sinks her claws into Gideon and the entire Speyer clan by attending fancy dinners, and weekend getaways to the cape. But just as Ivy is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, a ghost from her past resurfaces, threatening the nearly perfect life she’s worked so hard to build.

Filled with surprising twists and a nuanced exploration of class and race, WHITE IVY is a glimpse into the dark side of a woman who yearns for success at any cost.

Katey Schultz, author of Still Come Home

When the odds are stacked against you, doing everything right still might not be enough to protect yourself and the ones you love. The three characters in Katey Schultz’s novel are each searching for the best way to live --- all the while fighting cultural, societal and political forces far beyond their control. As their paths intersect, STILL COME HOME explores how their decisions will forever alter each other’s lives.

Our Reader-Selected Best Books of 2020

Over the last two months, we asked you to share both your favorite book that you read with your book group and your favorite book that you read outside your group in 2020.

The results are in! Below are the top 10 selected titles in each category.

Win 12 Copies of MISS BENSON'S BEETLE by Rachel Joyce for Your Group

Each month, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Note: To be eligible to win, let us know the title of the book that YOUR book group is CURRENTLY reading, NOT the title we are giving away.

Our latest prize book is MISS BENSON'S BEETLE by Rachel Joyce, an uplifting novel about two women on a life-changing adventure, where they must risk everything, break all the rules and discover their best selves --- together. To enter, please fill out the form below by Wednesday, January 6th at noon ET.
 

Author Talk: Katey Schultz, author of Still Come Home

Nov 10, 2020

Katey Schultz’s debut novel, STILL COME HOME, revolves around three characters, each of whom are searching for the best way to be and the best way to live --- all the while fighting cultural, societal and political forces far beyond their control. In this interview, Schultz talks about the book’s plot, what she is reading now, the advice she has for aspiring writers, and her next work in progress.

—Ben Fountain, author of BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK and BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY BURN AGAIN

—Abigail DeWitt, author of NEWS OF OUR LOVED ONES

—David Abrams, author of FOBBIT and BRAVE DEEDS

—John Mauk, author of FIELD NOTES FOR THE EARTHBOUND