Editorial Content for Someone
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
SOMEONE opens with seven-year-old Marie, a girl with thick glasses, waiting for her father to come home from work while the neighborhood boys are playing stickball:
“I shivered and waited, little Marie. Sole survivor, now, of that street scene. Waited for the first sighting of my father, coming up from the subway in his hat and coat, most beloved among all those ghosts.” Read More
Teaser
We first glimpse Marie Commeford as a child: a girl in thick glasses observing her pre-Depression world from a Brooklyn stoop. Through her first heartbreak and eventual marriage; her delicate brother’s brief stint as a Catholic priest and his emotional breakdown; her career as a funeral director’s “consoling angel”; the deaths of her parents and the births of her children --- we follow Marie through the changing world of the 20th century and her Irish-American enclave.
Promo
We first glimpse Marie Commeford as a child: a girl in thick glasses observing her pre-Depression world from a Brooklyn stoop. Through her first heartbreak and eventual marriage; her delicate brother’s brief stint as a Catholic priest and his emotional breakdown; her career as a funeral director’s “consoling angel”; the deaths of her parents and the births of her children --- we follow Marie through the changing world of the 20th century and her Irish-American enclave.
About the Book
An ordinary life --- its sharp pains and unexpected joys, its bursts of clarity and moments of confusion --- lived by an ordinary, but unforgettable woman: this is the subject of SOMEONE, Alice McDermott’s extraordinary seventh novel.
We first glimpse Marie Commeford as a child: a girl in thick glasses observing her pre-Depression world from a Brooklyn stoop. Through her first heartbreak and eventual marriage; her delicate brother’s brief stint as a Catholic priest and his emotional breakdown; her career as a funeral director’s “consoling angel”; the deaths of her parents and the births of her children --- we follow Marie through the changing world of the 20th century and her Irish-American enclave. Rendered with remarkable empathy and insight, SOMEONE is a novel that speaks of life as it is daily lived, with passion and heartbreak, a crowning achievement of one of the finest American writers at work today.
An Interview with Bookreporter.com Reader Diana from Staten Island, NY About Her Experiences at Hachette Reading Group Day
Bookreporter.com Reader Valerie from Secaucus, NJ Reports on Hachette Reading Group Day
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September 2013
September does not just mean the end of summer. For some book groups, it means getting back to book group discussion after the summer hiatus --- for others, it's finally time for the entire group to gather after scattered vacation time. Also, it may mean it’s time for making quarterly or semi-annual book selections. Book group meetings give you a chance not just to talk about the book that has been chosen for discussion, but also to share others you have read throughout the month --- or, in this case, over the entire summer. May we suggest that you allocate a portion of your meeting to this kind of book sharing? After all, from your formal conversations, you know a lot about the tastes of the other readers in your group. Consider this an opportunity for you to hear about books from those whose selections you respect --- and a chance to broaden your reading horizons!
Editorial Content for The Bone SeasonContributorsReviewer (text)Amy Gwiazdowski
My reading has been focused on fantasy the last few months. I tend to waver back and forth between fantasy and historical fiction, so it’s not unusual for me to go overboard on one or the other at any given time. I’ve been fortunate to discover several new authors this year thanks to this reading fixation, and I’m happy to add Samantha Shannon to my list. THE BONE SEASON is a new urban fantasy series, and I’m now patiently waiting for the next book. Read More TeaserIn the year 2059, several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing. But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister than even Scion. PromoIn the year 2059, several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing. But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister than even Scion. About the BookIt is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing. But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city --- Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly --- as soldiers in their army. Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives. THE BONE SEASON introduces a compelling heroine --- a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.
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