Those Who Knew
A Novel
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by * NPR * Esquire * O, The Oprah Magazine * Real Simple * BBC * PopSugar * Bustle * Kirkus Reviews * Lit Hub
“A gripping, astute, and deeply humane political thriller.” —The Boston Globe
“Mesmerizing [and] uncannily prescient.”—Los Angeles Times
A taut, timely novel about what a powerful politician thinks he can get away with and the group of misfits who finally bring him down, from the award-winning author of Ways to Disappear.
On an unnamed island country ten years after the collapse of a U.S.-supported regime, Lena suspects the powerful senator she was involved with back in her student activist days is taking advantage of a young woman who's been introducing him at rallies. When the young woman ends up dead, Lena revisits her own fraught history with the senator and the violent incident that ended their relationship.
Why didn't Lena speak up then, and will her family's support of the former regime still impact her credibility? What if her hunch about this young woman's death is wrong?
What follows is a riveting exploration of the cost of staying silent and the mixed rewards of speaking up in a profoundly divided country. Those Who Knew confirms Novey's place as an essential new voice in American fiction.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Poet and novelist Idra Novey gives us a lyrical and startling tale of three women living in an unnamed island nation whose fates intersect in unexpected ways. Those Who Knew sifts through the fallout from generations of personal and political violence to ask: How much of our own comfort and safety are we willing to risk to protect others? Novey’s exploration of a timely moral quandary is a profoundly beautiful testament to the power of quiet defiance—and female alliances.