The Great Offshore Grounds
'It blew me away' Emma Donoghue
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- 3,99 €
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- 3,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
'A magnificent beast of a novel' Roxane Gay
'It blew me away' Emma Donoghue
'Large in scope and heart' Patrick deWitt
'Unforgettable' Nathan Hill
'A blast' Karen Russell
On the day of their estranged father's wedding, half-sisters Cheyenne and Livy set off to claim their inheritance. It's been years since the two have seen each other - Cheyenne is newly back in Seattle after a failed marriage, Livy works refinishing boats - but the promise of a shot at financial security brings the two together to claim what's theirs.
Except: instead of money, their father gives them information - a name - that reveals a stunning family secret. In the face of their new reality, the sisters each set out on journeys that will test their faith in each other, as well as their definitions of freedom.
Moving from Seattle's underground to the docks of the Far North, from the hideaways of the southern swamps to the storied reaches of the Great Offshore Grounds, this is an epic tale told with boundless verve, linguistic vitality and undeniable tenderness - a book that fearlessly reimagines what the 'great American novel' can do.
A deeply moving picaresque... Veselka is a remarkable writer, able to break through the surfaces of her narrative to reveal the animal chaos underneath'
Los Angeles Times
'This is a novel that feels like hitchhiking: the route is unpredictable but fated and exciting, with an air of treachery... Thrilling'
Vulture
'Vivid, realistic and devastating . . . Veselka is a talented writer, with sensual imagery and an unflinching ability to stick with troubled and troublesome characters'
Seattle Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Veselka (Zazen) returns with a sprawling work of astonishing depth and scope about three siblings contending with poverty in the Pacific Northwest. Half-sisters Livy and Cheyenne, both 33, were told a "fairy tale" by their father, Cyril, when they grew up, that one of their mothers wanted children and the other wanted to chase the North Star, and both got what they wanted without marrying him. Veselka opens on Cyril's first late-in-life wedding, which the sisters, both broke and with no love for Cyril, attend for the free food and drink. They reunite with Kirsten, a biological mother to one of them, who raised both sisters and Essex, their adopted cab-driving brother. Cyril gives them information about the other mother, Ann, who agreed with Kirsten to let her raise both daughters, provided Kirsten not reveal the details of who belonged to which mother. The sisters drive to Boston, hoping to find Ann, but strike out. Livy then heads to Alaska, where she becomes a sailor's apprentice and protests offshore drilling; Cheyenne continues to pursue Ann; and Essex, desperately lacking direction, enlists in the Marines. Meanwhile, Kirsten gets a terminal cancer diagnosis and summons them for a reconciliation. Veselka blends fascinating details of seamanship, cab driving, and boot camp with intimate, spot-on descriptions of contemporary American poverty, such as Cheyenne being shuttled to the couch to make room for Airbnb guests when she's late on rent and selling plasma. This gritty and unsentimental work is compassionate, funny, and deeply human.
