Any Bitter Thing
An evocative tale of love, loss and understanding
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
ANY BITTER THING is a novel about how much we can and should forgive, by Monica Wood, the acclaimed author of THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY. The perfect read for fans of Gail Honeyman's ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE and Joanna Cannon's THREE THINGS ABOUT ELSIE.
'If you liked THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, try ANY BITTER THING' Glamour
After surviving a near-fatal accident, thirty-year-old Lizzy Mitchell faces a long road to recovery. She remembers little about the days she spent in and out of consciousness, save for one thing: she saw her beloved deceased uncle, Father Mike, the man who raised her until she was nine, when she was abruptly sent away.
Though her troubled marriage and broken body need tending, Lizzy knows she must uncover the details of her accident - and delve into the events of twenty years ago, when whispers and accusations forced a good man to give up the only family he had.
What readers are saying about ANY BITTER THING:
'Another great story with wonderful characters'
'This writer, with her exquisite prose, weaves a gripping and grace-filled story of redemption. I will go back to this amazing book again and again. It shines'
'A beautiful story. The characters take on a life of their own. Pure human emotion, well written, very touching'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A near-fatal accident in the dark of night 30-year-old Lizzy is struck in a hit-and-run sets in motion a complicated, surprising story of love, loss and sacrifice. When Lizzy was two, her parents were killed in a plane crash, and she was sent to live with her beloved Uncle Mike, a Catholic priest. In prose as fresh and lovely as a Maine summer evening, Lizzy tells of seven halcyon years with her uncle. But when a bitter housekeeper falsely accuses Mike of sexually abusing Lizzy, her cozy world is shattered. Sent to live with relatives, Lizzy is told that Mike succumbed to the weak family heart and died. So how has he visited her in her hospital room after the hit-and-run? This, as well as the mystery of why Father Mike meekly accepted the accusations leveled against him, begins to come clear when Lizzy's accident and rehabilitation dredge up questions of another tragic event, long hidden. Following the structure of the Liturgy of the Hours from Invitatory to Matins, Wood (My Only Story) employs a sophisticated, layered architecture, circling from present to past to reveal shocking truths. Interspersed with Lizzy's first-person narration are sections told from Uncle Mike's third-person perspective, which provide mesmerizing insight into what is known and what is remembered. Wood's story unassumingly builds in power, right up to its moving final page.
