Booklist
"Through random encounters and elliptical dialogue, Braunstein locates the pain in these people’s lives and makes it shimmer."
Bonnie Jo Campbell
"The reader becomes a sort of watcher peering into a variety of small-town kitchens and bedrooms, and looking hard into hearts that have been broken or shaken loose."
From the Publisher
"...a beautifully written novel...Braunstein and narrator Xe Sands make the stories and relationships easy to follow. Sands’s empathetic delivery makes this often disturbing work a pure joy...truly amazing." - AudioFile Magazine
"[Braunstein's] debut novel is an unsettling read that is also strangely compelling, though the author reserves all of her compassion for her characters, sparing none for her readers...Through random encounters and elliptical dialogue, Braunstein locates the pain in these people’s lives and makes it shimmer." - Booklist"[a] powerful debut...Narrator Xe Sands gives an unemotional, staccato delivery, joining forces with the author to keep listeners intrigued and disquieted. Highly recommended for those who relish unpredictable, complex literature cut from a unique mold." - Library Journal"an unflinching probe into the frailty of children's dreams and desires...a brave and daring book...highly original and a superb work of fiction." - The Portland Press Herald"A novel you won’t want to put down. These are characters you won’t want to stop rooting for." - Newcity Lit"The reader becomes a sort of watcher peering into a variety of small-town kitchens and bedrooms, and looking hard into hearts that have been broken or shaken loose." - Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of American Salvage"A magnificent debut filled with characters so vivid, strange, and richly imagined, you emerge feeling changed." - Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
MAY 2011 - AudioFile
Sarah Braunstein’s debut is a beautifully written novel of three interconnected characters and their stories, which deal with family, sex, parenthood, and reinventing oneself. Each of the three characters—12-year-old Leonora, 16-year-old Paul, and teenaged Judith—goes missing. The plot has the potential to be convoluted, but both Braunstein and narrator Xe Sands make the stories and relationships easy to follow. Sands’s empathetic delivery makes this often disturbing work a pure joy. Listeners may be put off by the seemingly stilted quality of the narration at the outset, but before long the result is truly amazing. J.L.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
MAY 2011 - AudioFile
Sarah Braunstein’s debut is a beautifully written novel of three interconnected characters and their stories, which deal with family, sex, parenthood, and reinventing oneself. Each of the three characters—12-year-old Leonora, 16-year-old Paul, and teenaged Judith—goes missing. The plot has the potential to be convoluted, but both Braunstein and narrator Xe Sands make the stories and relationships easy to follow. Sands’s empathetic delivery makes this often disturbing work a pure joy. Listeners may be put off by the seemingly stilted quality of the narration at the outset, but before long the result is truly amazing. J.L.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
