Lights All Night Long is both a mystery and a coming-of-age story that is plot-driven and engaging without ever skimping on character development or straying from the bond between Ilya and Vlad—the true core of the story. It’s a heartbreaking read, and one I struggled to put down. Fitzpatrick has crafted an impressive debut that feels transportive yet holds within it an intimate study of the ties that bind us to one another—across families, across continents.”—Buzzfeed
"A luminous debut. . . . Fitzpatrick does so many things right in Lights All Night Long, it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel. As a mystery, it’s paced perfectly, with the novel moving seamlessly back and forth in time between Ilya’s life in Russia and his new one in America. Fitzpatrick proves to be an expert in building suspense; it’s hard not to read the book in a single sitting. . . . It’s tricky to capture the specific, sometimes difficult language that brothers use to let each other know they care, but Fitzpatrick manages to do so perfectly, and it makes their relationship all the more beautiful and affecting. Lights All Night Long is both an expertly crafted mystery and a dazzling debut from an author who’s truly attuned to how families work at their darkest moments. . . . An excellent novel from an author who seems to be at the beginning of an impressive career.” —The Los Angeles Times
“Formidably accomplished. . . . Fitzpatrick sharply examines the cheapness of life while at the same time flagging up and homing in on various redemptive riches, from brotherly bonds to cross-cultural relations to the pursuit of justice. . . . Few debut novels are so tightly plotted and powerfully written. . . . A gripping, emotional journey.”—The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A slyly comic, knife-in-the-heart debut novel.”—O, The Oprah Magazine
“Lights All Night Long is that rare work of fiction that gathers page-turning momentum from its prose as much as its plot. Fitzpatrick’s writing, accessible yet exquisite, relies on surgically precise metaphors for a lot of heavy emotional lifting. . . . Darkly beautiful, melancholic but not bleak, Lights All Night Long is storytelling at its finest. Fitzpatrick has written a compelling novel full of intimately portrayed, easy-to-love characters whose spoiled joys and resurgent hopes will linger with readers.” —Bookpage
“Lights All Night Long is as delicious as it is dazzling—a mystery I was tempted to read in one sitting as well as a startling, clear-eyed exploration of what holds us together, regardless of location or distance. Brilliantly conceived and exquisitely observed, Lydia Fitzpatrick’s debut shines as brightly as its title.”—Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists
“For readers drawn to literary thrills, Lights All Night Long offers drugs, sex, and murder, but this supple, sparkling novel is really about tender souls navigating unfamiliar terrain and human bonds warm enough to thaw snowbanks. The indecipherable language of loss, love, and longing is normally impossible to understand. At last, thankfully, we have Lydia Fitzpatrick to interpret it.”—Adam Johnson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Orphan Master’s Son
“Lights All Night Long is utterly brilliant and completely captivating. Lydia Fitzpatrick writes with cinematic clarity about life on margins of contemporary Russia and America. The result is one of the most propulsive, un-put-downable literary novels I’ve read in ages.”—Anthony Marra, author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
“This intricate, capacious, startlingly inventive novel is so vivid, and rings so true, that its characters have taken up permanent residence in my imagination. What an accomplishment.”—R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries
“A cross-cultural coming-of-age story that breaks your heart in the best way. Full of tender hopes and hard truths, Lydia Fitzpatrick’s first novel marks the debut of a gifted storyteller.”—Maggie Shipstead, author of Seating Arrangements
“The bonds of family and homeland—new and old—are tested in this sexy and pensive thriller.”—The Observer
"Beyond the brothers’ crystalline characterizations, Fitzpatrick gifts her intriguing debut with elegant prose, affecting images, and rich settings.”—Booklist (starred review)
“This vivid coming-of-age novel spools out an engrossing mystery amid a tender story about family ties and adopted homes.” — Esquire
"A poised, graceful literary debut… An absorbing tale imparted with tenderness and compassion.”— Kirkus
"Fitzpatrick's enthralling debut about a 15-year-old Russian exchange student in small-town Louisiana is difficult to stop reading once you start. Well-written. Well-paced. Memorable characters. In the best possible way, this novel is simply very gratifying." — AM NY
“Fitzpatrick’s remarkable debut novel is a coming-of-age narrative interwoven with a gripping mystery." — Shelf Awareness
“A glittering debut. . . . The murder mystery is intricate and well-crafted, but the highlight is the relationship between the two brothers—the shy brainiac and the charming addict—and in the smoldering, seething resentment felt by young people. This is a heartbreaking novel about the lengths to which people go to escape their own pain, and the prices people are willing to pay to alleviate the suffering of their loved ones.”—Publishers Weekly
With remarkable vocal agility, narrator Michael Crouch takes a fascinating novel and makes it downright riveting. No matter what appears in the audiobook, Crouch is game. Ilya is an exchange student from Russia who is living in Louisiana. Fluent accents emerge without hesitation or exaggeration. The cast of characters expands, time shifts between past and present, and a mystery involving Ilya’s brother in Russia is introduced. Crouch's skill with diverse voices and dialogue delivered with exceptional timing come to the fore. His well-measured delivery is agreeable and shifts subtly with each new event or character. Before long, this audiobook is less a production one is hearing and more a revelation taking place in one's own mind. L.B.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
With remarkable vocal agility, narrator Michael Crouch takes a fascinating novel and makes it downright riveting. No matter what appears in the audiobook, Crouch is game. Ilya is an exchange student from Russia who is living in Louisiana. Fluent accents emerge without hesitation or exaggeration. The cast of characters expands, time shifts between past and present, and a mystery involving Ilya’s brother in Russia is introduced. Crouch's skill with diverse voices and dialogue delivered with exceptional timing come to the fore. His well-measured delivery is agreeable and shifts subtly with each new event or character. Before long, this audiobook is less a production one is hearing and more a revelation taking place in one's own mind. L.B.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
