Overview

In this probing, Ferrante-esque novel, a disappearance of a life long friend becomes urgent and bewildering. When her old friend Hannah doesn't show up at her family house in the south of France, everyone assumes that Claudia, who has known Hannah since their shared years at boarding school and Cambridge University, will know where she is, and what has happened. But as Claudia travels from the USA to France to help Hannah's husband and children conduct their search, she is forced to deal with her old jealousy of Hannah, as well as her own relationship in the present with her French lover of thirty years, Alexandre. As events unfold, Claudia begins to wonder if Hannah and Alexandre may have had an affair and if that affair has had something to do with Hannah's mysterious disappearance. In this exquisitely written, progressive and deeply thoughtful novel, Brackenbury ponders the bewildering question: if Hannah does not return, what will the lives of her friends and family be without her?

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9781883285791

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Reviews

Suspenseful yet thoughtful, and profoundly engaging, Rosalind Brackenbury's Without Her takes readers on a journey into betrayal, romance, art and heartbreak, the tale of a friendship enduring against all odds and a love affair put to the ultimate test. Without Her will hold readers hostage to the very last page. --Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Birds of Paradise Rosalind Brackenbury deserves major attention for her major accomplishments. She keeps turning out beautifully written, smart, absorbing novels that satisfy me in every way. One is better than the next and Without Her, about love and friendship changing with age, is her best. --Phyllis Rose, author of The Shelf: From LEQ to LES: Adventures in Extreme Reading A beautiful iteration of two levels of the coming of age story. Young girls advance from childhood to adulthood, then confront the more difficult passage to old age and death. Brackenbury's pointillist evocation of Paris and Provence makes the landscape a third character in this moving and memorable drama. --Michael Mewshaw, author of The Lost Prince In Rosalind Brackenbury's fine new novel, two long-term lovers search for a friend who has disappeared and find that death can be a kind of victory. I enjoyed and admired it. --Alison Lurie, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Foreign Affairs and The Language of Houses Rosalind Brackenbury knows how to grab her reader by the throat and hang on for dear life. Without Her is a smart, sexy, mysterious and utterly compelling novel. --Lee Smith, author of The Last Girls A steady, cool, thoughtful novel. . . a meditation on loyalty, friendship, and the geometry of human interconnection. --Kirkus Reviews This standout novel. . . highlighted by fine prose and finely drawn characters. . . reaches into the heart of a long, complicated friendship, and the result is a skilled combination of a missing-person mystery and a sentimental reminiscence. --Publishers Weekly

Praise for Rosalind Brackenbury: Brackenbury writes 'the body' well. She captures the urgency and tactile lusciousness of sexual passion; the cocoon-like sense, in the beloved's presence, of a heightened reality. --New York Times Book Review

"""I absolutely love this book!"" ""This standout novel… highlighted by fine prose and finely drawn characters… reaches into the heart of a long, complicated friendship, and the result is a skilled combination of a missing-person mystery and a sentimental reminiscence."" ""A steady, cool, thoughtful novel… a meditation on loyalty, friendship, and the geometry of human interconnection."""

Author Information

Poet and novelist Rosalind Brackenbury is the author of Becoming George Sand, Paris Still Life, The Third Swimmer and The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier. A former writer-in-residence at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, she has also served as poet laureate of Key West, teaching poetry workshops. She has attended the yearly Key West Literary Seminar as both panelist and moderator. Born in London, Rosalind lived in Scotland and France before moving to the United States. Her 2016 novel, The Third Swimmer was a 2016 INDIES Silver Winner in adult General Fiction. She now lives in Key West, Florida, with her American husband. Her latest poetry collection “Invisible Horses” is due out from Hanging Loose Press, NY, in May 2019.

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