The Maze at Windermere: A Novel

Author: Smith, Gregory Blake

Edition: First Edition, First Printing

Number Of Pages: 352

Details:

Named one of the best books of 2018 by The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and The Advocate“Staggeringly brilliant . . . You’ll start The Maze of Windermere with bewilderment, but you’ll close it in awe.” —The Washington Post“Pitch perfect.” —New York Times Book Review When a drunken party guest challenges him to a late-night tennis match, Sandy Allison finds himself unexpectedly entangled in the monied world of Newport, Rhode Island. A former touring pro a little down on his luck, Sandy has nothing to stake against the vintage motorcycle his opponent wagers. But then Alice DuPont—the young heiress to a Newport mansion called Windermere—offers up her diamond necklace.   With this reckless wager begins a dazzling narrative odyssey that braids together four centuries of aspiration and adversity in this renowned seaside society capital. A witty and urbane bachelor of the Gilded Age embarks on a high-risk scheme to marry into a fortune; a young Henry James, soon to make his mark on the world, turns himself to his craft with harrowing social consequences; an aristocratic British officer during the American Revolution carries on a courtship that leads to murder; and, in Newport’s earliest days, a tragically orphaned Quaker girl imagines a way forward for herself and the slave girl she has inherited.   Gregory Blake Smith weaves these intersecting worlds into a rich, brilliant tapestry. A deftly layered novel of love, ambition, and duplicity, The Maze at Windermere charts a voyage across the ages into the maze of the human heart.

Reviews:

A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceA Washington Post Book We're Talking About This SummerA Southern Living Book That We Can't Wait to ReadA LitHub Ultimate Summer Book A Washington Book Review Best Novel to Read This Winter A BookRiot Book You Should Mark Down NowWinner of the 2019 New England Society Book Award in Fiction

“An intricate creation you'll happily lose yourself in.”   —People

“Staggeringly brilliant . . . An extraordinary demonstration of narrative dexterity. Moving up and down through the strata of history, Smith captures the ever-changing refractions of human desire . . . The cumulative effect of this carousel of differing voices is absolutely transporting . . . Looking up from this remarkable novel, one has an eerie sense of history as a process of continuous erasure and revision. You’ll start The Maze of Windermere with bewilderment, but you’ll close it in awe.”  —The Washington Post“Smith sprinkles James’s distinctively fresh early style with just the lightest pinch of turgid fussiness—the language is pitch-perfect—and his insights into James’s character and mind are flawless.”   —New York Times Book Review

“Once you read Gregory Blake Smith’s The Maze at Windermere, you’ll understand why Richard Russo calls it ‘a dazzling high-wire act.’ It’s a labyrinthine, layered novel that spans three centuries while following the exploits and experiences of a compelling cast of characters.” —Southern Living“The best of the year . . . [ The Maze at Windermere] is historical fiction unlike any I’ve read. . . . Each narrative voice Smith invents is pitch-perfect, and the book offers huge formal pleasures as he peels back successions of communities like archaeological layers, connecting them in ways their inhabitants don’t necessarily register.” —The Seattle Times

“Smith’s vibrant mix of beautiful writing, clarity of voices, flow of history and storytelling, and philosophical reflections had me slowing my pace to stretch out its pleasures.”   —Star Tribune

“A modern-day epic spanning three centuries and five time periods. It weaves together multiple storylines set in the past and present, handing off each story from one era to the next. . . .  The Maze features gay characters, freed and enslaved African-Americans, a Jewish-Portuguese immigrant, and a diversity of others mingling together to produce this dazzling novel.”   —The Adv...

EAN: 9780735221925

Release Date: 09-01-2018

Languages: English

Item Note: Great shape- pages are unmarked and sharp.Has a remainder mark. Hardcover Used - Like New Ships fast! 2018

Item Condition: UsedLikeNew

Binding: Hardcover