Synopses & Reviews
On an evening like any other, nine-year-old Katie Mackey, daughter of the most affluent family in a small town on the plains of Indiana, sets out on her bicycle to return some library books.
This simple act is at the heart of The Bright Forever, a suspenseful, deeply affecting novel about the choices people make that change their lives forever. Keeping fact, speculation, and contradiction playing off one another as the details unfold, author Lee Martin creates a fast-paced story that is as gripping as it is richly human. His beautiful, clear-eyed prose builds to an extremely nuanced portrayal of the complicated give and take among people struggling to maintain their humanity in the shadow of a loss.
Reminiscent of books such as The Little Friend and The Lovely Bones, but most memorable for its own perceptions and power, The Bright Forever is a compelling and emotional tale about the human need to know even the hardest truth.
Review
"The first lines of Lee Martin's The Bright Forever become chilling when you know what they refer to: One evening in 1972, 9-year-old Katie Mackey sets off to return library books but never returns....[A] harrowing novel filled with lonely misfits desperate for love, or at least tenderness." Portland Oregonian
Review
"From the opening pages, Martin's novel promises to be suspenseful, and it is, with secrets exposed and multiple possible endings suggested." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Combining elements of family fiction, psychological thriller, and small-town nostalgia, this book is written in lyrical prose that will engage readers of all types." Library Journal
Review
"Likely to gain attention for its perennially haunting theme." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Martin's novel is hard to put down, as these dark and intertwined lives march inexorably to tragedy." Booklist
Synopsis
A dark, harrowing novel about a nine-year-old girl's disappearance and the lasting impact it has on her close-knit community On an evening like any other, nine-year-old Katie Mackey, daughter of the most affluent family in a small town on the plains of Indiana, sets out on her bicycle to return some library books.
This simple act is at the heart of The Bright Forever, a deeply affecting novel about the choices people make that change their lives forever. Fact, speculation, and contradiction play off one another as the details about Katie's disappearance--and about the townspeople--unfold, creating a fast-paced story that is as gripping as it is richly human. A nuanced portrayal of the complicated give and take among people struggling to maintain their humanity in the shadow of a loss, The Bright Forever is a compelling and emotional tale about the human need to know even the hardest truth.
About the Author
Lee Martin is the award-winning author of the novel Quakertown; the memoirs From Our House, which was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection in 2000, and Turning Bones; and the short story collection The Least You Need to Know. He has won a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction, a Lawrence Foundation Award, and the Glenna Luschei Prize. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he teaches in the creative writing program at The Ohio State University.
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Lee Martin