Synopses & Reviews
After spending five years in prison for killing his beloved grandmother in a drunk driving accident, thirty-three-year-old Winston Mabie is returning to his Wichita, Kansas, childhood home and the sisters and parents he left behind. Though the surroundings are familiar, Winston's return suddenly forces the five Mabies to reexamine one another. Will they learn to talk of clean slates and new beginnings?
As the Mabies wrestle with pregnancy, broken hearts, obsession, redemption, mortality, and forgiveness, Antonya Nelson weaves a rich and true tapestry of family.
Review
Sandra ScofieldChicago Tribune[Nelson's] tales of fractured families and twisted love have always amused and touched readers...but Living to Tell trumps them all.
Review
Linda Barrett OsborneThe Washington Post Book WorldNelson's novel is alive with wit, affection, and the hope that comes from modest victories against all odds.
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Patricia KeanSalon.comAn extraordinary achievement...Nelson...blends a lyricism reminiscent of Virginia Woolf with a biting wit all her own.
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Bob MinzesheimerUSA TodayA grown-up novel about the terrible beauty of families.
About the Author
Antonya Nelson, hailed by The New Yorker as one of the Twenty Writers for the Twenty-First Century, is the author of three short-story collections and two previous novels, Talking in Bed and Nobody's Girl -- both New York Times Notable Books of the Year. She has been awarded the Chicago Tribune's Heartland Award, the Flannery O'Connor Award, and the PEN/Nelson Algren Award. Ms. Nelson lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with her husband, the writer Robert Boswell, and their two children.