Synopses & Reviews
Michael and Sarah's marriage is already in trouble. But the revelation that Michael has a daughter he's never mentioned—and only just met—pushes their relationship to the breaking point. His secrecy about the past, his compulsion to visit his ex-lover, and the sudden presence of his beautiful, grown daughter in their lives drives Sarah to search for the truth—a search that takes her from Washington, D.C., to Latin America.
Chatter is a snapshot of a marriage taken against the landscape of our frenetic culture, where invasive news reports, overheard conversations, and screaming headlines punctuate our days. Its dead-on dialogue captures the collapse of communication and the tension created when discussions go unfinished and questions go unanswered.
Balancing humor and terror, Ireland brilliantly depicts the elusiveness of security—globally and in our own homes—and the longing to find that safe place in a loved one's arms.
Review
"[Perrin Ireland] has crafted a wonderful novel that balances humor and terror, growing apart and finding the way back. She has a deft touch and a great ear for dialogue, delivering complex and memorable characters."—Charleston Post and Courier Charleston Post - & - Courier
Review
"Chatty in tone, this appropriately titled debut novel features a cast of characters who converse and think in clipped sound bytes. Initially distracting, the author's peripatetic pacing mirrors the media-generated background noise that accompanies contemporary life. As the story of Michael and Sarah, a middle-aged couple whose marriage is challenged by the appearance of a daughter Michael never knew he had, evolves, the slice-of-life plot is bolstered by the almost omniscient television and radio reports chronicling the political and cultural fallout of a landscape steeped in the tensions generated by the ever-present threat of global terrorism. When the quirky, dialogue-heavy narrative is read between the lines, an eventually affirmative portrait of a modern relationship resonates with hidden depths."--Booklist Booklist
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"[Ireland] keeps readers engaged even while making clear that not every question has an answer. . . .Strongly recommended."—Library Journal Library Journal
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"An extremely well-written novel that conceals its profundities so deftly that they insist on returning long after you have finished reading. A wonderful book."—Brian O'Doherty, Booker Prize finalist for The Deposition of Father McGreevy
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"Smartly plotted and stylishly paced, Perrin Ireland's Chatter shows us just how the domestic and the political are entangled. The novel is alert with suspicion and heightened surmise; it gives us a bright Doppler reading of the way we live now."—Sven Birkerts
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"[A] humor-terror nexus that Ireland so charmingly brings to life"—New York Times Book Review New York Times Book Review
Review
"Ireland masterfully crisscrosses the public with the private to wring meaning from the simplest exchanges. . . . Chatter is a consoling and hopeful novel in its vision of man's compassionate, resilient nature."—Christine Schutt, author of NBA finalist Florida
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"Reading Chatter is not unlike using the television remote to flip back and forth between a compellingly hour-long dramedy and CNN; it's a dark romantic comedy punctuated by bursts of post-9/11 chatter, a novel that conjures the discomforting way news flashes and other bits of information peck at our psyche every day. . . . Ireland's clever, believable voice expertly conveys the uncertainty of life and love, at home and in the terror-crazed world."—More magazine More
About the Author
Perrin Irelandand#8217;s first novel, Ana Imagined, was published to critical acclaim. Previously associate director for drama and arts for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, she and her husband divide their time between Boston, Massachusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina.