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.
Synopsis
On an evening like any other, nine-year-old Katie. Mackey, daughter of the most affluent family in a small town on the flat plains of Indiana, sets out on her bicycle to return some library books. This simple acts at the heart of The Bright Forever, a suspensful, deeply affecting novel that is a compelling mix of fact, speculation, and contradiction that shows the human need to know even the hardest truth. Reminiscent of books such as The Lovely Bones, Mystic River, and Winesburg. Ohio, but most memorable for its own perceptions and power. The Bright Forever is a gripping, fast-paced story that is starling in its revelations.
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