Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
More than a decade after accidentally setting a deadly fire as a child, Elena Alvarez is living a shadow of a life, unwilling to act, expecting her choices to have unbearable consequences on those around her. An unintended pregnancy serves only to paralyze her further. Anxious to put off adult decisions and their consequences a little longer, she agrees to spend the summer in the town of Leadville, Colorado, just down the mountain from her grandmother s isolated home, to care for two children whose mother has recently died.
Though Elena fled to this remote place to hide herself away, soon the troubled family and the intertwined community begin to draw her out of herself. She finds echoes of her troubles on every side and starts to question her self-imposed isolation. When Elena is confronted with a grim discovery from her family s past, she discovers the truth of the terrible burdens we take upon ourselves, and eventually, begins to understand how tragedy and redemption are inevitably intertwinedand how curses can sometimes lead to blessings, however disguised.
Thematically rich and beautifully written, Among the Lesser Gods is a timeless coming-of-age story blossoming out of sophisticated prose and nuanced charactersan essential read for the literary audience.
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Synopsis
For fans of authors like Barbara Kingsolver and Leif Enger, a stunning new voice in contemporary literary fiction.
Tragedy and blessing. Leave them alone long enough, and it gets real hard to tell them apart.
Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child, to her mother s abandonment, and now to an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Driven to the high mountains surrounding Leadville, Colorado by her latest bad decision, she s intent on putting off the future. Perhaps there she can just hide in her grandmother s isolated cabin and wait for somethinganythingto make her next choice for her.
Instead, she is confronted by reflections of her own troubles wherever she turnsthe recent widower and his two children adrift in a changed world, Elena s own mysterious family history, and the interwoven lives within the town itself. Bit by bit, Elena begins to question her understanding of cause and effect, reexamining the tragedies she s held on to and the wounds she s refused to let heal.
But when the children go missing, Elena s fragile new peace is shattered. It s only at the prospect of fresh loss and blame that she will discover the truth of the terrible burdens we take upon ourselves, the way tragedy and redemption are inevitably intertwinedand how curses can sometimes lead to blessings, however disguised.
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