Staff Pick
Victor Lodato's latest novel is excellent and almost impossible to put down. Edgar is 8 years old, quite precocious, and an albino. Lucy, Edgar's mother, is kind of a mess; or rather, definitely a mess. At first Edgar and Lucy is seemingly a straight-up family drama, but Victor Lodato throws a giant monkey wrench into his story. Crisis can be a great way to expose a character's faults and weaknesses, and Lodato expertly mines his story for every nuance his characters unwillingly give up. Exploring themes of both bad and good parenting; fear and anger; loss in all its many incarnations; blood family and the people who are sometimes much closer than family; the bullying children endure, and the fallout from that bullying; and the idea of home, comforting and safe. Lodato's style is absolutely gripping, and his story will completely suck you in. The long six-year wait after Lodato's equally fantastic Mathilda Savitch is finally over! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Edgar and Lucy is a page-turning literary masterpiece — stunning examination of family love and betrayal.
Eight-year-old Edgar Fini remembers nothing of the accident people still whisper about. He only knows that his father is gone, his mother has a limp, and his grandmother believes in ghosts. When Edgar meets a man with his own tragic story, the boy begins a journey into a secret wilderness where nothing is clear — not even the line between the living and the dead. In order to save her son, Lucy has no choice but to confront the demons of her past.
Profound, shocking, and beautiful, Edgar and Lucy is a thrilling adventure and the unlikeliest of love stories.
Review
"Wonder-filled and magisterial...Lodato's skill as a poet manifests itself on every page, delighting with such elegant similes and incisive descriptions…His skill as a playwright shines in every piece of dialogue…And his skill as a fiction writer displays itself in his virtuoso command of point of view. The book pushes the boundaries of beauty." Chicago Tribune
Review
"Edgar isn't like other boys and Lucy isn't like other moms, but grandma Florence keeps them tied to reality. And then their lives take a sharp turn...This otherworldly tale will haunt you." People Magazine
Review
"On every page Lodato's prose sings with a robust, openhearted wit, making Edgar & Lucy a delight to read...Lodato keeps us in his thrall because his grip on the tiller stays reassuringly firm. Not to mention the supporting cast he's gathered, a group so eclectic and beguiling that many of them could carry an entire novel of their own. A riveting and exuberant ride." Cynthia D'Aprix-Sweeney, The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Victor Lodato is a playwright and the author of the novel Mathilda Savitch, winner of the PEN Center USA Award for fiction. His stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Granta, and Best American Short Stories. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Victor was born and raised in New Jersey and currently divides his time between Ashland, Oregon, and Tucson, Arizona.