Synopses & Reviews
Isabelle, a woman in her thirties without any of the trappings of a
grown-up life, has just been fired from her job at a San Francisco phone company. Returning to the midwestern suburb of her childhood, Standardsville, Illinois, she contends with her dating single mother, a neighbor who once appeared on
The Honeymooners, and an ex-boyfriend. She also becomes a
mystery shopper for a temp agency, posing as a variety of potential tenants for newly built suburban communities to access their exclusive services.
Enchanted by the possiblities of disguise, Isabelle spins a web of lies that keeps the world at a distance until she unearths long-kept secrets that force her to rethink everything she thought she knew.
Review
“Complex, mature and compelling.” The Chicago Tribune
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"Isabelle is so vivacious that even though she's utterly confused about her future, we know it'll turn out just fine." Redbook
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"Maud Casey's accomplished first novel, takes up with the endearingly subversive Isabelle . . . Elle
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“A startling debut. [Caseys] fresh voice emerges like a song thats bound to be a hit.” Virginia Quarterly Review
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"Full of lovely sentences, empathetic characters. This story is as engaging and scintillating as one told by a best friend. Darcey Steinke
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"Casey deftly writes about the struggle out of the tomb, the restoration of sanity, the search for a small peace. Mark Richard
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"Casey is very good at creating characters who are torn between the strong emotions they experience . . . " Ann Beattie
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"Isabelle is a millennial treasure. The journey from child to woman . . . is poignant and funny.". Anne Rivers Siddons
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"This is a wonderful account of our need to both invent and reinvent ourselves. A deft and generous book. Margot Livesey
Review
“Casey is a stand-up philosopher posing vexing questions about human existence. Shes funny, inventive…dazzling narrative dare.” The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Maud Casey stories have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere. Casey received her B.A. from Wesleyan University and her M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Arizona. She lives in Washington, DC and teaches in the MFA program at the University of Maryland.