From Powells.com
Our favorite books of the year.
Staff Pick
Delightfully quirky and charming, the tale of how Frances and Yasha come to meet on a tiny Norwegian island is both winsome and slightly melancholic. From the reaches of the far north to a Russian bakery in Brighton Beach, Dinerstein transports us to her slightly wacky world. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
In the beautiful, barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever-present midnight sun, Frances and Yasha are surprised to find refuge in each other. Their lives have been upended — Frances has fled heartbreak and claustrophobic Manhattan for an isolated artist colony; Yasha arrives from Brooklyn to fulfill his beloved fathers last wish: to be buried “at the top of the world.” They have come to learn how to be alone.
But in Lofoten, an archipelago of five tiny islands in the Norwegian Sea, ninety-five miles north of the Arctic Circle, they form a bond that fortifies them against the turmoil of their distant homes, offering solace amidst great uncertainty. In nimble and sure-footed prose, Dinerstein explores how far we travel to claim our own territory, while it is ultimately love that gives us our place in the world.
Review
"Lyrical as a poem, psychologically rich as a thriller, funny, dark, warm, and as knowing of place as any travel book or memoir, The Sunlit Night marks the appearance of a brave talent." Jonathan Safran Foer
Review
"By turns ravishing and hilarious, The Sunlit Night is more than a shining debut — it's the work of a young master. Dinerstein writes of her two lovers with sensitivity and chutzpah: human drama, a nightless summer, the transformative power of nature. Here's an exciting new voice that sings perfectly in key." Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life
Synopsis
A stunning debut novel--which Jonathan Safran Foer calls "lyrical as a poem, psychologically rich as a thriller."
In the beautiful, barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever-present midnight sun, Frances and Yasha are surprised to find refuge in each other. Their lives have been upended--Frances has fled heartbreak and claustrophobic Manhattan for an isolated artist colony; Yasha arrives from Brooklyn to fulfill his beloved father's last wish: to be buried "at the top of the world." They have come to learn how to be alone.
But in Lofoten, an archipelago of six tiny islands in the Norwegian Sea, ninety-five miles north of the Arctic Circle, they form a bond that fortifies them against the turmoil of their distant homes, offering solace amidst great uncertainty. With nimble and sure-footed prose, Dinerstein reveals that no matter how far we travel to claim our own territory, it is ultimately love that gives us our place in the world.
Synopsis
A "richly imagined and darkly comic" (Jenny Offill) love story set in the Arctic Circle that explores self-discovery and the power of starting over. Now a major motion picture, starring Jenny Slate, Gillian Anderson, Zach Galifianakis, and Alex Sharp.
22-year-old Frances has fled heartbreak and claustrophobic Manhattan for an isolated artist colony in the beautiful, barren landscape of northern Norway. Yasha, a Russian immigrant raised in a bakery in Brooklyn, travels to Norway to fulfill his beloved father's last wish: to be buried at the top of the world. Both have come to learn how to be alone. But under the ever-present midnight sun, Frances and Yasha are surprised to find refuge in each other, instead.
Ninety-five miles north of the Arctic Circle, the two form a bond that fortifies them against the turmoil of their distant homes, offering solace amidst great uncertainty. With nimble and sure-footed prose enriched with humor and warmth, Dinerstein reveals that no matter how far we travel to claim our own territory, it is ultimately love that gives us our place in the world.
Synopsis
From an exhilarating new voice, a stunning debut novel — which Jonathan Safran Foer calls as “lyrical as a poem, psychologically rich as a thriller.”
About the Author
Rebecca Dinerstein is the author of Lofoten, a bilingual English-Norwegian collection of poems. She received her B.A. from Yale and her M.F.A. in Fiction from New York University, where she was a Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow. She lives in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter @beckydinerstein.