Idaho

Opening with an act of inexplicable violence, Idaho is a stunning debut about loss, grief and redemptionWINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD'I love Idaho' Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the TrainThis sharp, stunning debut novel and Irish bestseller about grief, loss and redemption is your next literary obsessionOne hot August day a family drives to a mountain clearing to collect birch wood. Jenny, the mother, is in charge of lopping any small limbs off the logs with a hatchet. Wade, the father, does the stacking. The two daughters, June and May, aged nine and six, drink lemonade, swat away horseflies, bicker, sing snatches of songs as they while away the time.But then Jenny does something unspeakable, an act so extreme it will scatter the family in every different direction, and leave dark unanswered questions for years to come.'Unflinching...multi-layered storytelling that is both beautiful and devastating' Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry'A puzzle that enthrals from the outset' Guardian'Hauntingly brilliant, this book will stay with you for days after you've put it down' Evening Standard, Books of the Year

Short-listed for Dylan Thomas Prize 2018 (UK)

“I love Idaho for the sparse beauty of its prose, the unsolvable mystery at its heart, the cleverly constructed non-linear narrative and its preoccupations... which so closely match my own”

I love Idaho for the sparse beauty of its prose, the unsolvable mystery at its heart, the cleverly constructed non-linear narrative and its preoccupations… which so closely match my own -- Paula Hawkins Guardian
Writing that has the cool sharpness of lemonade... Unflinching, unfrilly, multi-layered storytelling that is both beautiful and devastating -- Rachel Joyce
Hauntingly brilliant, this book will stay with you for days after you’ve put it down Evening Standard, Books of the Year
You're in masterly hands here... will remind many of the great Idaho novel, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping... wrenching and beautiful New York Times Book Review
From the first page it is clear that Ruskovich’s poetic, spare writing would be enough to compel on its own, but this extraordinary story of a violent event that decimates a young family in northern Idaho is the true engine here. It’s a puzzle that enthrals from the outset. -- Lucy Clark Guardian
It’s a set-up that reads straight out of the darkest of psychological thrillers … That an act of such brutality inspires storytelling as beautiful as this is reason enough for this debut novel to stand out from the crowd Independent
At first glance this novel looks like a typical example of the 'post-catastrophe' genre... In fact, Idaho is deeper and broader -- and far more interesting... Ruskovich is not afraid of tackling the messy ambiguity of 'real' life, nor the difficulty of truly knowing another person, and she delivers her revelations with assurance and skill -- Kate Saunders The Times
Ruskovich’s writing is well crafted and poetic, particularly when evoking nature and weather in the backwoods, and the contrast with Jenny’s claustrophobic prison half-life is extremely well done. A sad, involving read. -- Fanny Blake Daily Mail
Breathtakingly written, haunting and heartbreaking, Idaho lingers long after it’s finished -- Louise Rhind-Tutt iNews
Devastating... a textured, emotionally intricate story of deliverance... Ruskovich's writing is a deft razor O, The Oprah Magazine

Emily Ruskovich grew up in the Idaho Panhandle, on Hoodoo mountain. A winner of a 2015 O. Henry Award and a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, she is an assistant professor at the University of Montana.Her critically acclaimed first novel, Idaho, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, won the Dublin Literary Award and has been optioned as a film by the actress Elisabeth Moss. She lives with her husband and two small daughters in the mountains west of Missoula.

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