Book Recommendation: THE EDGE OF LOST
“It’s fascinating, really, when you think about it. How a person can slip into a new life as one would a new pair of shoes. At first there’s a keen awareness of the fit: a stiffness at the heel, the binding of the width, the curve pressed to the arch. But with time and enough steps, the feel becomes so natural you almost forget you’re wearing them at all.” Kristina McMorris, THE EDGE OF LOST
Publisher Synopsis:
From New York Times bestselling author Kristina McMorris comes an ambitious and heartrending story of immigrants, deception, and second chances.
On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard’s only daughter–one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island–has gone missing. Tending the warden’s greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl’s whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search’s outcome.
Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.
Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell–and believe–in order to survive.
My Recommendation:
I am a long-time fan of the novels of Kristina McMorris. She is one of those writers whose books manage to get better and better, and her latest, THE EDGE OF LOST, is no exception.
Intricately plotted in a series of vividly rendered settings from Ireland, to New York, to Alcatraz, THE EDGE OF LOST is an addictive read with a sympathetic and memorable protagonist. Each period and location is represented so true to life, the book unfolds like a film in the reader’s mind.
There are many surprises in the book, especially the moving scene that explains the gorgeous cover. Fans of period novels and novels of suspense will be captivated by THE EDGE OF LOST. I give it my highest recommendation.
Have you toured Alcatraz? Did you know that the island where some of the most notorious criminals in history were imprisoned had civilian residents?
