Editorial Content for Bad Animals
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Reviewer (text)
A troubled teen named Libby has accused Maeve Cosgrove, a middle-aged Maine librarian, of spying on her in the library bathroom. Despite her protestations of innocence, Maeve loses her job. But then along comes Harrison Riddles, the author who Maeve had invited to talk at the library and finally has decided to accept.
"[T]his is a novel about the creative mind. Who better to explicate that than an author and his librarian?"
Teaser
Now that her brilliant botanist daughter is off at college, Maeve Cosgrove loves her job at a quiet Maine public library more than anything. But when a teenager accuses Maeve of spying on her romantic escapades in the mezzanine bathroom, she winds up laid off and humiliated. Stuck at home in a tailspin, Maeve cares for the mysterious plants in her daughter’s greenhouse while obsessing over the clearly troubled girl at the source of the rumor. She hopes to have a powerful ally in her attempts to clear her name: her favorite author, Harrison Riddles, who has finally responded to her adoring letters and accepted an invitation to speak at the library. Riddles, meanwhile, announces a plan to write a novel about another young library patron, Sudanese refugee Willie, and enlists Maeve’s help in convincing him to participate.
Promo
Now that her brilliant botanist daughter is off at college, Maeve Cosgrove loves her job at a quiet Maine public library more than anything. But when a teenager accuses Maeve of spying on her romantic escapades in the mezzanine bathroom, she winds up laid off and humiliated. Stuck at home in a tailspin, Maeve cares for the mysterious plants in her daughter’s greenhouse while obsessing over the clearly troubled girl at the source of the rumor. She hopes to have a powerful ally in her attempts to clear her name: her favorite author, Harrison Riddles, who has finally responded to her adoring letters and accepted an invitation to speak at the library. Riddles, meanwhile, announces a plan to write a novel about another young library patron, Sudanese refugee Willie, and enlists Maeve’s help in convincing him to participate.
About the Book
A sexy, propulsive novel that confronts the limits of empathy and the perils of appropriation through the eyes of a disgraced small-town librarian.
Now that her brilliant botanist daughter is off at college, buttoned-up Maeve Cosgrove loves her job at a quiet Maine public library more than anything. But when a teenager accuses Maeve --- Maeve! --- of spying on her romantic escapades in the mezzanine bathroom, she winds up laid off and humiliated. Stuck at home in a tailspin, Maeve cares for the mysterious plants in her daughter’s greenhouse while obsessing over the clearly troubled girl at the source of the rumor. She hopes to have a powerful ally in her attempts to clear her name: her favorite author, Harrison Riddles, who has finally responded to her adoring letters and accepted an invitation to speak at the library.
Riddles, meanwhile, arrives in town with his own agenda. He announces a plan to write a novel about another young library patron, Sudanese refugee Willie, and enlists Maeve’s help in convincing him to participate. Maeve wants to look out for Willie, but Riddles’ charisma and the sheen of literary glory he promises are difficult to resist. A scheme to get her job back draws Maeve further into Riddles’ universe --- where shocking questions about sex, morality and the purpose of literature threaten to upend her orderly life.
A writer of “savage compassion” (Salvatore Scibona, author of THE VOLUNTEER), Sarah Braunstein constructs a shrewd, page-turning caper that explores one woman’s search for agency and ultimate reckoning with the kind of animal she is.
Audiobook available, read by Carolyn Jania
April 5, 2024
Well, we are lucky that those of us in the New York area did not float away in the rain this week. Then this morning, for added excitement we felt the earthquake in New Jersey that rocked from New York City to Philadelphia. Mercury went retrograde on Monday and will be there until April 24th. (Longtime readers of the site know what this means; newcomers can read all about it here.)
April 2, 2024
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 1st and April 8th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our special contest for THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD, Stuart Turton’s third novel, following THE 7½ DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE and THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER. This explosively imaginative speculative thriller is about an impossible murder that triggers a world-ending phenomenon that can only be stopped by the identification of the killer. In anticipation of the book’s May 21st release, we are awarding an advance copy to 25 readers. The deadline for your entries is Friday, April 12th at noon ET.
April 2, 2024
This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this spring. Read more about it, and enter our Spring Preview Contest by Wednesday, April 3rd at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of DAUGHTER OF MINE by Megan Miranda, which releases on April 9th and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!