Editorial Content for The World Cannot Give
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Rebecca Munro
Tara Isabella Burton, author of SOCIAL CREATURE, invites her readers into the world of dark academia and secret societies in THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE, an intoxicating combination of religious zealotry and teenage obsession. Read More
Teaser
When Laura Stearns arrives at St. Dunstan’s Academy in Maine, she dreams that life there will echo her favorite novel, All Before Them, the sole surviving piece of writing by St. Dunstan’s alum Sebastian Webster. She soon finds the intensity she is looking for among the insular, Webster-worshipping members of the school’s chapel choir, which is presided over by Virginia Strauss. A neurotic overachiever, Virginia inducts Laura into a world of transcendent music and arcane ritual, illicit cliff-diving and midnight crypt visits. But when a new school chaplain challenges Virginia’s hold on the “family” she has created, and Virginia’s efforts to wield her power become increasingly dangerous, Laura must decide how far she will let her devotion to Virginia go.
Promo
When Laura Stearns arrives at St. Dunstan’s Academy in Maine, she dreams that life there will echo her favorite novel, All Before Them, the sole surviving piece of writing by St. Dunstan’s alum Sebastian Webster. She soon finds the intensity she is looking for among the insular, Webster-worshipping members of the school’s chapel choir, which is presided over by Virginia Strauss. A neurotic overachiever, Virginia inducts Laura into a world of transcendent music and arcane ritual, illicit cliff-diving and midnight crypt visits. But when a new school chaplain challenges Virginia’s hold on the “family” she has created, and Virginia’s efforts to wield her power become increasingly dangerous, Laura must decide how far she will let her devotion to Virginia go.
About the Book
“THE SECRET HISTORY meets THE PRICE OF SALT” (Vogue) in this “equal parts dangerous and delicious” (Entertainment Weekly) novel about queer desire, religious zealotry and the hunger for transcendence among the members of a cultic chapel choir at a Maine boarding school --- and the ambitious, terrifyingly charismatic girl that rules over them.
When shy, sensitive Laura Stearns arrives at St. Dunstan’s Academy in Maine, she dreams that life there will echo her favorite novel, All Before Them, the sole surviving piece of writing by Byronic “prep school prophet” (and St. Dunstan’s alum) Sebastian Webster, who died at 19, fighting in the Spanish Civil War. She soon finds the intensity she is looking for among the insular, Webster-worshipping members of the school’s chapel choir, which is presided over by the charismatic, neurotic, overachiever Virginia Strauss. Virginia is as fanatical about her newfound Christian faith as she is about the miles she runs every morning before dawn. She expects nothing short of perfection from herself --- and from the members of the choir.
Virginia inducts the besotted Laura into a world of transcendent music and arcane ritual, illicit cliff-diving and midnight crypt visits --- a world that, like Webster’s novels, finally seems to Laura to be full of meaning. But when a new school chaplain challenges Virginia’s hold on the “family” she has created, and Virginia’s efforts to wield her power become increasingly dangerous, Laura must decide how far she will let her devotion to Virginia go.
THE WORLD CANNOT GIVE is a “hypnotic and intense” (Shondaland) meditation on the power, and danger, of wanting more from the world.
Audiobook available, read by Sarah Beth Pfeifer
March 18, 2022
As I write this, we have devoured corned beef to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I know it is not true Irish food, but we enjoy it the one time of year that we make it! We tried two new kinds of Irish soda bread, and I did not like either. Next year, I am going to try my friend’s recipe for her mom’s BEST Irish soda bread! And we need to remember to make TWO corned beefs since the best part is sandwiches on rye bread. We have no leftovers!
Which of the following titles releasing in paperback in March have you read or do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.
March 18, 2022, 556 voters
Elizabeth Bowen
If you look at life one way, there is always cause for alarm.
Attribution
Elizabeth Bowen
March 17, 2022
Bookreporter Reader Muriel Logan Reports on the 2022 Tucson Festival of Books
Comments
I’m not sure what other book festivals are like, as our group of four has only ever attended the Tucson Festival of Books, but this two-day event on the University of Arizona campus is truly outstanding. Authors present in small groups in various locations for one-hour increments, all focused on a common theme. There are 300 presentations and 250+ authors. In addition, there are a myriad of booths set up where people can buy books and children can play games, learn about science, etc. The event is definitely geared toward families.
Since its inception in February 2002, Melville House has been called “brilliant,” “anti-establishment,” “small but innovative,” and “[an] enticing American boutique.” Twenty years later, with offices in Brooklyn and London and a staff of 15, co-founders Dennis Johnson and Valerie Merians have published over 700 books, including an astonishing list of internationally acclaimed authors. They recently sat down with Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, to talk about the launch of the company, the most unexpected and most welcome developments in book publishing over the past two decades, and the challenges they face in the years to come.
Anthony T. Hicks
St. Patrick's Day is a day to celebrate our green heritage. The ancestry of Ireland. It is a day to celebrate what it means to be Irish and of Irish descent.
Attribution
Anthony T. Hicks
