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by Joseph O'Malley (Author)
"As unflinching as it is tender in its quietly radical vision of love, loss, and the secrets we all keep." --Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth
In early 1980s Detroit, during the year following the drunk driving death of their alcoholic mother, a chorus of family voices grapple with haunting memories of the joys, regrets and the strains of love that will reverberate throughout all of their lives.
During a Detroit winter's final snowfall in 1980, feeling fine after a few too many drinks, Hannah Fallon crashes her car through a cyclone fence and into an elm tree, leaving behind a messy wake of love and grief through which her family must wade in the year following her death. The story of the Fallon family, told in retrograde beginning a year out from Hannah's death through the family members' varying viewpoints, explores the humor, love, and rancor of a family grappling to keep their tight-knit bonds from unraveling. This elegy of family life under siege, written with Cheeveresque wit, clarity, and intensity, fulfills the promise of a long-awaited first novel.
Author Biography
Joseph O'Malley's short fiction has appeared in such magazines as Glimmer Train, Cimmaron Review, and A Public Space. He is the author of a collection of short stories entitled Great Escapes from Detroit. He was born in Detroit and lives in New York City.
