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Summary
Summary
O, The Oprah Magazine's Best Books of the Summer
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith's mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called "a consummate storyteller."
One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018: Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, Harper's BAZAAR, The Millions, Electric Lit, Book Riot, BookBub, Chicago Review of Books, POPSUGAR, Refinery29, NYLON , and SheReads
Evi--a classically-trained ballerina--was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon's adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah.
Whiskey & Ribbons is told in three intertwining, melodic voices: Evi in present day, as she's snowed in with Dalton during a freak blizzard; Eamon before his murder, as he prepares for impending fatherhood and grapples with the danger of his profession; and Dalton, as he struggles to make sense of his life next to Eamon's, and as he decides to track down the biological father he's never known.
In the vein of Jojo Moyes' After You, Whiskey & Ribbons explores the life that continues beyond loss, with a complicated brotherly dynamic reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout's The Burgess Boys . It's a meditation on grief, hope, motherhood, brotherhood and surrogate fatherhood. Above all, it's a novel about what it means--and whether it's possible--to heal.
Author Notes
A PEN Open Book Award Nominee, Leesa Cross-Smith has been a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and Iowa Short Fiction Award. She is the author of the short story collection Every Kiss a War and lives in Louisville, KY.
Reviews (3)
Kirkus Review
A debut novel about loss, grief, family secrets, and the unexpected sources from which people take solace after unbelievable tragedy.Cross-Smith (Every Kiss a War, 2014) follows three characters, alternating among their interlinked stories as they struggle to get on with their lives in death's shadow. We find the widowed Evangeline Royce snowed into her house six months after the death of her husband, Eamon, a police officer who was killed on the job. Eamon's lifelong friend Dalton Berkeley-Royce is with her, helping take care of her infant son, Noah, who was born 16 days after his father's death, and she's wrestling with guilt over her developing attraction to a man she'd previously thought of only as a friend. Dalton is also grieving Eamon, who was as close to him as a brother. After his mother committed suicide while he was in middle school, Dalton was adopted by the Royce family; he never knew his biological father. When Eamon died, Dalton swore to protect Evangeline and Noah; he struggles to fulfill that duty while coming to terms with a revelation about his own history and relationship with Eamon. Meanwhile, Eamon's ghost haunts the novel's proceedings both figuratively and literally. He narrates his own life and death from beyond the grave, providing crucial background on the tortured history he shares with Dalton. The structuremodeled after the musical conceit of the fugue, or a melody that is developed via interlocking partsis an inspired way to tell what is otherwise a simple story. Beyond the tragedy of Eamon's death and the will they/won't they tension of Evangeline and Dalton's relationship, not much actually happens. Instead, the novel is content to circle around the complexities of memory and family history on its way to a revelation that falls a little flat and is occasionally marred by clumsy prose.The intricacies of the grieving process are revealed in this sensitive novel. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Cross-Smith's first novel is an honest exploration of the complicated natures of love, relationships, and grief. Evangeline's greatest fear is realized when her police officer husband, Eamon, is killed in the line of duty when she is nine-months pregnant. Eamon's brother, Dalton, steps in to help Evangeline raise baby Noah, moving into the house while navigating an on-again, off-again relationship with his girlfriend. Dalton never knew his biological father and was adopted by Eamon's family when his mother died. The two brothers always maintained a close, loving relationship. Moving back and forth in time, Evangeline, Dalton, and Eamon voice chapters as their inner monologues reveal the difficult terrain they are navigating, from Evangeline's romantic feelings for Dalton (and vice versa) to Eamon's excitement and nervousness about becoming a father. Telling her story with care and skill, Cross-Smith never strays into the maudlin nor the overly dramatic, making her characters complicated and real. Readers looking for an authentic portrayal of relationships romantic and familial; in joy and in sorrow will be rewarded.--Sexton, Kathy Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Following Every Kiss a War, a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor and the Iowa Short Fiction Awards, Cross-Smith reveals life's pleasures, treasures, and inevitable pain in a debut novel. Eamon is a passionately committed police officer shot in the line of duty, leaving behind a loving family that includes wife Evi, unborn son Noah, and adoptive brother Dalton. Upon Eamon's death, -Dalton moves in with Evi to help raise Noah. Dalton and Evi grow closer, and a relationship blossoms as they discover more about themselves. The novel is told from the perspective of all three adult characters, moving fluidly between past and present as Eamon speaks before his murder about anticipating fatherhood, Evi speaks months later during a freak blizzard that has trapped her and Dalton, and Dalton ponders the direction of his life. What if? That's the question Evi and Dalton often ask while trying to come to terms with the fact that Eamon is dead. Cross-Smith offers a humanity when some characters could be condemned for their actions and intersperses bits of poetry that make even death tragically beautiful. VERDICT Written with the emotional impact of Ayobami Adebayo's Stay with Me, this work will appeal to lovers of literary fiction.-Ashanti White, Fayetteville, NC © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
