“The Hollow Ground recalls nothing so much as the dark and powerful dramas of Eugene
O’Neill.”—Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Whiting Writer’s Award winner
THE HOLLOW GROUND
By Natalie S. Harnett
Visit Natalie Harnett Here To Learn More
Visit Natalie Harnett Here To Learn More
Thomas Dunne Books
Griffin
Trade Paperback *
Fiction * ISBN: 1-250-06775-3
Price: $14.99 *
336 pages *
On Sale: August 25, 2015
“A murder mystery, coming-of-age novel, and family saga all in one.”—San Diego Magazine, "
5 Books to
Read This Month"
A Library Journal’s Debuts with Buzz Selection
An Irish Echo Summer Reads Selection
“This cursed Irish-American clan will grab you by the brisket and not let go. Delicious
reading!”--Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story
It’s 1961, and underground mine fires continue to ravage the small Pennsylvania coal town of Centrereach, where eleven-year-old Brigid Howley and her family live with her great-uncle’s wife, Auntie. Brigid’s father, Adrian, has been out of work ever since being injured in a mining disaster that also killed his brother, Frank. The family attributes the tragedy to the “curse” laid upon this proud Irish-American clan generations earlier by a priest who ran afoul of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish coal miners. Although the family takes a strange pleasure in the curse because they believe it’s made them stronger, Auntie confides in Brigid that she believes the curse didn’t come from an outside source, but from within their own hearts.
When the fires cause their backyard to collapse, killing Auntie, the family is forced to seek refuge with Brigid’s estranged grandparents, the formidable Gram and the Black Lung stricken Gramp. Living with her mother-in-law is the last thing Brigid’s mother, Dolores, wants to do as she still holds a grudge against the woman for breaking a promise years ago. And Adrian must once again confront the fact that Frank was his parents’ favored son. As the mine fires continue to rumble under their feet, long held bitterness and hurt begin to erupt. While trying to keep peace within the family, Brigid finds a kindred spirit in new friend Marisol who introduces her to a happy distraction, the world of teenage boys. When Brigid and Marisol accompany the boys to a long abandoned bootleg mine shaft, Brigid makes a terrifying discovery that will prove more dangerous than anything the curse has produced so far.
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Praise for:
Filled with compelling characters, rich prose, engrossing historical detail, and an extraordinary sense of time and place, THE HOLLOW GROUND is exquisitely crafted and tells an unforgettable story that is certain to move readers.
“There's more than a hint of Eugene O'Neill in this atmospheric meditation on the legacy of a generational curse once pronounced by an Irish priest on a Pennsylvania mining community....an impressively nimble debut novel.”—Irish Central "
A grand achievement, a story fierce in its honesty about family love and betrayal.” —Maureen Howard, National Book Critics Circle Award winner "
. . .the flap copy. . . compare[s] the novel’s child narrator, Brigid Howley, to Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, and I have to say, Harnett earns the comparison. . . the most rounded, complete child narrator I’ve read in years."—Novel Historian
“Ultimately The Hollow Ground is an unflinching portrait of familial struggle and a timeless examination of the treacherous elements that can both strengthen and relentlessly violate a family’s connection. At once contemplative and energetic, Harnett’s debut is a provocative and eerie novel of suspense, intricacy, and profound feeling.”—Literary Inklings, Notable New Releases
“I enjoyed THE HOLLOW GROUND and found it to be an entertaining, and thought-provoking, novel. Highly recommended to fans of literary fiction and even mysteries.” —Booking Mama
“To say this novel is a page-turner is an understatement. . . . A must read for both fans of historical fiction and mystery, The Hollow Ground has an intensity that will continue to burn within me like the abandoned coal mines that played such an integral role in our nation’s history. Highly, highly recommended.” —Jenn’s Bookshelves
“Filled with compelling characters, rich prose, engrossing historical detail, and an extraordinary sense of time and place, THE HOLLOW GROUND is exquisitely crafted and tells an unforgettable story that is certain to move readers.” —Books and Needlepoint
“This is very much a coming of age novel in the traditional sense, with a fascinating historical backdrop.” —Paperblog
“The story is atmospheric, character driven and beautifully captures this period.” —Caffeinated Book Reviewer
“The Hollow Ground is a heartfelt story of survival and embodies a sense of hope as its guiding light.” — Feathered Quill Book Reviews
“. . .a story of resilience well-told. In Brigid Howley, the desperation is consuming.” —The Free LanceStar
NATALIE S. HARNETT is an MFA graduate of Columbia University. Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Quarterly Review, The New York Times, The Madison Review, The MacGuffin and the Irish Echo. She has been awarded the John Gardner Fiction Book Award, an Edward Albee Fellowship, a Summer Literary Seminars Fellowship, and a Vermont Studio Center Writer's Grant. She was a finalist for the Mary McCarthy Prize, the Mid-List Press First Series Award for the Novel, the Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers, and The Ray Bradbury Short Story Fellowship. She spent most of her childhood vacations visiting her grandfather’s home in the Wayne County area of Pennsylvania, where she became familiar with the nearby city of Carbondale. This is her first novel. She lives on Long Island and Northeastern PA with her husband and child.
The Hollow Ground by Natalie S. Harnett Giveaway
I really want to read this book.
ReplyDeleteHope you entered the giveaway Misty!!
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