we're excited to share with you these early reviews, both starred, for LITTLE NIGHT: From Publisher's Weekly:
* Little Night Luanne Rice. Viking/Pam Dorman, $26.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-670-02356-1 After bludgeoning her sister’s abusive husband with a burnt log, Clare Burke is whisked away to jail in the dramatic opening of Rice’s 30th novel (after Secrets of Paris). Based on Anne’s false testimony in defense of her husband, Clare serves two years for assault, the sisters become estranged, and the story picks up 18 years later in 2011 in New York City, where Clare is a blogger and birdwatcher. Though she’s never fully recovered from the trauma of her sister’s betrayal, Clare desperately wants to reconnect with Anne, who has since cut all ties with her family at the behest of her manipulative husband. But when Anne’s 21-year-old daughter, Grit, shows up on Clare’s doorstep seeking a family that loves her, Clare and her niece bond, though the subject of their common tie—Anne—is never far from either of their minds. The two support one another as they attempt to create a relationship and reconnect with the woman who hurt them. Poetic and stirring, Rice’s latest beautifully combines her love of nature and the power of family. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, the Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June 5) Reviewed on: 04/16/2012
Other Formats Compact Disc - 978-0-307-70494-8 Hardcover - 491 pages - 978-1-4104-4886-6
From Library Journal:
*Rice, Luanne. Little Night. Pamela Dorman: Viking. Jun. 2012. c.336p. ISBN 9780670023561. $26.95. F In 1993, Clare Burke attacked her sister Anne’s abusive husband, Frederik, and went to prison for assault. Once close, the sisters grew estranged after Anne lied in court about what precipitated the attack. Clare, however, never stopped missing and worrying about Anne and her two children, Gillis and Margarita (Grit), who continued to live with a man they often feared. Now working as a birder and blogger in New York City, Clare is stunned to receive a letter from Grit asking to stay with her for a few days. Days turn into months as the aunt and niece get to know each other and try to live in the present while understanding the past. VERDICT Best-selling author Rice’s 30th book is an outstanding read that both chills and warms the soul. Her descriptions of abuse are startling and unnerving, while her vibrant verbal paintings of birds and nature are calming and uplifting. This hard-to-put-down story about how family ties can be undone and sometimes retied is compelling and will undoubtedly resonate with fans of contemporary women’s fiction. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 12/5/11.]—Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY