Breathing Water

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Authors: T. Greenwood

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BOOK: Breathing Water
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Outstanding Praise for the Novels of T. Greenwood
Breathing Water
“A poignant, clear-eyed first novel . . . filled with careful poetic description. . . the story is woven skillfully.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
 
“A poignant debut . . . Greenwood sensitively and painstakingly unravels her protagonist's self-loathing and replaces it with a graceful dignity.”
—
Publishers Weekly
 
“A vivid, somberly engaging first book.”
—Larry McMurtry
 
“With its strong characters, dramatic storytelling, and heartfelt narration,
Breathing Water
should establish T. Greenwood as an important young novelist who has the great gift of telling a serious and sometimes tragic story in an entertaining and pleasing way.”
—Howard Frank Mosher, author of
Walking to Gatlinburg
 
“An impressive first novel.”
—
Booklist
 
“
Breathing Water
is startling and fresh . . . Greenwood's novel is ripe with originality.”
—
San Diego Union-Tribune
Grace
“
Grace
is a poetic, compelling story that glows in its subtle, yet searing examination of how we attempt to fill the potentially devastating fissures in our lives. Each character is masterfully drawn; each struggles in their own way to find peace amid tumultuous circumstance. With her always crisp imagery and fearless language, Greenwood doesn't back down from the hard issues or the darker sides of the human psyche, managing to create astounding empathy and a balanced view of each player along the way. The story expertly builds to a breathtaking climax, leaving the reader with a clear understanding of how sometimes, only a moment of grace can save us.”
—Amy Hatvany, author of
Best Kept Secret
 
“
Grace
is at once heartbreaking, thrilling, and painfully beautiful. From the opening page, to the breathless conclusion, T. Greenwood again shows why she is one of our most gifted and lyrical storytellers.”
—Jim Kokoris, author of
The Pursuit of Other Interests
 
“Greenwood has given us a family we are all fearful of becoming—creeping toward scandal, flirting with financial disaster, and hovering on the verge of dissolution.
Grace
is a masterpiece of small-town realism that is as harrowing as it is heartfelt.”
—Jim Ruland, author of
Big Lonesome
 
“This novel will keep readers rapt until the very end . . . Shocking and honest, you're likely to never forget this book.”
—
RT Book Reviews
Nearer Than the Sky
“Greenwood is an assured guide through this strange territory; she has a lush, evocative style.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
 
“T. Greenwood writes with grace and compassion about loyalty and betrayal, love and redemption in this totally absorbing novel about daughters and mothers.”
—Ursula Hegi, author of
Stones from the River
 
“A lyrical investigation into the unreliability and elusiveness of memory centers Greenwood's second novel.... The kaleidoscopic heart of the story is rich with evocative details about its heroine's inner life.”
—
Publishers Weekly
 
“Compelling . . . Highly recommended.”
—
Library Journal
 
“Doesn't disappoint. A complicated story of love and abuse told with a directness and intensity that packs a lightning charge.”
—
Booklist
 
“
Nearer Than the Sky
is a remarkable portrait of resilience. With clarity and painful precision, T. Greenwood probes the dark history of Indie's family.”
—René Steinke, author of
The Fires
and
Holy Skirts
 
“Greenwood's writing is lyrical and original. There is warmth and even humor and love. Her representation of MSBP is meticulous.”
—
San Diego Union-Tribune
 
“Deft handling of a difficult and painful subject . . . compelling.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
 
“Potent . . . Greenwood's clear-eyed prose takes the stuff of tabloid television and lends it humanity.”
—
San Francisco Chronicle
 
“T. Greenwood brings stunning psychological richness and authenticity to
Nearer Than the Sky
. Hers is the very first work of fiction to accurately address factitious disorders and Munchausen by proxy—the curious, complex, and dramatic phenomena in which people falsify illness to meet their own deep emotional needs.”
—Marc D. Feldman, M.D., author of
Patient or Pretender
and
Playing Sick?: Untangling the Web of Munchausen Syndrome, Munchausen by Proxy, Malingering, and Factitious Disorder,
and co-author of
Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood
This Glittering World
“In
This Glittering World
, T. Greenwood demonstrates once again that she is a poet and storyteller of unique gifts, not the least of which is a wise and compassionate heart.”
—Drusilla Campbell, author of
The Good Sister
and
Blood Orange
 
“T. Greenwood's novel
This Glittering World
is swift, stark, calamitous. Her characters, their backs against the wall, confront those difficult moments that will define them and Greenwood paints these troubled lives with attention, compassion, and hope. Through it all, we are caught on the dangerous fault lines of a culturally torn northern Arizona, where the small city of Flagstaff butts up against the expansive Navajo Reservation and the divide between the two becomes manifest. As this novel about family, friendship, and allegiance swirls toward its tumultuous climax,
This Glittering World
asks us how it is that people sometimes choose to turn toward redemption, and sometimes choose its opposite—how it is, finally, that we become the people we become.”
—Jerry Gabriel, author of
Drowned Boy
and winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction
 
“Stark, taut, and superbly written, this dark tale brims with glimpses of the Southwest and scenes of violence, gruesome but not gratuitous. This haunting look at a fractured family is certain to please readers of literary suspense.”
—
Library Journal
(starred)
 
“Greenwood's prose is beautiful. Her writing voice is simple but emotional.”
—
Romantic Times Book Reviews
Undressing the Moon
“This beautiful story, eloquently told, demands attention.”
—
Library Journal
(starred review)
 
“Greenwood has skillfully managed to create a novel with unforgettable characters, finely honed descriptions, and beautiful imagery.”
—
Book Street USA
 
“A lyrical, delicately affecting tale.”
—
Publishers Weekly
 
“Rarely has a writer rendered such highly charged topics . . . to so wrenching, yet so beautifully understated, an effect.... T. Greenwood takes on risky subject matter, handling her volatile topics with admirable restraint.... Ultimately more about life than death,
Undressing the Moon
beautifully elucidates the human capacity to maintain grace under unrelenting fire.”
—
The Los Angeles Times
The Hungry Season
“This compelling study of a family in need of rescue is very effective, owing to Greenwood's eloquent, exquisite word artistry and her knack for developing subtle, suspenseful scenes . . . Greenwood's sensitive and gripping examination of a family in crisis is real, complex, and anything but formulaic.”
—
Library Journal
(starred review)
 
“A deeply psychological read.”
—
Publishers Weekly
 
“Can there be life after tragedy? How do you live with the loss of a child, let alone the separation emotionally from all your loved ones? T. Greenwood with beautiful prose poses this question while delving into the psyches of a successful man, his wife, and his son. . . . This is a wonderful story, engaging from the beginning that gets better with every chapter.”
—
The Washington Times
Two Rivers
“From the moment the train derails in the town of Two Rivers, I was hooked. Who is this mysterious young stranger named Maggie, and what is she running from? In
Two Rivers
, T. Greenwood weaves a haunting story in which the sins of the past threaten to destroy the fragile equilibrium of the present. Ripe with surprising twists and heartbreakingly real characters,
Two Rivers
is a remarkable and complex look at race and forgiveness in small-town America.”
—Michelle Richmond,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Year of Fog
and
No One You Know
 
“
Two Rivers
is a convergence of tales, a reminder that the past never washes away, and yet, in T. Greenwood's delicate handling of time gone and time to come, love and forgiveness wait on the other side of what life does to us and what we do to it. This novel is a sensitive and suspenseful portrayal of family and the ties that bind.”
—Lee Martin, author of
The Bright Forever
and
River of Heaven
 
“The premise of
Two Rivers
is alluring: the very morning a deadly train derailment upsets the balance of a sleepy Vermont town, a mysterious girl shows up on Harper Montgomery's doorstep, forcing him to dredge up a lifetime of memories—from his blissful, indelible childhood to his lonely, contemporary existence. Most of all, he must look long and hard at that terrible night twelve years ago, when everything he held dear was taken from him, and he, in turn, took back. T. Greenwood's novel is full of love, betrayal, lost hopes, and a burning question: is it ever too late to find redemption?”
—Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, author of
The Effects of Light
and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize–winning
Set Me Free
 
“Greenwood is a writer of subtle strength, evoking small-town life beautifully while spreading out the map of Harper's life, finding light in the darkest of stories.”
—
Publishers Weekly
 
“T. Greenwood's writing shimmers and sings as she braids together past, present, and the events of one desperate day. I ached for Harper in all of his longing, guilt, grief, and vast, abiding love, and I rejoiced at his final, hard-won shot at redemption.”
—Marisa de los Santos,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Belong to Me
and
Love Walked In
 
“
Two Rivers
is a stark, haunting story of redemption and salvation. T. Greenwood portrays a world of beauty and peace that, once disturbed, reverberates with searing pain and inescapable consequences; this is a story of a man who struggles with the deepest, darkest parts of his soul, and is able to fight his way to the surface to breathe again. But also—maybe more so—it is the story of a man who learns the true meaning of family:
When I am with you, I am home.
A memorable, powerful work.”
—Garth Stein,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Art of Racing in the Rain
 
“A complex tale of guilt, remorse, revenge, and forgiveness . . . Convincing. . . Interesting . . .”
—Library Journal
 
“In the tradition of
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
and
To Kill a Mockingbird
, T. Greenwood's
Two Rivers
is a wonderfully distinctive American novel, abounding with memorable characters, unusual lore and history, dark family secrets, and love of life.
Two Rivers
is the story that people want to read: the one they have never read before.”
—Howard Frank Mosher, author of
Walking to Gatlinburg
 
“
Two Rivers
is a dark and lovely elegy, filled with heartbreak that turns itself into hope and forgiveness. I felt so moved by this luminous novel.”
—Luanne Rice,
New York Times
bestselling author
 
“
Two Rivers
is reminiscent of Thornton Wilder, with its quiet New England town shadowed by tragedy, and of Sherwood Anderson, with its sense of desperate loneliness and regret.... It's to Greenwood's credit that she answers her novel's mysteries in ways that are believable, that make you feel the sadness that informs her characters' lives.”
—
BookPage

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