Vinegar Hill (22 page)
Authors: A. Manette Ansay
Thanks to the Stonecoast Writers Conference, where I took my very first story for repair. Thanks to the MacDowell Colony, where
Vinegar Hill
was completed. Thanks to Claire Wachtel, who always loved this book, and to Tia Maggini and the good folks at Avon Books for keeping it in print. Thanks to Deborah Schneider, who never lost faith; to my wonderfully tireless and creative father and “personal publicist” Dick Ansay; to my gifted mother and first reader, Sylvia J. Ansay; and to Jake Smithâstill crazy after all these years.
A. MANETTE ANSAY has won numerous awards, including a Pushcart Prize a Friends of American Writers Prize. Her novel,
Midnight champagne
, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She lives in Florida with her husband and daughter.
www.amanetteansay.com
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Praise
for A. Manette Ansay's
VINEGAR HILL
“A stunning debut by a writer to watchâ¦Ansay writes with intelligence and precision.”
â
Boston Globe
“
Vinegar Hill
is about the emotional damage that can be inflicted in ordinary domestic life. It is a story in which cruelty wears a pink towelling tracksuit and violence walks in bedroom slippersâ¦A. Manette Ansay writes with exquisite clarity and a strong sense of narrative driveâ¦The characters are absolutely persuasive in their humanity and their dreadfulness; as a psychological drama, the novel is gripping. And it proves, once and for all, that flowered curtains are no guarantee that all is cheerful and rosy behind them.”
â
The Times
(London)
“A finely crafted novelâ¦The characters are undeniably authentic, familiar, and often disturbing specimens of Midwestern small-town life, meticulously preserved in this intriguing literary bell jarâ¦With
Vinegar Hill
, Ansay joins a list of writers, including Jane Smiley, Mona Simpson, and Robert Waller, who are transforming Midwestern fiction into a new national literature. But her voice is quite distinctive.”
â
Chicago Tribune
“Skillfulâ¦Lyricalâ¦Powerful storytellingâ¦Like innumerable shards of broken glass, the effects of abuse are everywhere, shining brightly in Ansay's evocative narrative.”
â
Virginian Pilot Ledger Star
“Magicalâ¦A satisfying journey to freedomâ¦Ansay writes in a lovely voice.”
â
Vogue
“A bitter tale about people who are haunted and haunting, but still alive and mired in a kind of living purgatory of personal choice and happenstance. Via author Ansay's eye for small detail, nuance, and character development, the reader uncovers layers of disintegrating relationships collapsing under the pressure of a lifetime of lies, violence, and the much overrated value of suffering and duty.”
â
The Tennessean
A. Manette Ansay
B
LUE
W
ATER
L
IMBO
: A M
EMOIR
M
IDNIGHT
C
HAMPAGNE
R
IVER
A
NGEL
S
ISTER
R
EAD
T
HIS AND
T
ELL
M
E
W
HAT
I
T
S
AYS
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY SHOOTING STAR / PHOTONICA / GETTY IMAGES
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY PRESTON MERCHANT
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
VINEGAR HILL.
Copyright © 2006 by A. Manette Ansay. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition June 2006 ISBN 9780061760259
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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