The Sorrows of an American

The Sorrows of an American

by SiriHustvedt (Author)

Synopsis

After their father's funeral, Erik and Inga Davidsen find a cryptic letter from a woman among his papers, dating from his adolescence in rural Minnesota during the Depression. Returning to his psychiatric practice in New York, Erik sets about reading his father's memoir, hoping to discover the man he never fully knew. At the same time, another woman enters Erik's lonely, divorced life - a beautiful Jamaican who moves into his garden flat with her small daughter. As Erik gets drawn into the cat and mouse tactics of someone who appears to be stalking her, he finds out that his sister Inga is also being threatened, by a journalist in possession of a wounding secret from her past. A multi-layered novel that probes the mysteries of the heart and mind, THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN is breathtaking in its range, richly thought-provoking and profoundly affecting - a novel that resonates long beyond the last page.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 06 Mar 2008

ISBN 10: 0340897074
ISBN 13: 9780340897072

Media Reviews
I think I am in love. . . . This is one of the most profound and absorbing books I've read in a long time. --Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Beautiful . . . both a large-scale examination of the idea of America and a close inspection of the experiences of coping with trauma and loss. --Margot Kaminski, San Francisco Chronicle

The Sorrows of an American is a thought-provoking book that offers pleasures across many different registers. . . . Here again [Hustvedt] proves herself a writer deftly able to weave intricate ideas into an intriguing plot. --Sylvia Brownrigg, The New York Times Book Review

The Sorrows of an American takes on elements of a suspense novel as the various mysteries unfold, but the real question is how we reconcile ourselves to the hard truths in our lives. --Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald

The pages turn themselves. The old story, the search for the self, holds water once again. --Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times

Like all enduring novelists, Hustvedt combines riveting storytelling with philosophical rumination as she dramatizes and contemplates the legacy of sorrows born of the struggles of immigrants and the psychic wounds of war, betrayal, and unrequited love. --Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

Author Bio

Siri Hustvedt is the author of three previous novels, What I Loved, The Blindfold, and The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, as well as a collection of essays, A Plea for Eros. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Paul Auster.