The perfect novel to read with a nice Cabernet.
I’m so happy to be working on publicity for Valley Fever, Katherine Taylor‘s first novel since her widely acclaimed debut, Rules for Saying Goodbye, came out seven years ago. People: it was worth the wait. Set on a family-owned vineyard in sun-baked, drought-stricken Central California, Valley Fever is a sharp, deeply intelligent story of love and betrayal as a young woman searches for her place in the world. It almost goes without saying, this is the perfect novel to be read with a glass (or two, or three) of your favorite California Red.
And massive kudos to FSG’s art department who designed this gorgeous wine grape laden jacket:
FSG will publish in June – if you’re interested in an advance copy, just let me know.
“Valley Fever goes straight to the heart of it: How are we supposed to live? How to jump through those hoops of fire known as love and work and family, and hopefully emerge with body and soul more or less intact. Or even–dare I say it?–to come through with some measure of peace in ourselves. Katherine Taylor’s unflinching novel takes on the big stuff, and does so with an empathy and insight that reward the closest reading. This superb book succeeds on every level.” – Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
“In Katherine Taylor’s stirring and sneakily capacious novel, what begins as a family romance widens out to be nothing less than a portrait of the knotty, complicated relationship between land and the people who make it their life’s work to nurture and sometimes exploit it. Heartbreak comes in the form of relentless heat, ravaging dust, and a perfect grape left to wither on the vine, and the undoing of a once proud family vineyard becomes as potent a tale of love and betrayal as any I’ve recently read. Taylor’s prose is sharp, rueful, hilarious and crackling with life. Her characters’ raw, unsentimental affairs with one another and with the earth they till will stay with you long after you’ve left the book’s pages behind.” – Marisa Silver, author of Mary Coin
Bonus fun thing I love: Check Katherine’s little dog, Littles, tumblr page: The Daily Littles
