Sarah Blake

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Powerful and provocative' Paula McLain 'Beautiful, engrossing, heart-breaking' Rachel Rhys 'Monumental in a way that few novels dare attempt' Washington Post The Miltons are a powerful old New York family - the kind of family that used to run the world. And in 1935, they still do. Kitty and Ogden Milton seem to have it all: an elegant apartment on the Upper East Side, two beautiful little boys, a love everyone envies. When a tragedy befalls them, Ogden comforts Kitty the only way he knows how - they go sailing, picnic on a small island off the coast of Maine, and buy it. For generations the Miltons of Crockett Island revel in a place that is entirely their own. But it's 1959, and the world is changing: Ogden's firm hire a Jewish man, Len Levy, who earns the admiration of not only his boss, but his boss's beautiful young daughter. When Len and his friend visit the island, the Milton's principles and prejudices are challenged like never before. At the dawn of the 21st century, the family money has run dry, and the island is up for sale. Returning for one last visit, Kitty's granddaughter uncovers disturbing evidence about her family's wealth - and realizes she is on the verge of finally understanding the silences that seemed to hover just below the surface of her family all her life. 'Thought-provoking and propulsive...Welcome to old money, new heartbreak and big secrets' New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Bestseller

The Guest Book

Meet Naamah, Noah's wife, the matriarch who kept her family alive as they drifted on an endless sea. Here is a woman torn between faith and fury, lending her strength to her sons and their wives, caring for an unruly menagerie of restless creatures, silently mourning the lover she left behind. In fresh and modern language, Blake revisits the story of the Ark that rescued life on earth, and rediscovers the agonising burdens endured by the woman at the heart of the story. Naamah is a parable for our time: a provocative fable of body, spirit, and resilience.

A Novel

Naamah

Letters of love, telegrams of loss - the postmistress awaits them all The wireless crackles with news of blitzed-out London and of the war that courses through Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. Listening intently on the other side of the Atlantic, newly-wed Emma considers the fragility of her peaceful married life as America edges closer to the brink of war. As the reporter's distant voice fills the room, she sits convincing herself that the sleepy town of Franklin must be far beyond the war's reach. But the life of American journalist Frankie, whose voice seems so remote, will soon be deeply entangled with her own. With the delivery of a letter into the hands of postmistress Iris, the fates of these three women become irrevocably linked. But while it remains unopened, can Iris keep its truth at bay?

The Postmistress

Instant New York Times Bestseller Longlisted for Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence 2020 New England Society Book Award Winner for Fiction “The Guest Book is monumental in a way that few novels dare attempt.” —The Washington Post The thought-provoking new novel by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Blake An exquisitely written, poignant family saga that illuminates the great divide, the gulf that separates the rich and poor, black and white, Protestant and Jew. Spanning three generations, The Guest Book deftly examines the life and legacy of one unforgettable family as they navigate the evolving social and political landscape from Crockett’s Island, their family retreat off the coast of Maine. Blake masterfully lays bare the memories and mistakes each generation makes while coming to terms with what it means to inherit the past.

"In a near-future world where tree pollen has made outdoor air unbreathable, a woman's safe but tedious life is thrown into turmoil when she witnesses a murder and her young daughter starts sleep-talking about the killer"--

Clean Air

"A dreamy and transgressive feminist retelling of the Great Flood from the perspective of Noah's wife as she wrestles with the mysterious metaphysics of womanhood at the end of the world." —O, The Oprah Magazine With the coming of the Great Flood—the mother of all disasters—only one family was spared, drifting on an endless sea, waiting for the waters to subside. We know the story of Noah, moved by divine vision to launch their escape. Now, in a work of astounding invention, acclaimed writer Sarah Blake reclaims the story of his wife, Naamah, the matriarch who kept them alive. Here is the woman torn between faith and fury, lending her strength to her sons and their wives, caring for an unruly menagerie of restless creatures, silently mourning the lover she left behind. Here is the woman escaping into the unreceded waters, where a seductive angel tempts her to join a strange and haunted world. Here is the woman tormented by dreams and questions of her own—questions of service and self-determination, of history and memory, of the kindness or cruelty of fate. In fresh and modern language, Blake revisits the story of the Ark that rescued life on earth, and rediscovers the agonizing burdens endured by the woman at the heart of the story. Naamah is a parable for our time: a provocative fable of body, spirit, and resilience.

Letters of love, telegrams of loss – the postmistress awaits them allThe wireless crackles with news of blitzed-out London and of the war that courses through Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. Listening intently on the other side of the Atlantic, newly-wed Emma considers the fragility of her peaceful married life as America edges closer to the brink of war. As the reporter’s distant voice fills the room, she sits convincing herself that the sleepy town of Franklin must be far beyond the war’s reach. But the life of American journalist Frankie, whose voice seems so remote, will soon be deeply entangled with her own. With the delivery of a letter into the hands of postmistress Iris, the fates of these three women become irrevocably linked. But while it remains unopened, can Iris keep its truth at bay?

Let's Not Live on Earth

E. J. Koh

Grace Cavalieri

Angela Hardy

James Needham

Featuring poems, interviews and a short story.

Mipoesias

Londres, fin 1940. La Luftwaffe bombarde sans répit la capitale de la Grande-Bretagne. C'est le Blitz. Frankie Bard, correspondante d'une radio américaine, tente de sensibiliser ses compatriotes au conflit. Dans un petit village du cap Cod, deux femmes écoutent les récits poignants de la reporter : Iris James, la receveuse des postes, et Emma Fitch, qui attend des nouvelles de son mari médecin, parti soigner les victimes des bombardements. Entre le continent épargné et celui que la guerre déchire, les destins de ces trois femmes s'entremêlent. Ils se lient au sort des populations pilonnées par la Luftwaffe, à celui des Juifs qui sillonnent les routes en quête d'un improbable refuge, à celui des hommes qu'elles aiment. Si vous recevez cette lettre est de ces grands livres qui vous manquent sitôt que vous les refermez. C'est un roman magnifiquement écrit, édifiant. Kathryn Stockett.

Si vous recevez cette lettre

A Victorian young woman faces the social restrictions of marriage and yearns for something more as she spends her summer at a resort in Maine.

Grange House

1940. De Amerikaanse radiojournaliste Frankie Bard verslaat vanuit Londen als eerste vrouw de oorlog. Terwijl er elke nacht bommen vallen en joodse vluchtelingen in paniek door Europa vluchten, probeert Frankie het juiste verhaal te vinden dat Amerika tot actie zal bewegen. Aan de andere kant van de oceaan, in Franklin, Massachusetts, luistert Iris James naar Frankies uitzendingen. Ze weet dat het een kwestie van tijd is voor de oorlog ook haar dorp bereikt en als hoofd van het postkantoor ziet ze het als haar taak om andermans geheimen te bezorgen en te bewaren. Ook het doktersechtpaar Will en Emma Fitch luistert elke avond naar Frankie. Wanneer Will besluit haar woorden ter harte te nemen en naar het front te gaan, botsen de levens van de drie vrouwen op onverwachte wijze. De laatste brief is een verhaal over sterke vrouwen, de impact van oorlog en het belang van nieuws. Zelfs nieuws dat de geadresseerde nooit bereikt...

De laatste brief

A beautifully told, captivating novel of 19th century love and intrigue Maisie Thomas spends every summer with her parents at Grange House, a hotel on an island off the coast of Maine ruled by the elegant but distant Miss Grange. In 1898, when Maisie turns 17, her visit marks a turning point. On the morning after her arrival, local fishermen make a gruesome discovery: two drowned lovers, found clasped in each other's arms. It's only the first in a series of events that cast a shadow over Maisie's summer. As she considers the attentions of two very different young men, one an adventurous writer, the other an ambitious businessman from her father's company, Maisie also falls under the gaze of Miss Grange, who begins to tell her stories of her past. But which are truth and which are fiction? Another death, a cache of diaries, an exchange of letters--and a ghostly apparition--all play a part in changing Maisie's life forever. Rich with the details, customs, and language of the era, GRANGE HOUSE is part family saga, part ghost-story, part love story; a wonderfully atmospheric, page-turning novel of literary suspense and romance.

Experience World War 2 through the eyes of two very different women in this captivating New York Times bestseller by the author of The Guest Book. “A beautifully written, thought-provoking novel.”—Kathryn Stockett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Help In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn't deliver it. Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can't touch them. But both Iris and Frankie know better... The Postmistress is a tale of two worlds-one shattered by violence, the other willfully naïve—and of two women whose job is to deliver the news, yet who find themselves unable to do so. Through their eyes, and the eyes of everyday people caught in history's tide, it examines how stories are told, and how the fact of war is borne even through everyday life.

UNA VERA EPOPEA AMERCANA "Un romanzo che tocca le corde più profonde del cuore." The New York Times New York, 1935. Ogden e Kitty Milton sono una coppia ricca e felice con tre bellissimi bambini. Kitty si divide tra la gestione dei figli e la vita mondana dell’alta società newyorkese, mentre il lavoro di Ogden, che appartiene a una famiglia di banchieri da diverse generazioni, lo porta a viaggiare frequentemente in Germania. Con l’ascesa al potere dei nazisti, le acciaierie tedesche finanziate dai Milton iniziano a produrre aerei per la Wehrmacht. Ma il pericolo che incombe sull’Europa, sottovalutato da tutti, è invisibile anche agli occhi di Ogden. Quando una terribile tragedia colpisce la sua famiglia, Ogden compra un’intera isola al largo delle coste del Maine e vi fa costruire una splendida villa dove trascorrere le vacanze. In una girandola di feste con ospiti importanti, alcol, tradimenti e bugie, i Milton cercano di dimenticare, di fingere che nulla sia accaduto. Ma il destino è pronto a presentargli nuovamente il conto… New York, oggi. Dopo due generazioni, i segreti dei Milton sono rimasti tali, ma il loro patrimonio è stato quasi del tutto dilapidato. Alla morte della madre, Evie, nipote di Kitty, insieme ai suoi cugini devono fare i conti con la mancanza di fondi per mantenere la casa di famiglia sull’isola. Le ombre del passato stanno per venire a galla. Evie dovrà affrontare il lato oscuro dei Milton, e una cosa è certa: niente sarà mai più lo stesso.

Le ombre del nostro passato

Ambientada en plena Segona Guerra Mundial, La carta és una novella corprenedora que ha significat el salt internacional de Sarah Blake. A banda i banda de lAtlàntic, tres dones no saben fins a quin punt sencreuaran les seves vides. Elles són lIris James, la metòdica encarregada de loficina de correus de Franklin, a Massachusetts; lEmma Fitch, la flamant dona del metge local, que espera amb delit larribada del correu amb notícies del seu marit, que és a Londres ajudant els ferits en els bombardejos, i la periodista Frankie Bard, la veu que explica per ràdio als americans lhorror de la guerra a la vella Europa. Què passaria si alguna delles decidís no fer arribar una notícia al seu destí? Cada història, sigui damor o de guerra, és una història sobre mirar cap a lesquerra quan hauríem dhaver mirat cap a la dreta.

La carta

Mr. West covers the main events in superstar Kanye West’s life while also following the poet on her year spent researching, writing, and pregnant. The book explores how we are drawn to celebrities—to their portrayal in the media—and how we sometimes find great private meaning in another person’s public story, even across lines of gender and race. Blake’s aesthetics take her work from prose poems to lineated free verse to tightly wound lyrics to improbably successful sestinas. The poems fully engage pop culture as a strange, complicated presence that is revealing of America itself. This is a daring debut collection and a groundbreaking work. An online reader’s companion will be available at http://sarahblake.site.wesleyan.edu.

Sarah Blake

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