Jennifer Vanderbes is the author of the novels The Secret of Raven Point, Easter Island, and Strangers at the Feast, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a New York Public Library Cullman Fellowship. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Granta and has been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in New York City. Visit her website at JenniferVanderbes.com.
“The Secret of Raven Point is about piecing together meaning in
lives and minds shattered by war. It's a meditation on the power of
steadfast love in all its forms –romantic, fraternal, platonic,
even divine—to restore wholeness out of chaos, and light out of
unspeakable darkness. Jennifer Vanderbes gives us characters we
care about and a story we believe in an engrossing novel that
brings home the particularity of war. A moving tribute to a
generation of men and women whose stories, and whose lives, for the
most part are now lost to us, it's a great read.”
*M.L. Stedman, author of The Light Between Oceans*
“The Secret of Raven Point is strikingly vivid, tackling war’s
moral ambiguities from the open-eyed perspective of a young
American woman on the cusp of adulthood…Vanderbes’s unputdownable
third novel… finds contemporary resonance in classic themes of
humanity and loyalty tested by extremes…[Juliet is] her most
indelible character to date.”
*Vogue.com*
“A sweet and sad love story…An unforgettable saga.”
*Christian Science Monitor*
“The Secret of Raven Point draws the reader in with evocative
period drama and a rich emotional portrait of its heroine. An
arresting, exciting journey of discovery from an extremely talented
author.”
*author of The Technologists and The Dante Club*
“Fresh, compelling…War gives men and women a chance to become
monsters or heroes, and Vanderbes finds her footing exploring these
two extremes…[Juliet] is a companionable protagonist...She emerges
from the experience as someone altered yet not conquered by
war….Vanderbes performs admirably.”
*The Washington Post*
“A touching tale of a sister’s love for her brother, but the
underlying themes are much deeper. Readers will fall in love with
the delightful Juliet, who is a smart and courageous heroine, and
other hospital workers as they form friendships and struggle to
accept tragedy and loss while treating their patients' physical and
mental wounds…The only disappointing thing about this book is that
it has to end.”
*Library Journal, starred review*
“Jennifer Vanderbes' The Secret of Raven Point should do for
war-era Italy what Hilary Mantel has done for 1500's England. That
is, it proves that fiction can be history with blood in its veins,
quickening for us the violence and sadness and the awful
incongruity of war. A brilliant novelist, and a book to treasure
and never to forget.”
*author of Chang & Eng and Half a Life*
"The Secret of Raven Point is a subtle evocation of war and loss,
which Jennifer Vanderbes—with extraordinary cleverness and
restraint—explores slantwise, the story coming visible through its
glimmering contours, like an embossing on fine paper or an
impression in snow."
*author of Arcadia*
“Part mystery, part coming-of-age tale, part World War II novel,
Vanderbes’s…moving latest…is an empathetic, oblique take on the
layers of damage done during war…Unusual and affecting”
*Kirkus Reviews*
“Vanderbes graphically depicts the gruesome nature of battlefield
injuries, both to the body and to the psyche, even as she shows
Juliet’s courage and strength. The skillful Vanderbes’ aching
depiction of Juliet’s struggle to maintain her humanity amid the
army’s callous bureaucracy and the horrors of war works as both an
homage to our armed forces and a moving personal story of emotional
growth.”
*Booklist*
“The Secret of Raven Point at first seems to be the mystery of a
young man gone missing in World War II, but as the pages begin to
fly by, the layers become deeper…This novel had me wrapped in the
lives of the couple, who endure much personal loss and yet manage
to find humanity in the darkest of times. Definitely one of my
favorite reads of the year.”
*The Historical Novel Society*
"The Secret of Raven Point is that rare book that reminds us of the
deep, immersive pleasures of novel-reading: of getting lost in a
story, of being transported to another time and place, of growing
so attached to characters that they feel as present and real as
one’s own friends. Jennifer Vanderbes takes a harrowing but
little-known chapter from WWII history and through her
compassionate and brilliant rendering, transforms it into a story
that is urgent, personal, and profoundly moving."
*Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, National Book Award-Nominated author of
Madeleine is Sleeping*
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