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From her bestselling debut novel, Broken for You, Stephanie Kallos
earned comparisons to John Irving, Anne Tyler and Carol Shields, and she
garnered legions of fans. Her new novel, Sing Them Home, is a deeply
moving portrait of three grown siblings who have lived in the shadow of
unresolved grief since their mother’s mysterious disappearance when they were
children.
Everyone in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, knows the story of Hope
Jones, the physician’s wife whose big dreams for their tiny town were lost along
with her in the tornado of 1978. For Hope’s three children, life with their
distant, preoccupied father, and with Viney, their mother’s spitfire best
friend, can never make up for their mother’s absence. Once grown up, Larken, the
eldest child, an art history professor, seeks in food an answer to a less
tangible hunger; Gaelan, the only son, is a telegenic weatherman who
devotes his life to predicting the unpredictable and whose profession, and all
too much more, depends on his sculpted frame and ready smile; and Bonnie, the
baby of the family, is a self-proclaimed archivist who combs the roadside for
clues to her mother’s legacy and permission to move on. When, decades after
their mother’s disappearance, the three siblings are summoned home after their
father’s sudden death, they are forced to revisit the childhood tragedy at the
centre of their lives.
With breathtaking lyricism, wisdom and humour, Stephanie
Kallos explores the consequences of protecting the ones we love and conjures an
extraordinary cast of characters teeming with quirks, blind spots and secrets.
Sing Them Home is a magnificent tapestry of lives connected and undone by
tragedy, lives poised—unbeknownst to the characters themselves— for redemption.
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Critical Praise for
Sing Them Home
“I absolutely fell in love with this book. . . . There is a message here
about creating family in the most unusual places. . . . I promise you this: you
will not be sorry you read this book. . . . A wonderful, engaging story.”
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Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees on Broken for You
“Theatre veteran Kallos debuts with a dazzling mosaic of intersecting lives
and fates. . . . Kallos has a rare, deft way with whimsy, dream sequences and
hallucinations. Comparisons to John Irving and Tennessee Williams would not be
amiss in this show-stopping debut.”
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Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on Broken for You
“[A] dreamy, powerful tale of familial warring, secrets and redemption. . . .
This haunting and memorable debut is reminiscent of early Atwood, peopled by
lovably imperfect and eccentric characters.”
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Publishers Weekly on Broken for You
“A delight to read and a memory to savour. The compelling story highlights
the losses and disjointedness of life and the many paths back to healing for
those who seek the way. . . . The clever plot and luminous characters are not
all that place this novel at the head of the class. . . . Book groups will enjoy
discussing the layers of meaning, the stylistic nuances and the powerful message
of hope secreted in these pages.”
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Booklist (starred review) on Broken for You
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