Bird in Hand

A Novel

by Christina Baker Kline

On Sale: 11/24/2009

Bird in Hand

A Novel

by Christina Baker Kline

On Sale: 11/24/2009

Format:

About the Book

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and The Exiles comes a novel about the choices we make, how they shape our lives, and how they can change them forever.

Four people, two marriages, one lifelong friendship: Everything is about to change.

It was dark. It was raining.  It was just an accident.  On the drive home from a rare evening out, Alison collides with another car running a stop sign, and—just like that—her life turns upside down. 

When she calls her husband, Charlie, from the police station, his accusatory tone reveals cracks in their relationship she’d never noticed were there. Now she notices everything. And she begins to realize that the life she carefully constructed for herself is as tenuous as a house of cards. 

The only thing Charlie can focus on these days is his secret, sudden affair with Claire, Alison’s best friend. Bold where Alison is reserved, vibrant where Alison is cautious, Claire has just had her first novel published, a thinly veiled retelling of her childhood in North Carolina. But even in the whirlwind of publication, Claire can’t stop wondering if she should leave her husband, Ben, an ambitious architect who is brilliant, kind, and meticulous. And who wants nothing more than a baby, or two—exactly the kind of life that Charlie and Alison seem to have.

As they set out on their individual journeys, Alison, Charlie, Claire, and Ben explore the idea—each in his or her own way—that every moment of loss contains within it the possibility of a new life. Alternating through these four intertwined perspectives, Bird in Hand is an exquisitely written, powerful, and thrilling novel about love, friendship and betrayal, and about the secrets we tell ourselves and each other.

Critical Praise

“In BIRD IN HAND, Christina Baker Kline looks at marriage, at parents and children, pain and sorrow, and at all the questions that life asks us. This is a wise and lovely book.” — Roxana Robinson, author of Cost

“Kline’s razor-sharp novel about love, marriage and obligation is a beach book only because you could zip through it anywhere.” — More magazine

“Kline’s unflinching gaze and lovely prose set [BIRD IN HAND] apart from the herd of infidelity/marital ennui novels. It’s well-done, thoughtful and thought-provoking.” — Publishers Weekly

“A gripping tale about two crumbling marriages, [BIRD IN HAND] offers a realistic and, at times, heartbreaking look at love and friendship.” — RealSimple.com, Entertainment Pick

“[Bird in Hand] exhibits an unsparing eye for the telling details that reveal how people think and act.” — Library Journal

“Kline explores the complications of the lines and bonds between marriage and friendship with honest and complex emotions on all four narrative fronts.” — Booklist

“Christina Baker Kline is a relentless storyteller. Once she sets her hook and starts reeling you in, struggle becomes counterproductive. The narrative line is too taut, the angler at the other end too skillful.” — Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and That Old Cape Magic

“It is both thrilling and terrifying to read this powerful new novel and think: this could be me. Christina Baker Kline takes us on an intimate journey with her characters, one that brings us dangerously close to the hidden truths about love, trust and friendship.” — Ellen Sussman, author of Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex; Bad Girls: 25 Writers Misbehave; and On a Night Like This

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Resources

Product Details

  • ISBN: 9780061989803
  • ISBN 10: 0061989800
  • Imprint: William Morrow
  • On Sale: 11/24/2009
  • Pages: 320
  • List Price:11.99 CAD
  • BISAC1 : FICTION / Contemporary Women
  • BISAC2 : FICTION / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce
  • BISAC3 : FICTION / Literary

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