Gologorsky returns to the settings of her previous books: the American working class of Long Island and the Bronx, where the last two generations of Americans have been scarred by the legacy of foreign wars and the addictions left in their wake.
In The Angle of Falling Light, the protagonist Tessa, has no model close to her for the kind of life she’d like to lead. Her sister Marla starts using drugs, following the lead of their uncle Hack, who softens his days with alcohol and weed. Her stepfather Scotty is a vet struggling with depression. Her mom, Nina, takes refuge with a new lover and Tess, too, finds safety in a new relationship if not the direction she so desperately seeks.
The Angle of Falling Light is a book with a big cast of troubled innocents, everyone looking for a way forward, a lesson in how to give love while still putting yourself first, one of the most difficult of life’s challenges. As Gologorsky has it, some will lose this battle, while others will at least survive it.
"Set during the 'forever wars' that followed 9/11, The Angle of Falling Light movingly explores the demons that survivors must wrestle with in the wake of tragedy. Beverly Gologorsky brings us a great cast of characters, at their center three working-class women trying to shape lives of their own in a world that seems to promise them nothing but deadening repetition. Brave and faltering, they face daunting conundrums of love, care, and the pull of freedom. How do we live past the terrible knowledge that we cannot always help those we cherish the most? Are we still entitled to seek happiness? Knowing how easily disaster can strike the vulnerable, how do we dare to take the risks required for a satisfying life? Is such a thing even possible in a society hooked on war, dangerous drugs, and hatred of the 'other'? Alongside the unforgettable trio of Nina and her daughters (the beautiful but heedless Marla and shy, determined Tessa—barely an adult, but forced to pick up the pieces when her home life shatters), we also spend time with Rhonda, an 80-something artist whose struggle to stay independent in the face of physical limitations and family pressure complements Tessa’s quest to become a photographer. Gologorsky’s unsparing vision of the bleakness so rampant in a nation addicted to combat and inequality only renders more compelling her portraits of these women bound and determined to 'make a way from no way.'" --Jan Clausen, author of Apples & Oranges
BEVERLY GOLOGORSKY is the author of the acclaimed novel The Things We Do to Make It Home, which was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Best Fiction book, and a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great Writers Award. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, and the Nation. A former editor of two political journals, Viet-Report and Leviathan, Gologorsky has contributed toFeminists Who Changed America, Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides, and The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women's True-Life Tales of Friendships That Blew Up, Burned Out or Faded Away. She lives in New York and Maine.
View titles by Beverly Gologorsky
Gologorsky returns to the settings of her previous books: the American working class of Long Island and the Bronx, where the last two generations of Americans have been scarred by the legacy of foreign wars and the addictions left in their wake.
In The Angle of Falling Light, the protagonist Tessa, has no model close to her for the kind of life she’d like to lead. Her sister Marla starts using drugs, following the lead of their uncle Hack, who softens his days with alcohol and weed. Her stepfather Scotty is a vet struggling with depression. Her mom, Nina, takes refuge with a new lover and Tess, too, finds safety in a new relationship if not the direction she so desperately seeks.
The Angle of Falling Light is a book with a big cast of troubled innocents, everyone looking for a way forward, a lesson in how to give love while still putting yourself first, one of the most difficult of life’s challenges. As Gologorsky has it, some will lose this battle, while others will at least survive it.
Praise
"Set during the 'forever wars' that followed 9/11, The Angle of Falling Light movingly explores the demons that survivors must wrestle with in the wake of tragedy. Beverly Gologorsky brings us a great cast of characters, at their center three working-class women trying to shape lives of their own in a world that seems to promise them nothing but deadening repetition. Brave and faltering, they face daunting conundrums of love, care, and the pull of freedom. How do we live past the terrible knowledge that we cannot always help those we cherish the most? Are we still entitled to seek happiness? Knowing how easily disaster can strike the vulnerable, how do we dare to take the risks required for a satisfying life? Is such a thing even possible in a society hooked on war, dangerous drugs, and hatred of the 'other'? Alongside the unforgettable trio of Nina and her daughters (the beautiful but heedless Marla and shy, determined Tessa—barely an adult, but forced to pick up the pieces when her home life shatters), we also spend time with Rhonda, an 80-something artist whose struggle to stay independent in the face of physical limitations and family pressure complements Tessa’s quest to become a photographer. Gologorsky’s unsparing vision of the bleakness so rampant in a nation addicted to combat and inequality only renders more compelling her portraits of these women bound and determined to 'make a way from no way.'" --Jan Clausen, author of Apples & Oranges
BEVERLY GOLOGORSKY is the author of the acclaimed novel The Things We Do to Make It Home, which was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Best Fiction book, and a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great Writers Award. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, and the Nation. A former editor of two political journals, Viet-Report and Leviathan, Gologorsky has contributed toFeminists Who Changed America, Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides, and The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women's True-Life Tales of Friendships That Blew Up, Burned Out or Faded Away. She lives in New York and Maine.
View titles by Beverly Gologorsky
