NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Funny, wry, and profoundly moving” (San Francisco Chronicle), the “striking and original” (Chicago Tribune) first novel from the award-winning author of Evening explores the intricacies of family dynamics and the multifaceted effects of grief. “Not since J. D. Salinger has an American writer so feelingly evoked the special affections and loyalties that may develop among children in large families.”—The New York Times Book Review
The Vincents are a large and awkward New England family. Augustus Paine drinks too much; his wife, Rosie, a high-spirited Catholic, holds the family together, towing her seven “monkeys” to church, to boat races, and picnics in Maine. When she dies suddenly in an accident, they are left to cope.
Monkeys beautifully mines the children’s tenderness for one another and their guardianship of what they salvage after tragedy has hit. In this time-honored story of American family life, Susan Minot again reveals her ability for illuminating the glances and gestures of affection and heartbreak.
“Minot’s prose possesses a thrilling eloquence, a heartbreaking clarity.”—Newsday
“Not since J. D. Salinger has an American writer so feelingly evoked the special affections and loyalties that may develop among children in a large family.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Striking and original . . . Minot chronicles the mundane and miraculous moments that characterize family life, in prose that is exactingly realistic, yet delicately lyrical. . . . Few novels have so powerfully displayed the collective unity—and joy—of family life.”—Chicago Tribune
“Susan Minot’s funny, wry and profoundly moving novel of a large and gawky family in Massachusetts is full of quiet surprises. . . . Minot is masterful at showing us the chaos of a young family forming and reforming itself. But it is the absolute simplicity of her observation—always selective, often eccentric—that astounds us for its clarity time after time.”—San Francisco Chronicle
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Funny, wry, and profoundly moving” (San Francisco Chronicle), the “striking and original” (Chicago Tribune) first novel from the award-winning author of Evening explores the intricacies of family dynamics and the multifaceted effects of grief. “Not since J. D. Salinger has an American writer so feelingly evoked the special affections and loyalties that may develop among children in large families.”—The New York Times Book Review
The Vincents are a large and awkward New England family. Augustus Paine drinks too much; his wife, Rosie, a high-spirited Catholic, holds the family together, towing her seven “monkeys” to church, to boat races, and picnics in Maine. When she dies suddenly in an accident, they are left to cope.
Monkeys beautifully mines the children’s tenderness for one another and their guardianship of what they salvage after tragedy has hit. In this time-honored story of American family life, Susan Minot again reveals her ability for illuminating the glances and gestures of affection and heartbreak.
Praise
“Minot’s prose possesses a thrilling eloquence, a heartbreaking clarity.”—Newsday
“Not since J. D. Salinger has an American writer so feelingly evoked the special affections and loyalties that may develop among children in a large family.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Striking and original . . . Minot chronicles the mundane and miraculous moments that characterize family life, in prose that is exactingly realistic, yet delicately lyrical. . . . Few novels have so powerfully displayed the collective unity—and joy—of family life.”—Chicago Tribune
“Susan Minot’s funny, wry and profoundly moving novel of a large and gawky family in Massachusetts is full of quiet surprises. . . . Minot is masterful at showing us the chaos of a young family forming and reforming itself. But it is the absolute simplicity of her observation—always selective, often eccentric—that astounds us for its clarity time after time.”—San Francisco Chronicle
