Burning Marguerite - Softcover

"Vivid yet concise, Inness-Brown's language burns away all but the essence of her story." --The New York Times Book Review

"Takes the concept of motherhood . . . into the realm of poetry. . . . Reminiscent of Flannery O'Connor with a touch of Nathaniel Hawthorne." --Philadelphia Inquirer

"Densely-layered . . . dramatic. . . . Inness-Brown possesses an assured touch for conveying the vivid harshness of her setting." --The Miami Herald

"Though written in visual, spare prose, there's nothing simple about this story. . . . Filled with haunting places and beautifully drawn characters, Burning Marguerite is a sterling novel." --The Baltimore Sun

"Hauntingly surprising . . . masterfully controlled. . . . A stunning debut." --San Francisco Chronicle

"[The characters'] stories unfold in a combination of grand sweep and everyday detail. . . and indelibility but reminds us that even everyday life. . . can lead to epic crossroads--and beautifully written novels." --The Chicago Tribune

"This careful interweaving of past and present, of death and of the life that preceded it, is masterfully conceived and structured." --The Trenton Times

"Elizabeth Inness-Brown proves herself already a master of description." --Time Out New York

"To read this book is to feel the quiet at its center, like a cathedral, empty but filled with the wound of silence. At its heart is an elegant and understated examination of the obligations and endurance of love." --The Times-Picayune

"The world is filled with tales of a mother's love, but few as wistful or wise as Burning Marguerite. Elizabeth Inness-Brown knows exactly what magic brims in a mother's--and, yes, a son's--heart." --Chris Bohjalian, author of The Buffalo Soldier and Midwives

"[Inness-Brown's] descriptive writing is rich and evocative. The reader might actually shiver at her descriptions of winter in Vermont and perspire at those of summer in New Orleans." --The Roanoke Times

"Finishing Burning Marguerite was a bittersweet experience. I look forward to future novels by this intriguing and very talented writer." --The Anniston Star

"Burning Marguerite is a novel of hidden things, a book with sweeping range, intense feeling, delicate detail. It catches you in the web of its first pages and will not let go. It is utterly wonderful." --Frederick Barthelme

Awakening on a cold winter morning to find the body of his ninety-four-year-old "Tante" Marguerite Deo lying dead outside his cabin, carpenter James Jack must confront the mystery of her death and the secrets that have impacted his own life, in a story that moves from turn-of-the-century New England, to New Orleans during the Depression, to the present day. A first novel. Reprint. 17,500 first printing.