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Title details for Vigil Harbor by Julia Glass - Available

Vigil Harbor

A Novel

by Julia Glass
Cassandra Campbell
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
From the National Book Award-winning, bestselling author of Three Junes comes "an engrossing, richly drawn and exquisitely told story of small-town residents grappling with the difficulties of changing times" (People).
“Full of secrets and surprises...A must-read.” —J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Friends and Strangers

When two unexpected visitors arrive in an insular coastal village, they threaten the equilibrium of a community already confronting climate instability, political violence, and domestic upheavals.
A decade from now, in the historic town of Vigil Harbor, there is a rash of divorces among the yacht-club set, a marine biologist despairs at the state of the world, a spurned wife is bent on revenge, and the renowned architect Austin Kepner pursues a passion for building homes designed to withstand the escalating fury of relentless storms. Austin’s stepson, Brecht, has dropped out of college in New York and returned home after narrowly escaping one of the terrorist acts that, like hurricanes, have become increasingly common.
Then two strangers arrive: a stranded traveler with subversive charms and a widow seeking clues about a past lover with ties to Austin—a woman who may have been more than merely human. These strangers and their hidden motives come together unexpectedly in an incident that endangers lives—including Brecht’s—with dramatic repercussions for the entire town.
Vigil Harbor reveals Julia Glass in all her virtuosity, braiding multiple voices and dazzling strands of plot into a story where mortal longings and fears intersect with immortal mysteries of the deep as well as of the heart.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 3, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593592410
      • File size: 493941 KB
      • Duration: 17:09:02

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 7, 2022
      National Book Award winner Glass (A House Among the Trees) adds mystery and adventure to an engrossing near-future story of the perils of climate change. Covid-19 is in the rearview, but things are far from the old normal. Serial terrorist bombings target New York City’s Union Square, Cambridge’s Harvard Yard, and other places throughout the U.S. as a catastrophic tsunami threatens the Northeast. Austin Kepner, a renowned architect of houses for clients seeking “postmarital solitude,” welcomes his stepson, Brecht, back to their small “almost island” Massachusetts fishing town after he drops out of college. There, Brecht discovers “weird weather, weird politics, and weird relationships.” The last involves strangers who show up, among them Petra Coyle, who claims to be a journalist commissioned to do a documentary on Austin; Ernesto Soltera, a purported old friend of a local landscaper; and Issa, an artist’s model with no navel and “pearly skin,” who the locals believe is a selkie, a creature from Celtic myth that’s half-person, half-seal. As the story unfolds, Glass skillfully reveals Issa’s connections to Petra and Austin, and a heart-pounding hostage episode ratchets up the tension as multiple secret identities and several romantic triangles are exposed, leading to a satisfying conclusion. Both nightmarish and enjoyable, this will have readers hooked for the long haul.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Nine talented narrators weave together this dramatic story. It's told from eight alternating points of view with one omniscient narrator commenting on the larger themes. In the near future in a familiar-seeming east coast town, the jarring reality of climate change, pandemic repercussions, and the rise of ecoterrorism seems unsettling and real. Beginning quietly, the story is rooted in deceptively familiar scenes--we listen in on family dinners and school art projects and hear about long-ago love stories--but soon the characters' voices register the urgency of large-scale climate repercussions as discord and danger threaten this seemingly safe harbor. Listeners may initially feel dazzled by so many voices, but the portrayals of the characters--deftly distinguished through tone and pacing--clarify their individual stories even as their fates become increasingly interconnected. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Glass sets her newest in a post-pandemic, pre-apocalyptic, terrorism-ridden, not-so-distant future. On the cusp of ecological disaster, young adults lack the motivation to launch themselves into independent lives. Terrorists protesting the destruction of the planet set off bombs regularly. Food is becoming scarce; violent weather is frequent. In the town of Vigil Harbor--a self-insulated historic community in coastal Massachusetts--inhabitants struggle to maintain life as it was while doing their best to ignore life as it has become. When two strangers arrive in town, they bring with them seeds of disruption, and, in the ensuing crisis, it takes a village to solve one of their potentially deadly problems. National Book Award winner Glass (Three Junes) creates a community of privileged, mostly white inhabitants who find that change is hard; when confronted with disaster, they work together to protect the status quo. Point-of-view chapters allow access to the viewpoints of multiple generations and classes, which are read by a myriad of skilled narrators: Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Jeremy Davidson, January LaVoy, Michael Crouch, Kirsten Potter, Mark Deakins, Hillary Huber, and Alec Glass. VERDICT Readers of general fiction will enjoy Glass's novel; recommended for all collections.--Joanna M. Burkhardt

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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