Jeffrey Lent Libri

Set against the backdrop of early-nineteenth-century New England, the narrative follows Blood, a man with a troubled past, as he attempts to forge a new life as a trader. Accompanied by Sally, a young girl acquired from a brothel, they navigate a world fraught with violence and uncertainty. As Blood confronts haunting memories and two mysterious young men emerge, themes of individualism, nationhood, and the struggle for redemption unfold. The novel intricately weaves elements of desolation, hope, and the transformative power of love through its evocative prose.

Exploring deep family secrets, this novel features a memorable cast of characters who navigate their lives by transforming their losses into resilience. The author, known for their previous work, provides an insightful and revealing look at the complexities of familial relationships and the emotional struggles that shape them.

Malcolm Hopeton is on trial for his life - he has committed a horrific act that reverberates through the community of the Four Corners as it emerges from the shadows of the American Civil War. Becca Davis has been keeping house for the widowed August Swartout for four years when she receives word that her brother Harlan has been injured in a tussle with the infamous murderer. But when Harlan comes to the house to recuperate, Becca and August are surprised. Not only does Harlan forgive his attacker, but he is ready to stand at his trial and plead in his defence. Soon, Enoch Stone, the local lawyer, comes knocking. Sensing an opportunity to advance his own position, he has taken on Hopeton's case. As the truth behind the violence comes to light and the townspeople become caught up in the events, notions of honour and integrity, theft and revenge will be sorely tested. And they will each come to realise that the world they thought they knew can never be the same again

A rich and masterful novel about love and the question of race in post-Civil War America; Spanning the post-Civil War era to the edge of the Great Depression in the Fall is an extraordinary epic of three generations of an American family, the dark secrets that blister at its core, and the transcendent bonds between men and women that fuel their lives over the course of six decades. In the twilight of the Civil War, a Union soldier named Norman Pelham is found battle-wounded and near death by Leah, a slave running from a different hell. After Leah nurses him back to health, Norman brings her to his family homestead in Vermont as his wife, and there they begin a family that will be shaped by their passionate devotion to each other and its consequences.

As always in Lent's work, personal and social conflicts are intertwined . . . Lent's nuanced portraits of the Snows and their world amply engage our attention--and often our delight, as when his gorgeous prose conjures the pleasures of Ruth's cooking or Oliver's fiddle music . . . Lent's compassionate depiction of the Snows' silence-haunted marriage is often painful to read, demonstrating vividly that love cannot heal all wounds. Yet it is also deeply affecting, as we see Ruth accepting the changed nature of the man she still loves and understanding that his quiet gifts will have to suffice as demonstrations of his love . . . [ Before We Sleep ] expresses the same generous spirit that informs all of [Lent's novels]. Washington Post

An epic novel of the first half of the twentieth century takes the reader to a Nova Scotian fishing town where young Henry Dorn chafes against family expectations of becoming a fisherman to find a life for himself in the wider world of New York City. By the author of In the Fall and Lost Nation. Reader's Guide available. 35,000 first printing.