What Is Left the Daughter - Paperback

by Howard Norman (Author)

Howard Norman, widely regarded as one of this country's finest novelists, returns to the mesmerizing fictional terrain of his major books--The Bird Artist, The Museum Guard, and The Haunting of L--in this erotically charged and morally complex story.

Seventeen-year-old Wyatt Hillyer is suddenly orphaned when his parents, within hours of each other, jump off two different bridges--the result of their separate involvements with the same compelling neighbor, a Halifax switchboard operator and aspiring actress. The suicides cause Wyatt to move to small-town Middle Economy to live with his uncle, aunt, and ravishing cousin Tilda.

Setting in motion the novel's chain of life-altering passions and the wartime perfidy at its core is the arrival of the German student Hans Mohring, carrying only a satchel. Actual historical incidents--including a German U-boat's sinking of the Nova Scotia-Newfoundland ferry Caribou, on which Aunt Constance Hillyer might or might not be traveling--lend intense narrative power to Norman's uncannily layered story.

Wyatt's account of the astonishing--not least to him-- events leading up to his fathering of a beloved daughter spills out twenty-one years later. It's a confession that speaks profoundly of the mysteries of human character in wartime and is directed, with both despair and hope, to an audience of one.

An utterly stirring novel. This is Howard Norman at his celebrated best.

Back Jacket

A novel about the illogic of love and the violent chaos it leaves in its wake. "New York Times"Seventeen-year-old Wyatt Hillyer is suddenly orphaned when his parents, within hours of each other, jump off two different bridges the result of their separate involvements with the same compelling woman, a Halifax switchboard operator and aspiring actress. The suicides cause Wyatt to move to small-town Middle Economy to live with his uncle, aunt, and ravishing cousin Tilda. Setting in motion the novel s chain of life-altering passions and the wartime perfidy at its core is the arrival of the German student Hans Mohring. Actual historical incidents including a German U-boat s sinking of the Nova Scotia Newfoundland ferry "Caribou" lend intense narrative power to Norman s uncannily layered story. Wyatt s account of the astonishing events leading up to his fathering a beloved daughter spills out twenty-one years later. An utterly stirring novel, "What Is Left the Daughter" is Howard Norman at his celebrated best. Norman writes with spare elegance and dry humor, and the extraordinary emotional power of his slim new novel is earned with authentic grace. Grade: A "Entertainment Weekly" Offers a kind of rough-hewn poetry throughout [with an] ardor that shimmers just below the surface. "Washington"" Post"An Amazon.com Best Book of the MonthAn Indie Next List PickTwo of Howard Norman s novels, "The Northern Lights" (1987) and "The Bird Artist" (1994), were nominated for the National Book Award. His other novels include "The Museum Guard, " "The Haunting of L, " and "Devotion." His books have been translated into twelve languages. Norman is the recipient of a Lannan Award in fiction, and he teaches at the University of Maryland."