NOW AVAILABLE from Bloomsbury USA
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A transporting new work of historical fiction from the acclaimed author of Woodsburner.
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In late-eighteenth-century Ireland, accidental stargazer Caroline Ainsworth learns that her life is not what it seems when her father, Arthur, throws himself from his rooftop observatory. He has chosen death over a darkened life, gone blind from staring at the sun in his obsessive hunt for an unknown planet near Mercury. Caroline had often assisted her father with his observations; when astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781, she watched helplessly as unremitting jealousy drove Arthur to madness. . . . Read more
". . . a riveting description of the passion of discovery in the late 18th century, and a brilliant examination of such age-old themes as the longing for permanence and belonging." Library Journal starred review
Acclaim for Woodsburner
One of the Best Books of the Year:
The Washington Post - San Francisco Chronicle - The Christian Science Monitor
"A wily fictional prequel to Walden. . . . Intelligent and often lyrical. . . . As the fire spreads, his Thoreau Springs to life."
The New York Times Book Review
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"A terrifically exciting story. . . . Just as captivating are those characters Pipkin has invented, men and women consumed by their own passions. They provide a fascinating impression of the nation when it was still yung and swelling and struggling to define itself."
The Washington Post
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"Wonderfully grandiose. . . . Pipkin's portrait of a nation in flux is energetic and optimistic. It's also a remarkably constructed piece of fiction--vibrant, solidly plotted and lyrically yet efficienty composed--and should be a contender for the year's important literary awards."
The Boston Globe