Teaser Synopsis ( I hate to give you too much information!)
Twelve years after a tragic accident and a cover-up that led to prison time, Dwight Arno, now fifty, is a man who has started over without exactly moving on. Living alone in California, haunted yet keeping his head down, Dwight manages a sporting goods store and dates a woman to whom he hasn’t revealed the truth about his past. Then an unexpected arrival throws his carefully neutralized life into turmoil and exposes all that he’s hidden.
First Thoughts after finishing this book: "I'm keeping this book...I want to read it again!"
Writing that really touched my core because sometimes I feel this way about my oldest son:
He looks up at me. "Do you hate yourself?"
My mouth is dry. Carefully, I sit on the edge of his bed.
"Some days. Other days are better."
He nods as if he understands, which makes me sadder than anything he could have said.
He is my son. He's within reach now. Soon, I think, I will try to touch him, but not just yet.
(from Northwest Corner page 240 in the ARC; finished version may be different)
This book touched me on so many levels. The writing is some of the most authentic and real that I've read in quite some time. My only wish is that I would liked to have read '
Reservation Road' to get the back story before delving into this one. However, not doing that did not hinder my ability to fully love and appreciate where the characters are in their lives with Northwest Corner. This is quintessential American story telling and I could not put this book down. The characters seemed so real that I felt as if I knew them, as if they could be my next door neighbor. The story is something that could happen to anyone at anytime. For that reason alone I was drawn into the grips of their tale and when I finished felt as if I too had been put through an emotional wringer. This is a powerful piece of work about how a family comes to terms with past mistakes and to what lengths one may go to for redemption and love.
Recommend? I'm standing on the rooftops screaming out to my friends-
READ THIS ONE! I finished this book over a week ago and the characters are still rattling around inside my heart. I have purchased
Reservation Road and
The Commoner because Schwartz's writing touched me and has made me want more!
Rating: 10/10
Published: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Random HousePages: 285Genre: Literary FictionISBN: 9781400068456*uncorrected ARC
John Burnham Schwartz is the author of the acclaimed novels The Commoner,Claire Marvel, Bicycle Days, andReservation Road, which was made into a motion picture based on his screenplay. His new novel, Northwest Corner, will be published on July 26, 2011. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages and his writing has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. A past winner of the Lyndhurst Foundation Award for mastery in the art of fiction, Schwartz is also an accomplished screenwriter, having written films for Focus Features, Sony Pictures and Lionsgate. He has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Harvard University, and Sarah Lawrence College, and is currently Literary Director of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Aleksandra Crapanzano, and their son, Garrick.
Disclaimer:Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MYexperience while reading this novel.
© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
