Idaho, 1995. Par une chaude et insouciante journée d'août, Wade, Jenny et leurs deux petites filles, June et May, se rendent dans une clairière de montagne pour ramasser du bois. S'y produit soudain un drame inimaginable, qui détruit la famille à tout jamais. Neuf années plus tard, Wade a refait sa vie avec Ann au milieu des paysages sauvages et âpres de l'Idaho. Mais tandis que la mémoire de son mari vacille, Ann devient obsédée par le passé de Wade. Déterminée à comprendre cette famille qu'elle n'a jamais connue, elle s'efforce de reconstituer ce qui est arrivé à la première épouse de Wade et à leurs filles.
LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER A stunning debut novel about love and forgiveness, about the violence of memory and the equal violence of its loss--from O. Henry Prizewinning author Emily Ruskovich WINNER OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BOOK AWARD WINNER OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED Ann and Wade have carved out a life for themselves from a rugged landscape in northern Idaho, where they are bound together by more than love. With her husbands memory fading, Ann attempts to piece together the truth of what happened to Wades first wife, Jenny, and to their daughters. In a story written in exquisite prose and told from multiple perspectives--including Ann, Wade, and Jenny, now in prison--we gradually learn of the mysterious and shocking act that fractured Wade and Jenny's lives, of the love and compassion that brought Ann and Wade together, and of the memories that reverberate through the lives of every character in Idaho . In a wild emotional and physical landscape, Wades past becomes the center of Anns imagination, as Ann becomes determined to understand the family she never knew--and to take responsibility for them, reassembling their lives, and her own. FINALIST FOR: International Dylan Thomas Prize Edgar First Novel Award Young Lions Fiction Award You know youre in masterly hands here. [Emily] Ruskovichs language is itself a consolation, as she subtly posits the troubling thought that only decency can save us. . . . Ruskovichs novel will remind many readers of the great Idaho novel, Marilynne Robinsons Housekeeping. . . . [A] wrenching and beautiful book. --The New York Times Book Review (Editors Choice) Sensuous, exquisitely crafted. --The Wall Street Journal The first thing you should know about Idaho, the shatteringly original debut by O. Henry Prize winner Emily Ruskovich, is that it upturns everything you think you know about story. . . . You could read Idaho just for the sheer beauty of the prose, the expert way Ruskovich makes everything strange and yet absolutely familiar. --San Francisco Chronicle Mesmerizing . . . [an] eerie story about what the heart is capable of fathoming and what the hand is capable of executing. --Marie Claire Idaho is a wonderful debut. Ruskovich knows how to build a page-turner from the opening paragraph. --Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
