High praise for Oslo, Maine!
"Wildly plotted, astutely observed, and brimming with wit."—Adrienne Brodeur
"I raced through this novel in one breathless sitting!"—Karen Dionne
"Marcia Butler is a master dramatist, a sorceress, and extraordinary novelist."—E.J. Levy
"Oslo, Maine is richly satisfying."—Bill Roorbach
A moose walks into a rural Maine town called Oslo. Pierre Roy, a brilliant twelve-year-old, loses his memory in an accident. Three families are changed for worse and better as they grapple with trauma, marriage, ambition, and their fraught relationship with the natural world.
Meet Claude Roy, Pierre's blustery and proud fourth-generation Maine father who cannot, or will not, acknowledge the too real and frightening fact of his son's injury. And his wife, Celine, a once-upon-a-time traditional housewife and mother who descends into pills as a way of coping. Enter Sandra and Jim Kimbrough, musicians and recent Maine transplants who scrape together a meager living as performers while shoring up the loose ends by attempting to live off the grid. Finally, the wealthy widow from away, Edna Sibley, whose dependent adult grandson is addicted to 1980's Family Feud episodes. Their disparate backgrounds and views on life make for, at times, uneasy neighbors. But when Sandra begins to teach Pierre the violin, forces beyond their control converge. The boy discovers that through sound he can enter a world without pain from the past nor worry for the future. He becomes a pre-adolescent existentialist and invents an unconventional method to come to terms with his memory loss, all the while attempting to protect, and then forgive, those who've failed him.
Oslo, Maine is a character driven novel exploring class and economic disparity. It inspects the strengths and limitations of seven average yet extraordinary people as they reckon with their considerable collective failure around Pierre's accident. Alliances unravel. Long held secrets are exposed. And throughout, the ever-present moose is the linchpin that drives this richly drawn story, filled with heartbreak and hope, to its unexpected conclusion.
Genre: Literary Fiction
"Wildly plotted, astutely observed, and brimming with wit."—Adrienne Brodeur
"I raced through this novel in one breathless sitting!"—Karen Dionne
"Marcia Butler is a master dramatist, a sorceress, and extraordinary novelist."—E.J. Levy
"Oslo, Maine is richly satisfying."—Bill Roorbach
A moose walks into a rural Maine town called Oslo. Pierre Roy, a brilliant twelve-year-old, loses his memory in an accident. Three families are changed for worse and better as they grapple with trauma, marriage, ambition, and their fraught relationship with the natural world.
Meet Claude Roy, Pierre's blustery and proud fourth-generation Maine father who cannot, or will not, acknowledge the too real and frightening fact of his son's injury. And his wife, Celine, a once-upon-a-time traditional housewife and mother who descends into pills as a way of coping. Enter Sandra and Jim Kimbrough, musicians and recent Maine transplants who scrape together a meager living as performers while shoring up the loose ends by attempting to live off the grid. Finally, the wealthy widow from away, Edna Sibley, whose dependent adult grandson is addicted to 1980's Family Feud episodes. Their disparate backgrounds and views on life make for, at times, uneasy neighbors. But when Sandra begins to teach Pierre the violin, forces beyond their control converge. The boy discovers that through sound he can enter a world without pain from the past nor worry for the future. He becomes a pre-adolescent existentialist and invents an unconventional method to come to terms with his memory loss, all the while attempting to protect, and then forgive, those who've failed him.
Oslo, Maine is a character driven novel exploring class and economic disparity. It inspects the strengths and limitations of seven average yet extraordinary people as they reckon with their considerable collective failure around Pierre's accident. Alliances unravel. Long held secrets are exposed. And throughout, the ever-present moose is the linchpin that drives this richly drawn story, filled with heartbreak and hope, to its unexpected conclusion.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Wildly plotted, astutely observed, and brimming with wit, Oslo, Maine briskly unfurls it's central mystery, portraying a motley brand of Mainers with precision, and causing unsuspecting readers to become deeply invested in the plight of a moose and her calf. Marcia Butler explores the blunt, hard follies of human nature with verve and humor in this innovative and charming novel." - Adrienne Brodeur
"seductive, imaginative, and utterly unique story; an astute and compassionate foray into the intersecting lives of characters who are both ordinary and exceptional, saintly and deeply flawed." - Karen Dionne
"How do we cope with the unimaginable? Maybe, says Marcia Butler, in her brilliant new novel, we do it with the unimaginable. When 12-year-old Pierre Roy loses his memory in an accident, three Maine families, a crosscut of cultures and classes, are at loose ends as to what to do. Instead, it's up to one boy and the incredible sound from one violin, to change and challenge everything everyone thought they knew. Gorgeously written and hauntingly told, Butler's novel, about love, forgiveness, and yes, coming to terms with our failures, is as breathtaking as Maine itself." - Caroline Leavitt
"Oslo, Maine is an enchantment; I read it in two sittings, utterly absorbed, spellbound by this world where everyone--even a mother moose--has secrets and hidden yearnings (and unexpected capacities), and where even damage can prove to be a redemptive gift. Marcia Butler is a master dramatist, a sorceress, and extraordinary novelist; this book will break your heart and heal it." - E J Levy
"Oslo, Maine is richly satisfying, a book for a quiet afternoon, a cup of tea, music in the background. Don't mind that big soft nose at the window: the moose has come for you." - Bill Roorbach
"seductive, imaginative, and utterly unique story; an astute and compassionate foray into the intersecting lives of characters who are both ordinary and exceptional, saintly and deeply flawed." - Karen Dionne
"How do we cope with the unimaginable? Maybe, says Marcia Butler, in her brilliant new novel, we do it with the unimaginable. When 12-year-old Pierre Roy loses his memory in an accident, three Maine families, a crosscut of cultures and classes, are at loose ends as to what to do. Instead, it's up to one boy and the incredible sound from one violin, to change and challenge everything everyone thought they knew. Gorgeously written and hauntingly told, Butler's novel, about love, forgiveness, and yes, coming to terms with our failures, is as breathtaking as Maine itself." - Caroline Leavitt
"Oslo, Maine is an enchantment; I read it in two sittings, utterly absorbed, spellbound by this world where everyone--even a mother moose--has secrets and hidden yearnings (and unexpected capacities), and where even damage can prove to be a redemptive gift. Marcia Butler is a master dramatist, a sorceress, and extraordinary novelist; this book will break your heart and heal it." - E J Levy
"Oslo, Maine is richly satisfying, a book for a quiet afternoon, a cup of tea, music in the background. Don't mind that big soft nose at the window: the moose has come for you." - Bill Roorbach
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