What Dies in Summer - Hardcover

Wright, Tom

3.36

1,111 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393064026 ISBN 13: 9780393064025

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012

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A riveting Southern Gothic coming-of-age debut by major new talent.

“I did what I did, and that’s on me.” From that tantalizing first sentence, Tom Wright sweeps us up in a tale of lost innocence. Jim has a touch of the Sight. It’s nothing too spooky and generally useless, at least until the summer his cousin L.A. moves in with him and their grandmother. When Jim and L.A. discover the body of a girl, brutally raped and murdered in a field, an investigation begins that will put both their lives in danger. In the spirit of The Lovely Bones and The Little Friend, What Dies in Summer is a novel that casts its spell on the very first page and leaves an indelible mark.

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About the Author:

Tom Wright is a practicing psychologist and received his doctorate from Texas A&M University. This is his first book. He lives in Texarkana, Texas.

Review:

“...seductively suspenseful coming-of-age novel.... Wright, a practicing psychologist, expertly weaves together a literary tapestry of self-discovery, brutal sadistic violence, custodial battles, and tender, burgeoning sexuality, leaving readers spellbound by a story that delivers on several levels. The author’s impressive, multi-tiered storytelling talents are on brilliant display in this entrancing, impressive debut.”
- Publishers Weekly

“What Dies in Summer is a harrowing tale of loss, love, death, and unspeakable secrets. And Tom Wright, he can flat-out tell a story. He writes with intelligence, grace, and mettle. He sees what most of us are unable to see and says what we are unwilling to say. What skill, what courage, what a splendid and terrifying debut novel.”
- John Dufresne, author of Requiem, Mass

“A beautifully written and deeply engaging study of loss and innocence, suffused with chilling dread. A haunting novel, a captivating debut; I loved it.”
- S.J. Watson, author of Before I Go to Sleep

“A compulsive and provocative novel, Tom Wright manages to combine familiar themes of youth―fear, desire, vulnerability and chaos – with a story that both unsettles and intrigues the reader. A narrative voice that’s raw and desperate, a story that grips from start to finish, What Dies In Summer is hugely impressive.”
- John Boyne, author of The Absolutist

“A magnificent novel, not so much about loss of innocence as innocence put through the masher. The story pulsates with a deep dread that would be unbearable if the novel weren't so sweet, funny, sexy and ultimately moving.”
- Nick Cave, author of The Death of Bunny Munro

“An erotic, compelling and deeply assured debut, midway between Ellroy and Faulkner. It evokes so precisely the beauty and sadness of first love and lost innocence.”
- Sam Taylor, author of The Amnesiac

“You will find fascinating and powerful women in these pages, demanding female relatives as well as local eccentrics. Biscuit, as our likable narrator is called, has a heck/hell of a year navigating family cruelty, neighborhood murders, his own sexual desire, and even a bear attack, but he always listens thoughtfully to those who would advise him. By the end of the story, life no longer offers Biscuit (or anyone) safety, but Wright shows beautifully how a boy can learn to become a good and capable man.”
- Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Once Upon a River

“Starred review. ...Even with its hints of southern gothic and mysticism, this coming-of-age novel keeps its solidly quotidian background. An unusually accomplished and evocative debut, in which what dies is innocence.”
- Booklist

“[What Dies in Summer] builds upon the framework of the conventional modern thriller to fashion something that is much, much more... Beautifully written... this raw, powerful story, with its undertow of dread, heralds the arrival of a major new writer.”
- The Daily Mail (UK)

“A coming-of-age drama with shades of Stand By Me... a moving exploration of the vulnerability of youth, and of tangled family relationships.”
- The Guardian (UK)

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