We Shall Not All Sleep: A Novel - Hardcover

Nagy, Estep

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1632868415 ISBN 13: 9781632868411

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2017

Synopsis

“An utterly compelling novel from a brilliant new voice.” --M.L. Stedman, author of The Light Between Oceans

Seven Island has two houses. One for Hillsingers and one for Quicks.

1964. The Hillsingers and the Quicks have shared the small Maine island of Seven for generations. But though technically family--Jim Hillsinger and Billy Quick married Park Avenue sisters Lila and Hannah Blackwell--they do not mix. Now, on the anniversary of Hannah's death, Lila feels grief pulling her toward Billy. And Jim, a spy recently ousted from the CIA on suspicion of treason, decides to carry out the threat his wife has explicitly forbidden: to banish their youngest son, the twelve-year-old Catta, to the neighboring island of Baffin for twenty-four hours in an attempt to make a man out of him.

With their elders preoccupied, the Hillsinger and Quick children run wild, playing violent games led by Catta's sadistic older brother James. The island manager Cyrus and the servants tend to the families while preparing for the Migration, a yearly farming ritual that means one thing to their employers, and something very different to them.

Set during three summer days, Estep Nagy's debut novel moves among the communities of Seven as longstanding tensions become tactical face-offs in which everything is fair game for ammunition. Vividly capturing the rift between the cold warriors of Jim's generation and the rebellious seekers of Catta's, We Shall Not All Sleep is a richly told story of American class, family, and manipulation--a compelling portrait of a unique and privileged WASP stronghold on the brink of dissolution.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

FOR GENERATIONS THEY'VE SHAREDTHE SMALL MAINE ISLAND OF SEVEN,but the Hillsingers and the Quicks havealways kept apart, even since before Jim
Hillsinger and Billy Quick married sisters. WhenJim is ousted from the CIA under suspicion oftreason, he begins to suspect that he has beenbetrayed--by his brother-in-law, Billy, and alsoby his own wife, Lila. In retaliation, he decides tocarry out an old threat: to send their twelve-year-old son, Catta, to a neighboring island to test hissurvival skills. Catta resolves to take the test fur-ther and pass it on his own terms.

Set over three summer days in 1964, EstepNagy's debut novel moves among the communi-ties of Seven--the families, the servants, andthe children--as longstanding tensions becometactical face-offs in which love, loss, and long-held secrets become brutal ammunition. Vividlycapturing the rift between the cold warriors ofJim's generation and the rebellious seekers ofCatta's, We Shall Not All Sleep is a richly told storyof American class, family, and manipulation, anda compelling portrait of a unique and privilegedenclave on the brink of dissolution.

From the Back Cover:

PRAISE FOR WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP:

"From the first sentence, We Shall Not All Sleep whisks us off to the world of Seven Island, a place alive with elaborate traditions and political and emotional tensions. Effortlessly interweaving intergenerational stories and Cold War intrigue, the book explores,through Nagy's subtly drawn characters, the gap between visible and invisible rules; between information
and true understanding. Written with an exquisitely light touch, the result is an utterly compellingnovel from a brilliant new voice."--M. L. STEDMAN, AUTHOR OF THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS


"This is an amazing book. It's rare to encounter such mature insight into as interesting and complex characters as these. Anyone who is fascinated
by human crossovers and transformations will be thankful for We Shall Not All Sleep."
--GAIL GODWIN, AUTHOR OF FLORA

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1632868415
• ISBN 13: 9781632868411
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288