Whiskey & Ribbons: A Novel
O, The Oprah Magazine's Best Books of the Summer Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith's mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called "a consummate storyteller." One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018: Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, Harper's BAZAAR, The Millions, Electric Lit, Book Riot, BookBub, Chicago Review of Books, POPSUGAR, Refinery29, NYLON, and SheReads Evi--a classically-trained ballerina--was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon's adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah. Whiskey & Ribbons is told in three intertwining, melodic voices: Evi in present day, as she's snowed in with Dalton during a freak blizzard; Eamon before his murder, as he prepares for impending fatherhood and grapples with the danger of his profession; and Dalton, as he struggles to make sense of his life next to Eamon's, and as he decides to track down the biological father he's never known. In the vein of Jojo Moyes' After You, Whiskey & Ribbons explores the life that continues beyond loss, with a complicated brotherly dynamic reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout's The Burgess Boys. It's a meditation on grief, hope, motherhood, brotherhood and surrogate fatherhood. Above all, it's a novel about what it means--and whether it's possible--to heal.
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Community Reviews
Oh, this book was just what I needed right now. Powerful, sweet and sexy, with so much love and yearning between the characters, it just leaps off the page and squeezes your heart.
The book centers around three main characters, and the bonds and history between them, jumping forward and backward in time to fill in their shared story, a sad but beautiful one. Louisville, Kentucky was the fourth character for sure. The smells, the season, the food and the atmosphere filled every scene.
This author is absolutely masterful at rich details and taking her time with a scene, but the book never lags. Perfect pacing. I never checked what page I was on or how many pages were left. I was never once drawn away from the story. I just tried to take a cue from the author and take my time with it, because I knew how sad I would be when it was over.
This is my favorite book I’ve read in at least the past year, but probably much longer. I will be buying every book Leesa Cross-Smith writes, and many beloved women in my life will be getting this book. I can’t even bear to put it on my shelf yet. Might just have to start reading it right over again.
The book centers around three main characters, and the bonds and history between them, jumping forward and backward in time to fill in their shared story, a sad but beautiful one. Louisville, Kentucky was the fourth character for sure. The smells, the season, the food and the atmosphere filled every scene.
This author is absolutely masterful at rich details and taking her time with a scene, but the book never lags. Perfect pacing. I never checked what page I was on or how many pages were left. I was never once drawn away from the story. I just tried to take a cue from the author and take my time with it, because I knew how sad I would be when it was over.
This is my favorite book I’ve read in at least the past year, but probably much longer. I will be buying every book Leesa Cross-Smith writes, and many beloved women in my life will be getting this book. I can’t even bear to put it on my shelf yet. Might just have to start reading it right over again.
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