At Briarwood School for Girls: A Novel - Hardcover

Knight, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802128424 ISBN 13: 9780802128423

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2019

Synopsis

It's 1994 and Lenore Littlefield is a junior at Briarwood School for Girls. She plays basketball. She hates her roommate. History is her favorite subject. She has told no one that she's pregnant. Everything, in other words, is under control.

Meanwhile, Disney has announced plans to build a new theme park just up the road, a "Technicolor simulacrum of American History" right in the middle of one of the most history-rich regions of the country. If successful, the development will forever alter the character of Prince William County, VA, and have unforeseeable consequences for the school.

When the threat of the theme park begins to intrude on the lives of the faculty and students at Briarwood, secrets will be revealed and unexpected alliances will form. Lenore must decide whom she can trust―will it be a middle-aged history teacher struggling to find purpose in his humdrum life? A lonely basketball coach tasked with directing the school play? A reclusive playwright still grappling with her own Briarwood legacy? Or a teenage ghost equally adept at communicating with the living via telephone or Ouija board?

Following a cast of memorable characters as they reckon with questions about fate, history, and the possibility of happiness, At Briarwood School for Girls is a stunning and inventive new work from a master storyteller.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

PRAISE FOR EVENINGLAND

"The spirit of Eudora Welty broods over these adroitly crafted stories set in and around coastal Alabama, evoking a world coiled tight as a conch shell."
--O Magazine

"Impressive . . . 'Water and Oil' is deft and wonderful, wholly original, and 'Smash and Grab' is sharp and fresh with an ending like something out of O. Henry or Thomas McGuane."
--New York Times Book Review

"Knight paints an incredibly moving portrait of Mobile, Alabama that will have you feeling like you've lived there all your life."
--Newsweek

"Novelistic . . . compressed and supple, with a Cheever-esque sensitivity to texture and light."
--Garden & Gun

PRAISE FOR MICHAEL KNIGHT

"Knight blends pathos and humor for a read that is simply hard to put down."
--Seattle Times

"Knight's talent is in the details, all the wonderful little moments he hands us along the way."
--USA Today

"Knight is a savvy writer who is serious even as he entertains."
--Arizona Republic

"If good writing is like a good suit--durable, seamless and decidedly non-flashy--then Michael Knight is a master tailor."
--Washington Post Book World

About the Author:

Michael Knight is the author of the novels The Typist and Divining Rod; the short story collections Eveningland, Goodnight Nobody and Dogfight and Other Stories; and the book of novellas The Holiday Season. He teaches creative writing at the University of Tennessee and lives in Knoxville with his family.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0802128424
• ISBN 13: 9780802128423
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304