Book excerpt:
Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
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Eleanor Catins “Barnam Wood” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), the latest novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of “The Luminaries,” is a thriller set in New Zealand that pits radical environmentalists and a scheming billionaire.
Read an excerpt below:
“Barnumwood” by Eleanor Keaton (Hardcover)
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My first thought on coming home to the empty flat was that Shelley had finally done it: packed up all her things and left without warning and without a note. After calling out Shelly’s name and hearing no response, she stood in the open doorway for several seconds, adjusting herself to the new though long-anticipated reality of Shelley’s departure – before her eyes were on. Be clear and he notices that Shelly’s bike is still in the laundry. , and his shoes were still piled under the radiator, and his beloved bomber jacket was still hanging on his coat hook in the hall. Feeling foolish, Mira hastily reconsidered, instead, if an emergency suddenly took Shelly away from home… but if it did, wouldn’t she at least call or text? Do you do?
He suddenly remembered the location tracker app they both had installed a few months ago, and never used. He took out his phone to check if the connection was still active, but it took a short time for the device to acquire Shelly’s data to correlate his position with any configuration of satellites and local masts, that intrusion. She was embarrassed at the gesture, and walked out. Before the map fully loaded, scolding herself that it was no wonder Shelley was feeling inferior, and wondering if not for the first time, when she was so technically dependent It happened that his first instinct in every unexpected situation was to outsource his imagination. On his phone.
It had been two weeks since she’d first been told that Shelley wanted out of Barnumwood, and for two weeks she’d been paralyzed by the same muteness and helplessness she’d felt when her parents had announced the separation for the first time—reprimanding himself, as he did. Then, that at her age and state of independence it was ridiculous that she should feel so childishly abandoned, and so sad.
Excerpt from “Barnam Wood” by Eleanor Keaton. Published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. Copyright © 2023 by Eleanor Keaton. All rights reserved.
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“Barnumwood” by Eleanor Keaton (Hardcover)
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