From the Publisher
“A fascinating story about family, faith, and loyalty, The Family Tabor is not to be missed.” —Bustle
“Wolas, whose much-acclaimed debut novel, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, earned countless well-deserved accolades, once again writes with gorgeous intensity about the strata of loving relationships that entwine families in all their messy contradictions that often stubbornly resist transparency, the truth, and resolution. Savor this.” —Library Journal, starred review
“‘The past is not dead. It’s not even past,’ wrote William Faulkner. The Family Tabor provides compelling evidence of that truth.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review
“In this compelling story, luck, like love, can be elusive, ever-present and lost. Wolas, who was longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction for her first novel, explores Jewish identity and the connection to the past, with a nod to Leonard Cohen.” —Jewish Week
“This thoughtful family novel will make you think deeply about your own.” —HelloGiggles
“A great story about family relationships.” —Southern Pines Pilot
“Brace yourself for prose that is confident and prickly, and characters that are complex and problematic.” —The Toronto Star
“The Family Tabor is a fascinating case study of an outstanding family.” —Criminal Element
“Told from alternating perspectives, this book is a wonderful read for anyone who loved Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest.” —Brit + Co
Praise for The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
Longlisted for 2018 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction
Kirkus Reviews’s Best Fiction of 2017
Kirkus Reviews’s Best Debut Novels of 2017
Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels: 2017
The New York Times Book Review’s Editors’ Choice
Indie Next Pick for September 2017
Kirkus Reviews’s 13 Fiction Debuts & Breakthroughs That Live Up to the Hype
Bustle’s 9 Fall Book Debuts By Women You’re Going To Want To Read Immediately
Nantucket Magazine’s 7 for September 2017
Kirkus Reviews’s 9 Excellent Reads for Labor Day Weekend
Entertainment Weekly’s Thirteen Books to Read in August
San Diego Magazine’s Your Book Shelf: 5 Books to Read in August
“A stunning debut...reminds me of my most favorite authors: J.D. Salinger, Carson McCullers, Truman Capote, Joan Didion.”
—A.M. Homes
“Ambitious…Intimate…There is a terrific twist midway through…Reads like a juicy 19th-century tome…That I got so worked up about a person who doesn’t exist is a testament to Wolas’s success in creating a complex and distinct fictional character. Joan Ashby is like no writer I have ever encountered; I’m sure, if we were real, she would be pleased to hear it.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“The rapturous advance praise for Cherise Wolas’ assured meta debut, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, doesn’t do it justice. This ambitious first novel introduces us to an elusive artist with a stratospheric cult following—only to unravel her life, as the blessings of divine inspiration battle the curse of earthly love. Lawyer and film producer Wolas has forged an audacious balancing act whose betrayals come from the least expected corners, submerging readers in a dazzling universe we hate to leave.”
—Huffington Post, starred review
“A startlingly self-assured debut novel spanning decades and rendered in luminous prose throughout…A deeply feminist novel, but one free of didacticism and ideological baggage.”
—The Toronto Star
“A stunning debut novel…a wealth of superb writing, mature insights, and breathtaking risks....A rare book such as this comes along only once in a long while.”
—New York Journal of Books
“Epic in scale, the novel focuses on Joan’s efforts to resolve her own life. This is an extraordinary, assured and deeply involving novel about marriage, motherhood, sacrifice and the creative impulse. Highly recommended.”
—Daily Mail, UK
“This breathtaking…novel will do for motherhood what Gone Girl (2012) did for marriage. ‘A story requires two things: a great story to tell and the bravery to tell it,’ Joan observes. Wolas’ debut expertly checks off both boxes.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Like John Irving’s The World According to Garp, this is a look at the life of a writer that will entertain many nonwriters. Like Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies, it’s a sharp-eyed portrait of the artist as spouse and householder. From the start, one wonders how Wolas is possibly going to pay off the idea that her heroine is such a genius. Verdict: few could do better.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Debut author Wolas’s sure hand applies layer upon layer of precisely meshed poetic and cinematic scenes to realize a life of such quiet majesty and original consideration of family interplay that she does the impossible. Readers not only will mourn coming to the end, they will feel compelled to start over to watch the miracle of this novel unfold again. Breathtaking.”
—Library Journal, starred review
