The Year of Silence

By: Madison Smartt Bell

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Synopsis: The National Book Award–finalist movingly examines the lives of a group of New Yorkers deeply affected by one woman&’s troubled life—and death. Marian is haunted by an unspoken past reflected in the choices she makes. Whether it&’s her drug addiction or her dubious affairs, she finds herself increasingly adrift and alone. Yet in a city of millions, her story plays a part in the lives of others. Jaded cops who register Marian at a glance, a lover who agonizes over her abortion, a close friend stunned by her tragic overdose, a panhandling dwarf making the rounds in her Upper West Side neighborhood—each story weaves back and forth through time, revealing a compelling, compassionate portrait of one woman&’s tragic fate. In a novel whose &“structure combines delicacy and great tensile strength . . . Bell&’s voice is increasingly diverse, accurate and, in this book of mourning, powerfully moving&” (Publishers Weekly). One of America&’s finest storytellers shows once again that he is a writer of &“superb command&” (The New York Times).

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