Critics are praising...
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'A Splendid Novel
'The deployment of multiple perspectives is deft, each with a distinct style and angle of vision; I love how competing accounts of what's happening play off each other, and how the mystery isn't resolved until the very end.
'I got so caught up in the story that I read the last 250 pages in one sitting!'
- Professor Robert Bell, Williams College
The Carnegie Foundation
'Outstanding Baccalaureate College
Professor of the Year' in 2004
Bell holds the William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair at Williams College
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'FOUR STARS!
'Darkly flavored by family traumas and World War II, Shadows in Summer is written as a response to a series of actual events in the author's life. Crescent Varrone, a longtime resident of Scandinavia and the winner of a Fulbright Scholarship in 1985, explores the idea of a haunting (through)... the use of six voices. (This) allows the author to keep readers guessing as to what is really occurring within the house...
'One of the novel's greatest strengths is the clear sense of place it provides. Denmark is shown through its food, its architecture, and its history, especially that of World War II...
'Because of its theme and setting, this novel is not a light read, but for readers who love something meaty to sink their teeth into, especially something with a foreign flavor and an unusual twist, Varrone's novel should satisfy.'
- Paula Chaffee Scardamalia
ForeWord CLARION Reviews
This scalp-prickling tale takes place in Copenhagen at Rosenborgs Allé 18...
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The house was older than the other homes in the area, and more exposed. While they were hidden, protected by ivy, hedges, walls, #18 was on display. No gates, not even a fence, just a few tall trees on the left-hand side and a handful of shrubs. Even its innards were laid bare in a huge picture window; though from where I was standing on the opposite sidewalk, all I could see were reflections of the gray clouds behind me.
The house disclosed nothing… |
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When injured ballet dancer Katrina Nielsen and her American husband, Richard, purchase Sound House, they hope that the charming home will ease their transition from New York to Copenhagen. Katrina was just nineteen when she fled gloomy Denmark, leaving behind her mother, Ingrid, and her grief over her father’s death. Seven years later, she returns home to face the ghosts of her past. Yet when weird events begin to occur at Sound House – inexplicable smoke and footsteps, a ghostly face at the window – she starts to think she is being haunted by the ghost of Karl Damsgaard, the original owner. After she’s “attacked” by an unseen force, Katrina becomes convinced that something is trying to drive her out of the house…or out of her mind.
Shadows in Summer: A Novel in Six Voices is told by multiple narrators who keep readers reassessing whether the haunting is real, psychological or the result of purposeful manipulation. Inspired by actual events, this deliciously scalp-prickling tale will haunt readers long after the final page. |
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