Read more
?A riveting, astonishing, and flat-out gorgeous debut.?-- Nina de Gramont, author of
The Christie AffairA suspenseful coming-of-age novel about an orphan hiding within the walls of her former family home?and about what it means to be truly seen after becoming lost in lifeElise knows every inch of the house. She knows which boards will creak. She knows where the gaps are in the walls. She knows which parts can take her in, hide her away. It's home, after all. The home her parents made for her, before they were taken from her in a car crash. And home is where you stay, no matter what.
Eddie is a teenager trying to forget about the girl he sometimes sees out of the corner of his eye. But when his hotheaded older brother senses her, too, they are faced with a question: how do they get rid of someone they aren't sure even exists? And if they cast her out, what other threats might they invite in?
About the author
A native of New Orleans, A. J. Gnuse received an MFA in fiction from UNC Wilmington and was a Kenyon Review Peter Taylor Fellow. His short stories have been published in Gulf Coast, Guernica, the Los Angeles Review, Passages North, Potomac Review, and other magazines. Girl in the Walls is his first novel. He lives in Texas.
Summary
“A riveting, astonishing, and flat-out gorgeous debut.”-- Nina de Gramont, author of The Christie Affair
A suspenseful coming-of-age novel about an orphan hiding within the walls of her former family home—and about what it means to be truly seen after becoming lost in life
Elise knows every inch of the house. She knows which boards will creak. She knows where the gaps are in the walls. She knows which parts can take her in, hide her away. It’s home, after all. The home her parents made for her, before they were taken from her in a car crash. And home is where you stay, no matter what.
Eddie is a teenager trying to forget about the girl he sometimes sees out of the corner of his eye. But when his hotheaded older brother senses her, too, they are faced with a question: how do they get rid of someone they aren’t sure even exists? And if they cast her out, what other threats might they invite in?
Additional text
"From her place inside the walls, the heroine of this enthralling novel describes and grasps the world outside--a place so naturally beautiful and terrifying she fears and longs to re-enter it. This is a book about grief and childhood, about the glory of the physical world, the flight patterns of birds, about how it feels to be locked inside time, and inside the beautiful body and inside a bustling, heartbreaking family. I've never seen a young writer burst onto the stage with this much holy brilliance and vivacity."
