ANGELA FLOURNOY is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the University of Southern California. She has taught writing at various universities and has worked for the D.C. Public Library. She was raised in Southern California by a mother from Los Angeles and a father from Detroit.
"The Turner House speeds along like a page-turner. Flournoy's richly wrought prose and intimate, vivid dialogue make this novel feel like settling deeply into the family armchair. A-." -- Entertainment Weekly"Flournoy's knockout debut is one of those books that should, by rights, be described as the Great American Novel.... The book tells the story of the 13 adult children of Francis and Viola Turner, who must decide what to do with their family house. The characters are fascinating and funny, and anyone who has played a role in the ecosystem of his family life will recognize the joys and challenges that plague the Turners. But perhaps the strongest character is Detroit itself, as it morphs from bustling modern metropolis to a potent symbol of post-industrial decline." -- NPR"An engrossing and remarkably mature first novel...Flournoy's prose is artful without being showy. She takes the time to flesh out the world.... In her accretion of resonant details, Flournoy recounts the history of Detroit with more sensitivity than any textbook could.... Flournoy gets at the universal through the patient observation of one family's particulars. In this assured and memorable novel, she provides the feeling of knowing a family from the inside out, as we would wish to know our own." -- New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice"Flournoy has written an epic that feels deeply personal.... Flournoy's finely tuned empathy infuses her characters with a radiant humanity." -- O, The Oprah Magazine"An elegant and assured debut." -- Washington Post"Poignant and timely." -- San Francisco Chronicle"Flournoy's National Book Award-nominated debut does an incredible job of bringing both a family and a city to vibrant, poignant life." -- Buzzfeed, "The 24 Best Fiction Books of 2015""A sprawling family history that delves into the Detroit housing crisis and the potential legacies the past holds, Angela Flournoy's first novel will be remembered as the start of a brilliant career." -- Bustle, "2015's 25 Best Books, Fiction Edition""Epic, ambitious and strikingly executed, The Turner House is an impressive debut novel. In the grand tradition of family dramas by the late Bebe Moore Campbell, it is lively and entertaining, with subtle humor and engaging voice. Flournoy manages the difficult feat of skillfully telling the stories of 13 children, their parents and accompanying spouses and love interests in an irresistible style. Here we have a deeply satisfying portrayal of relationships among those to whom we, for better or worse, are related by blood." -- The Root"Nobody can take you from joyful to infuriated as fast as your brother or sister. Similarly, the ups and downs of the 13 siblings that populate The Turner House, the first novel by Angela Flournoy, whip from laugh-out-loud to heart-crushing. Still, she proves even bonds that have stretched a mile long have the ability to snap back." -- Essence"With The Turner House, Flournoy has written an utterly unsentimental love story that, rather like the house on Yarrow Street, manages to make room for everyone." -- Christian Science Monitor"A fierce and tender debut novel.... Angela Flournoy is the literary anthropologist of Detroit, not so different from the way a young Philip Roth was the literary anthropologist of Newark." -- Paterson Fiction Prize Citation
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
