Clara at the Edge

A Novel

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Pub Date Nov 21 2017 | Archive Date Jan 09 2018
Literary Fiction

Description

At seventy-three, eccentric widow Clara Breckenridge is on a last-ditch journey to reconcile with her estranged son, finally confront the guilty secrets surrounding her daughter’s death, and maybe find love again before she dies miserable and alone. But Clara is her own worst enemy. Rigid and afraid of change, she has cocooned herself in her old house to escape from life. Magic purple wasps saved her as a child from an abusive father and they want to help her now, but wasps only live 120 days. Clara’s time is running out. When her beloved house is slated for demolition, she panics and persuades her son to haul the house from Eugene to Jackpot, Nevada, where Clara’s life is turned upside down by two troubled young people. Can the rowdy purple wasp, a spirit guide with surprising powers, help Clara confront her past and join life again or is it too late? Clara at the Edge is imaginative, eventful, sometimes funny and deeply moving.

At seventy-three, eccentric widow Clara Breckenridge is on a last-ditch journey to reconcile with her estranged son, finally confront the guilty secrets surrounding her daughter’s death, and maybe...

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A Note From the Publisher

Maryl Jo Fox grew up in Idaho and studied music at the University of Idaho before transferring to UC Berkeley for a BA in English, and later, an MA in English at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Her short fiction has appeared in Passages North, Bat City Review, and other journals. Her writing also appeared in the L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. She is a former president of the L.A. Drama Critics Circle. She has taught high school English in Rochester, New York, literature and composition at Pasadena City College, Glendale College, and others, and currently leads a novels discussion group at Vromans bookstore in Pasadena. She’s been nominated for a Pushcart, short-listed for the 2002/2003 Fish Publishing Short Story Contest, and was a finalist for the 2001 James Kirkwood Prize through the UCLA Writers’ Program. Maryl discovered her writing focus in a UCLA Extension Writers’ Program class titled, “Master Sequence in Magic, Surrealism, and the Absurd.”

Maryl Jo Fox grew up in Idaho and studied music at the University of Idaho before transferring to UC Berkeley for a BA in English, and later, an MA in English at the University of Illinois...

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Advance Praise

“Clara is a fascinating, feisty character….The writing is haunting and lyrical, and frequently ripples with humor and heart….Clara truly is at the edge of something greater than herself....[and her] story unspools in a compelling and engaging way.”—FOREWORD REVIEWS


"Fox’s writing says yes to every surreal and absurd possibility life offers."—BOOKLIST


“Who knew wasps could be protectors, champions, and the best friends a girl ever had?  Maryl Jo Fox has written a wild, enchanting, constantly surprising story of one woman’s resilience, courage, and redemption through what may be a kind of magical insanity.  Clara At the Edge kept me buzzing on every page.”—Diana Wagman, author of Life #6 and The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets

                                                                       

 “This dazzling combination of riotous imagination with bottomless compassion makes this such a stellar debut. Readers will surely remember Clara and her crew— they are utterly distinct, and beautifully realized.”—Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

                                                                       

 "We will follow Clara anywhere."—Walter Kirn, author of Up in the Air and Blood Will Out

 

“Clara is a fascinating, feisty character….The writing is haunting and lyrical, and frequently ripples with humor and heart….Clara truly is at the edge of something greater than herself....[and...

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Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781631522505
PRICE $16.95 (USD)
PAGES 326

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