| Vendor | |
|---|---|
|
Fletcher Agency
Melissa Chinchillo |
| Original language | |
| English | |
THE LONGEST NIGHT
Infused with stark honesty about marriage and the military, Andria Williams’ atmospheric debut is the story of a young couple caught up in a little-known incident in American history. It is breathtakingly written and reminiscent of Revolutionary Road.
Twenty-five-year old Army Specialist Paul Collier arrives in Idaho Falls in 1959 expecting a routine assignment at a nuclear reactor. Having escaped a miserable childhood in rural Maine, Paul is obsessed with protecting the family and life he has worked so hard to create. He’s horrified to learn the reality of the reactor—built incorrectly, its core is crumbling, creating a ticking time bomb for the town. What’s more, Paul sees first-hand that the military management is actively trying to conceal, and not fix, the problem.
Scrambling for solutions, Paul attempts to keep his wife Nat unaware of the danger, but his lies serve to push her away more than to keep her happy. California-born Nat already feels isolated in Idaho and has trouble fitting in with the other Army wives. Overwhelmingly lonely, she finds a friend in a young rancher, Esrom, who she meets in town. The peace and quiet of their suburban life is thrown into an upheaval when Paul returns from a deployment and learns the extent of his problems, at home and at work.
The Falls looks behind the veneer of perfection, exploring the loneliness and isolation that can grow in a military marriage, scrutinized by the community and held to impossible standards. The white-knuckle climax of the novel is based on a little-known episode in American history: the nation’s only fatal nuclear accident on January 3rd, 1961.
Andria Williams received her M.F.A in fiction writing from the University of Minnesota (2004), and she has attended the Vermont Studio Center. An excerpt from THE FALLS appeared in The Orange Coast Review's 2014 issue and another is forthcoming in the Cartier Street Review. She runs the blog Military Spouse Book Reviews, a resource and online book club for military spouses across the country. She lives in San Diego, California with her husband, a naval officer, and their three children.
Scrambling for solutions, Paul attempts to keep his wife Nat unaware of the danger, but his lies serve to push her away more than to keep her happy. California-born Nat already feels isolated in Idaho and has trouble fitting in with the other Army wives. Overwhelmingly lonely, she finds a friend in a young rancher, Esrom, who she meets in town. The peace and quiet of their suburban life is thrown into an upheaval when Paul returns from a deployment and learns the extent of his problems, at home and at work.
The Falls looks behind the veneer of perfection, exploring the loneliness and isolation that can grow in a military marriage, scrutinized by the community and held to impossible standards. The white-knuckle climax of the novel is based on a little-known episode in American history: the nation’s only fatal nuclear accident on January 3rd, 1961.
Andria Williams received her M.F.A in fiction writing from the University of Minnesota (2004), and she has attended the Vermont Studio Center. An excerpt from THE FALLS appeared in The Orange Coast Review's 2014 issue and another is forthcoming in the Cartier Street Review. She runs the blog Military Spouse Book Reviews, a resource and online book club for military spouses across the country. She lives in San Diego, California with her husband, a naval officer, and their three children.