Mary Vensel White was born in Los Angeles and raised in Lancaster, California. She graduated from the University of Denver and lived for five years in Chicago, where she completed an MA in English at DePaul University. Her short fiction has appeared in The Wisconsin Review and Foothills Literary Journal. The Qualities of Wood is her first novel.

'How well can we know the people we love? To what extent do our pasts colour our perception of the present? In this haunting debut, Mary Vensel White asks these and other provocative questions. The quest for answers will keep you turning pages until the satisfying end.' - Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of ORPHAN TRAIN 'Haunting, delicate and utterly controlled. 'The Qualities of Wood' is, quite simply, truly beautiful.' - Caroline Smailes, author of THE DROWNING OF ARTHUR BRAXTON 'First novels aren't particularly known for their powerful writing; but from the first sentence, Mary Vensel White's THE QUALITIES OF WOOD captivates and holds the reader.' - Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Mary Vensel White was born in Los Angeles and raised in Lancaster, California. She graduated from the University of Denver and lived for five years in Chicago, where she completed an MA in English at DePaul University. Her short fiction has appeared in The Wisconsin Review and Foothills Literary Journal. The Qualities of Wood is her first novel.

'How well can we know the people we love? To what extent do our pasts colour our perception of the present? In this haunting debut, Mary Vensel White asks these and other provocative questions. The quest for answers will keep you turning pages until the satisfying end.' - Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of ORPHAN TRAIN 'Haunting, delicate and utterly controlled. 'The Qualities of Wood' is, quite simply, truly beautiful.' - Caroline Smailes, author of THE DROWNING OF ARTHUR BRAXTON 'First novels aren't particularly known for their powerful writing; but from the first sentence, Mary Vensel White's THE QUALITIES OF WOOD captivates and holds the reader.' - Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Mary Vensel White was born in Los Angeles and raised in Lancaster, California. She graduated from the University of Denver and lived for five years in Chicago, where she completed an MA in English at DePaul University. Her short fiction has appeared in The Wisconsin Review and Foothills Literary Journal. The Qualities of Wood is her first novel.

'How well can we know the people we love? To what extent do our pasts colour our perception of the present? In this haunting debut, Mary Vensel White asks these and other provocative questions. The quest for answers will keep you turning pages until the satisfying end.' - Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of ORPHAN TRAIN 'Haunting, delicate and utterly controlled. 'The Qualities of Wood' is, quite simply, truly beautiful.' - Caroline Smailes, author of THE DROWNING OF ARTHUR BRAXTON 'First novels aren't particularly known for their powerful writing; but from the first sentence, Mary Vensel White's THE QUALITIES OF WOOD captivates and holds the reader.' - Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review