Harriet Clark – författare

After her mother is sentenced to life in a hilltop prison, Suzanna vows to return to the hill forever. An unexpectedly funny and deeply moving novel about the many ways we punish and return to each other.Suzanna Klein was a baby when her mother got up early one morning to rob a bank with a group of fellow radicals. Now, every Saturday, Suzanna lines up at the prison gates among the other children, each dressed as if for celebration. Inside there is a nursery and a cemetery; there are watchful guards and distractable nuns; there are women counting down to release and women like Suzanna's mother, who will never be released.At home, Suzanna is raised by her grandmother, who is entirely unforgiving of her daughter's crime and refuses to visit the prison. Surrounding Suzanna are her grandmother's friends, who know one another from their years in the Communist Party and still spend extended cocktail hours debating the Hitler-Stalin pact. Though these women once insisted on changing the world, they are torn between teaching Suzanna how the world works and shielding her from it.Suzanna vows to return to the prison forever but her mother wants her to be free. Harriet Clark's The Hill is an incandescent novel of a child growing up between worlds, the last of three generations whose fates have been tied to punishment. It is the tale of a family broken apart by the desire for change, told with irreverent wisdom and visionary force. The Hill brings new music to American fiction.

'The future of literature is in exceptional, inspired hands'Michael Cunningham, author of Day'One of the best new books I've read not only this year but in some time'New Yorker, Best Books of the Year so Far'A debut reminiscent of Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping'Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Virgin Suicides'I don't know how Clark wrote The Hill, but I'm glad she did. I'll be rereading it for the rest of my life'Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!'Equal parts comedy of coming of age and Sebaldian rumination. Lady Bird meets The Emigrants. I loved it'Brandon Taylor, author of Minor Black Figures'I have never read a book that captures the experience of growing up so precisely'Naomi Klein, author of DoppelgangerSuzanna Klein was a baby when her mother got up early one morning to rob a bank with a group of fellow radicals. Now, Suzanna spends every Saturday visiting Hillcrest Prison, a place her mother will never leave.At home, Suzanna is raised by her grandmother, who is unforgiving of her daughter's crime and refuses to visit the prison. Surrounding Suzanna are her grandmother's friends, who know one another from their years in the Communist Party. These women once insisted on changing the world, but are now torn between teaching Suzanna how the world works and shielding her from it.Suzanna vows to return to the prison forever, but her mother wants her to be free. Told with irreverent wisdom and visionary force, The Hill is an incandescent novel of a child growing up between worlds, and of a family broken apart by the desire for change.

'The future of literature is in exceptional, inspired hands'Michael Cunningham, author of Day'One of the best new books I've read not only this year but in some time'New Yorker, Best Books of the Year so Far'A debut reminiscent of Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping'Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Virgin Suicides'I don't know how Clark wrote The Hill, but I'm glad she did. I'll be rereading it for the rest of my life'Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!'Equal parts comedy of coming of age and Sebaldian rumination. Lady Bird meets The Emigrants. I loved it'Brandon Taylor, author of Minor Black Figures'I have never read a book that captures the experience of growing up so precisely'Naomi Klein, author of DoppelgangerSuzanna Klein was a baby when her mother got up early one morning to rob a bank with a group of fellow radicals. Now, Suzanna spends every Saturday visiting Hillcrest Prison, a place her mother will never leave.At home, Suzanna is raised by her grandmother, who is unforgiving of her daughter's crime and refuses to visit the prison. Surrounding Suzanna are her grandmother's friends, who know one another from their years in the Communist Party. These women once insisted on changing the world, but are now torn between teaching Suzanna how the world works and shielding her from it.Suzanna vows to return to the prison forever, but her mother wants her to be free. Told with irreverent wisdom and visionary force, The Hill is an incandescent novel of a child growing up between worlds, and of a family broken apart by the desire for change.