Virginia Reeves – författare

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016Placing itself perfectly alongside acclaimed work by Philipp Meyer, Jane Smiley and JM Coetzee, this debut novel charts the story of Roscoe T Martin in rural Alabama in the 1920s.Roscoe has set his sights on a new type of power spreading at the start of the 20th century: electricity. It becomes his training, his life's work. But when his wife Marie inherits her father's failing farm, Roscoe has to give it up, with great cost to his pride and sense of self, his marriage and his family. Realising that he might lose them all, he uses his skills as an electrician to siphon energy from the state, ushering in a period of bounty and happiness on a farm recently falling to ruin. Even the love of Marie and their son seems back within Roscoe's grasp.Then everything changes. A young man is electrocuted on their land. Roscoe is arrested for manslaughter and - no longer an electrician or even a farmer - he must now carve out a place in a violent new world.'Gorgeously spare and brilliantly insightful, Work Like Any Other is a striking debut about love and redemption, the heavy burdens of family and guilt, and learning how to escape them ... Virginia Reeves is a major new talent' Philipp Meyer, bestselling author of The Son'An exceptional novel ... I absolutely loved it' Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds'Assured and absorbing ... a potent mix of icy honesty and heart-wrenching tenderness' Jim Crace, author of Harvest and Being Dead

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016 Placing itself perfectly alongside acclaimed work by Philipp Meyer, Jane Smiley and JM Coetzee, this debut novel charts the story of Roscoe T Martin in rural Alabama in the 1920s.      Roscoe has set his sights on a new type of power spreading at the start of the 20th century: electricity. It becomes his training, his life's work. But when his wife Marie inherits her father's failing farm, Roscoe has to give it up, with great cost to his pride and sense of self, his marriage and his family. Realising that he might lose them all, he uses his skills as an electrician to siphon energy from the state, ushering in a period of bounty and happiness on a farm recently falling to ruin. Even the love of Marie and their son seems back within Roscoe's grasp.     Then everything changes. A young man is electrocuted on their land. Roscoe is arrested for manslaughter and - no longer an electrician or even a farmer - he must now carve out a place in a violent new world. 'Gorgeously spare and brilliantly insightful, Work Like Any Other is a striking debut about love and redemption, the heavy burdens of family and guilt, and learning how to escape them ... Virginia Reeves is a major new talent' Philipp Meyer, bestselling author of The Son 'An exceptional novel ... I absolutely loved it' Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds 'Assured and absorbing ... a potent mix of icy honesty and heart-wrenching tenderness' Jim Crace, author of Harvest and Being Dead

From 2016 Man Booker longlisted Virginia Reeves comes a moving and riveting new novel about the head doctor of a mental institution whose marriage and job come under threat when he and a younger patient develop a relationship.   Doctor Ed Malinowski believes he has realized most of his dreams. A passionate, ambitious behavioural psychologist, he is now the superintendent of a mental institution and finally turning the previously crumbling hospital around. He also has a home he can be proud of, and a fiercely independent, artistic wife Laura, whom he hopes will soon be pregnant. But into this perfect vision of his life comes Penelope, a beautiful, young epileptic who should never have been placed in his institution and whose only chance at getting out is Ed. She is intelligent, charming and slowly falling in love with her charismatic, compassionate doctor. As their relationship grows more complicated and Laura stubbornly starts working at his hospital, Ed must weigh his professional responsibilities against his personal ones and find a way to save both his job and his family. A love triangle set in one of the most chaotic, combustible settings imaginable, The Behaviour of Love is an incredibly compulsive, poignant exploration of marriage, lust, and ambition from one of America's great young literary talents. ‘Reeves’s theme – as in her debut – is the limits of forgiveness. She’s a superb writer, moving with crisp, swift strokes over the thorny question of how far people ever change’ Daily Mail Praise for Work Like Any Other:   ‘A striking debut about love and redemption, the heavy burdens of family and guilt and learning how to escape them. Powerfully told and lyrically written, there is not a false note in this book. Reeves is a major new talent’ Philipp Meyer, author of The Son ‘Work Like Any Other is an exceptional novel told in clear, direct, and starkly beautiful language. Virginia Reeves has a gift for bringing to life all the tensions that emerge wherever people, place, and progress collide. I absolutely loved it’ Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds ‘Assured and absorbing…  a potent mix of icy honesty and heart-wrenching tenderness’  Jim Crace ‘Beautifully written, this is an unusual and moving debut’ Sunday Times ‘A slow-burning pleasure. Brutal, beautiful, and to some significant extent, redemptive’  Daily Mail

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE In this “inventive, beautiful, and deceptively morally complex novel” (The Miami Herald), a prideful electrician in 1920s rural Alabama struggles to overcome past sins, find peace, and rescue his marriage after being sent to prison for manslaughter.Roscoe T Martin set his sights on a new type of power spreading at the start of the twentieth century: electricity. It became his training, his life’s work. But when his wife, Marie, inherits her father’s failing farm, Roscoe has to give up his livelihood, with great cost to his sense of self, his marriage, and his family. Realizing he might lose them all if he doesn’t do something, he begins to siphon energy from the state, ushering in a period of bounty and happiness. Even the love of Marie and their child seem back within Roscoe’s grasp. Then a young man working for the state power company stumbles on Roscoe’s illegal lines and is electrocuted, and everything changes: Roscoe is arrested; the farm once more starts to deteriorate; and Marie abandons her husband, leaving him to face his twenty-year sentence alone. As an unmoored Roscoe carves out a place at Kilby Prison, he is forced to ask himself once more if his work is just that, or if the price of his crimes—for him and his family—is greater than he ever let himself believe. Work Like Any Other is “a consummately well-written, deeply affecting, thought-provoking American historical novel of hard labor, broken dreams, moral dilemmas, violence, racism, and the intricacies of marriage, parenthood, and friendship. Hope is found in reading, compassion, forgiveness, and good, honest work, whatever form it takes. Virginia Reeves’s gripping, dynamically plotted, and profound novel will resonate on different frequencies for men and women and spark soul-searching and heated discussion” (Booklist, starred review).

A riveting, “psychologically acute” (Esquire) portrait of a marriage, from the Man Booker Prize­–longlisted author of Work Like Any Other—“a deep saturation and beauty of experience” (The New Yorker).Doctor Ed Malinowski believes he has realized most of his dreams. A passionate, ambitious behavioral psychiatrist, he is now the superintendent of a mental institution and finally turning the previously crumbling hospital around. He also has a home he can be proud of and a fiercely independent, artistic wife Laura, whom he hopes will soon be pregnant. But into this perfect vision of his life comes Penelope, a beautiful, young epileptic who should never have been placed in his institution and whose only chance at getting out is Ed. She is intelligent, charming, and slowly falling in love with her charismatic, compassionate doctor. As their relationship grows more complicated, and Laura defiantly starts working at his hospital, Ed must weigh his professional responsibilities against his personal ones, and find a way to save both his job and his family. “Reeves alternates between Ed and Laura’s perspectives in cunning ways, creating the rippling effect of a rushing river, as love flows and ebbs over a decade” (Entertainment Weekly). A love triangle set in one of the most chaotic settings imaginable, The Behavior of Love is “a sensitive examination of love, responsibility, and compassion” (Kirkus Reviews).

Set in 1940s Oklahoma on a red dirt cotton farm, Once in the Blue Moon is grounded in the realities of life near the end of World War II.Maggie and her family are forced to endure a season of fear and failure as they face the loss of their home and their once-amazing Daddy to the whiskey bottle. Up against terrible truths and unforeseeable accidents, Maggie struggles in the dark and lonesome farmhouse.When all seems lost, Maggie, her sisters, and her mother band together to overcome humiliation and tragedy. A tale of willpower in ordinary people who act with courage and grit, this story is ultimately one of resilience, forgiveness, and redemption.