The Book of Jonas (Paperback)
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Description
Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. An international relief organization sends Jonas to America, where he struggles to assimilate—adapting to his foster family, high school, a first love. Jonas meets Rose Henderson, the mother of the U.S. soldier responsible for saving his life. Christopher Henderson disappeared after the raid that destroyed Jonas’s village, and Rose yearns to know the truth. Gradually, a shocking and painful secret emerges.
In spare, evocative prose, debut novelist Stephen Dau crafts a virtuosic novel about memory, the terrible choices made during war, and what happens when foreign disaster arrives at our own doorstep.
About the Author
Stephen Dau worked for ten years in postwar reconstruction and international development prior to studying creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and Bennington College. He lives in Brussels with his wife and daughter.
Praise for The Book of Jonas…
"The toll that war exacts has seldom been demonstrated more vividly in fiction." -Booklist (starred review)
"Rich with symbolism, marvelously descriptive in language . . . Dau's novel offers deeply resonating truths about war and culture, about family and loss that only art can reveal. A literary tour de force." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A vivid portrait of a distant war...First-rate." -Jean Thompson, author of The Year We Left Home
"A sobering and accomplished read meant to prick the conscience; highly recommended." -Library Journal
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- Literary
- Psychological
- Coming of Age
