The celebrated author of The Tiger’s Wife returns weaving a tale of displacement, belonging and the love between mothers and daughters.
‘A bewitchingly atmospheric, psychologically lush, and deeply knowing tale of ancient sorrows and coalescing crises, courage and fortitude.’
– Booklist
Celebrated author of The Tiger’s Wife Téa Obreht paints a vivid portrait of a not-so-distant, not-totally-dystopian future in her latest novel, The Morningside.
Silvia and her mother are refugees – from the climate, from war – who join their only living relative in a formerly grand, towering apartment building called the Morningside in Island City, which may once have been Manhattan. As they settle into their new life, Silvia begins seeing the world through a more magical lens as she gets to know her mysterious fellow residents.
In a recent essay for Time, Obreht reflected on language and its ability to shape our identities; her daughter is being raised with three languages at home – English, Serbian, and Irish. This fascination with mother tongues and its power to connect us to the people we love and the places we come from is present in The Morningside in Silvia’s desperate desire to learn more about where she came from and who her mother was before.
Imbued with her trademark sense of the surreal, Obreht has crafted a world full of folklore and a story that grapples with very real possibilities of a less-than-perfect future. But beneath the anxiety of it all is an undercurrent of hope, community, and connection.
Téa Obreht is the author of The Tiger’s Wife, winner of the Orange Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award, and Inland. She was born in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia.
This event will be chaired by Deirdre Sullivan, award-winning writer of eight books for young adults, including Savage Her Reply and a collection of short fiction, I Want To Know That I Will Be Okay.