《科克斯書評》選為2017年最佳小說和2017年最佳首作小說
《Booklist》選為2017年10本最佳小說之一
《The New York Times Book Review》的編輯選書
 Indie的9月選書

Sacrifice looms large in many women’s lives, and a woman who becomes a mother is often expected to accomodate others’ needs at the expense of her own. In The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, Cherise Wolas examines the choices women make for the sake of their families, questioning the long-term impact these decisions have on women’s identities.

Joan Ashby is already an acclaimed writer when she falls in love with Martin, a surgeon who takes her out of her comfort zone and brings balance to her life. The couple get married, but before doing so, Joan makes it clear that she never wants children—a rule she made for herself in order to pursue her writing career. Shortly after wrapping up a book tour and moving to a small town, however, Joan learns she is pregnant and decides to become a mother, with a second child following within a few years. While Joan finds happiness in motherhood, she struggles to fit her work into her life, particularly as her two sons start requiring more attention and energy.

Joan attempts to keep her writing alive, until one of her sons commits an unthinkable act of cruelty that leaves her emotionally reeling. It prompts Joan to travel overseas and reconsider her identity, including her relationships with her sons and husband.
Wolas makes a great deal of Joan’s talent. The story opens with a long article about Joan’s writing, and the over 500-page novel is littered with excerpts from Joan’s work. Wolas constantly reminds the reader that not only is Joan passionate about writing, she’s good at it. Woefully, it’s one of the only things about Joan that feels fully realized. There’s a passivity to the character that makes it difficult to understand her views; her motivations, aside from the drive to write, are too neglected to feel complete.

Covering around three decades, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby vacillates between extreme detail and rapid time jumps. And there is power in the artistry of Cherise Wolas’ empathetic and resonant portrait of Joan Ashby, a woman who struggles every day to understand herself and to live the life that is true and authentic for her, despite demands and expectations to the contrary. Joan Ashby is every woman.

 

Cherise Wolas是作家、律師和電影製作人。本書是作者的首作小說。

 

“Ambitious...Intimate...There is a terrific twist midway through…Reads like a juicy 19th-century tome…That I got so worked up about a person who doesn’t exist is a testament to Wolas’s success in creating a complex and distinct fictional character. Joan Ashby is like no writer I have ever encountered; I’m sure, if she were real, she would be pleased to hear it.”
―The New York Times Book Review

“The rapturous advance praise for Cherise Wolas’ assured meta debut, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, doesn’t do it justice. This ambitious first novel introduces us to an elusive artist with a stratospheric cult following―only to unravel her life, as the blessings of divine inspiration battle the curse of earthly love. Lawyer and film producer Wolas has forged an audacious balancing act whose betrayals come from the least expected corners, submerging readers in a dazzling universe we hate to leave.”
―Huffington Post, starred review

“A startlingly self-assured debut novel spanning decades and rendered in luminous prose throughout…A deeply feminist novel, but one free of didacticism and ideological baggage.”―The Toronto Star

“A stunning debut novel…a wealth of superb writing, mature insights, and breathtaking risks....A rare book such as this comes along only once in a long while.”―New York Journal of Books

“Epic in scale, the novel focuses on Joan’s efforts to resolve her own life. This is an extraordinary, assured and deeply involving novel about marriage, motherhood, sacrifice and the creative impulse. Highly recommended.”―Daily Mail, UK

“This breathtaking...novel will do for motherhood what Gone Girl (2012) did for marriage. ‘A story requires two things: a great story to tell and the bravery to tell it,’ Joan observes. Wolas’ debut expertly checks off both boxes.”―Booklist, starred review