At Last - by Marisa Silver (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"An astounding achievement." --Megha Majumdar, bestselling author of A Burning "Her best book yet." --Paul Yoon, award-winning author of Run Me to Earth From the bestselling author of Mary Coin comes a rich family saga set in midcentury America centered on two fierce and competitive matriarchs whose intertwined lives reflect the complexities of family, tradition, and personal ambition, told with "Silver's signature combination of toughness and grace" (Laird Hunt, bestselling author of Zorrie).Helene Simonauer and Evelyn Turner are two formidable women whose paths cross when their children marry. Both women are sharp, cunning, and unwavering in their conflicting beliefs about marriage, responsibility, and family and, most pressingly, their efforts to vie for the love of their shared granddaughter. Weaving together the lives of Helene and Evelyn--from their vastly different childhoods through the pivotal events that define them--At Last paints a vivid portrait of the American Midwest, capturing the essence of a time and place where societal norms and personal aspirations often clashed. Both intimate and expansive while capturing the complexities of ambition and love with humor and insight, At Last is a testament to what happens when an unintended, even unwanted relationship turns out to be a central one that defines a life.

Review Quotes

One of The New Yorker and Boston Globe's Best Books of the Year Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize "Silver [allows] the reader sharp glimpses of her characters' interiority, as well as insight into why we all sometimes refuse to reveal ourselves and hold intimacy at arm's length." -The New Yorker "Gracefully rendered and utterly compelling... Two temperamentally opposite mothers-in-law, Helene and Evelyn, bristle and cope with one another for decades across late 20th century America as their families evolve and expand, fall apart and contract again." -Boston Globe "[A] series of...vignettes that recall Evan S. Connell's "Mrs. Bridge" (1959), At Last moves forward in time by focusing on pivotal moments in the characters' lives over nearly five decades... Taken individually, these moments shine. Taken in full, they quietly devastate." -Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Marisa Silver is the author of the novels The Mysteries; Little Nothing; Mary Coin, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Southern California Independent Bookseller's Award; The God of War, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction; and No Direction Home. Her first collection of short stories, Babe in Paradise was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. When her second collection, Alone with You was published, The New York Times called her "one of California's most celebrated contemporary writers." Her fiction has been included in The Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize Stories, as well as other anthologies. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Cullman Center for Scholars and writers. She lives in Los Angeles. At Last is her most recent novel. For more, visit MarisaSilver.com.