Some Bright Nowhere - by Ann Packer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Profound and moving and real."--Andrew Sean Greer

"Some Bright Nowhere is a novel that draws you in deeply and holds you there. Wonderful."--Meg Wolitzer

The bestselling, beloved author returns with her first novel in over a decade, an intimate and profoundly moving look at a long marriage and the ways in which a startling request can change a couple's understanding of who they are, together and apart.

Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They've raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered the inevitable ups and downs of a long life spent together. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable.

Over the years of Claire's illness, Eliot has willingly--lovingly--shifted into the role of caregiver, appreciating the intimacy and tenderness that comes with a role even more layered and complex than the one he performed as a devoted husband. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered.

What if your partner's dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he's been, and with the great unknowns of Claire's last days.

Ann Packer makes a triumphant return with this powerful novel that is tender and raw, visceral and unexpected. Emotionally vibrant and complex, Some Bright Nowhere explores the profound gifts and unexpected costs of truly loving someone, and the fears and desires we experience as the end of life draws near.

Review Quotes

"Harrowing, but brilliant." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"I couldn't stop reading this heartbreaking, heart-expanding novel, and I wept at the end. Ann Packer writes with courage, humor and insight about what it means to be fully human and what we owe the people we love most. Unforgettable." -- J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Cliffs and Friends and Strangers

"Readers, you will shed tears and talk long into the night about this book. What can we ask of one another? What can we give? What is love in the face of death? Profound and moving and real, Packer has written another stirring account of the heart." -- Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less and Less Is Lost

"Some Bright Nowhere is a devastating novel that miraculously floats with the light and life it carries. I read it feverishly; I lived and mourned with its characters." -- Ayşegül Savaş, author of Long Distance and The Anthropologists

"Some Bright Nowhere is an exquisite gem of a novel, shot through with luminous prose and profound insight into the human heart. Trust me: you've never read a novel about marriage--about sacrifice and selfishness and soul-mending hope--quite like this one. I loved it." -- Tania James, author of Loot

"Some Bright Nowhere is a novel that draws you in deeply and holds you there. Ann Packer writes absorbingly about couples, together and apart, and about love, friendship, and the inevitability of saying goodbye. This is a heartbreaking novel that actually made me happy--happy to have known these characters and watched them work through the puzzle at the heart of the story, and to have lived with them in their world as long as I did. It's a wonderful book." -- Meg Wolitzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Female Persuasion

"A novel so psychologically insightful it feels dangerous, written in prose beautiful enough to get you drunk. Packer is at the height of her powers here, exploring terrain that feels distinctly new. A profoundly feminist book about the negotiations between men and women in marriage, about the work of caretaking, and about the pain and compromise of loving. A triumph." -- Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo's Got Money Troubles