The Emilys - by Heather Abel (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"The Emilys is a smart, soulful novel brimming with wonder, grace, and mystery."--Claire Vaye Watkins, author of I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness

Eve is at a breaking point. Alone with her two children in Massachusetts while her husband pursues his music career in New York City, she's frustrated, bored, and, above all, lonely when she runs into Demeter, a childhood friend with whom she shared one transformative summer. Demeter is as beautiful and charismatic as Eve remembers, but she's also distraught. Demeter's daughter, like a growing number of others, cannot go outside during the day. No one knows why, and doctors are skeptical that these people--soon dubbed Emilys, after the famously reclusive local poet--are telling the truth. But Eve believes her friend. She will help Demeter--if she can just figure out how.

Eve's perspective is joined by those of her fellow community members searching for answers: the local librarian and the town's most prolific writer of letters to the editor, who both loved the same woman and now hate each other; an actor hoping to make amends for past misdeeds; Demeter's teenage daughter, furious about the isolation she's forced to endure. When Eve unites with this unlikely band of fellow detectives, she feels a clear sense of purpose for the first time in years. But this quest comes with a price: She is keeping secrets from her husband, fighting with Demeter, distracted from her children. What is she willing to risk to find a cure?

Review Quotes

"Heartfelt and thought-provoking, The Emilys is a timely page-turner about motherhood, friendship, sacrifice, and survival in our no-longer-quite-natural world. With wit, lyricism, and compassion, Abel brings to life fallible, deeply human characters whose resilience speaks to our moment with urgency and grace."--Ruth Ozeki, author of The Book of Form and Emptiness

"Heather Abel has written a prismatic, brilliant novel that teaches us how to live--and more important, to love--in a natural world that is rapidly changing, even as our all-too-human yearnings stay the same. Rich in language, in philosophy and science, and most significant, in hope--The Emilys is its own cure, and you'll be infinitely better for reading it."--Julia Fine, author of The Upstairs House

"This kaleidoscopic marvel of a novel is many things at once: propulsive climate-crisis mystery, nuanced portrait of women's friendships, wry reckoning with the complexities of parenting, and love letter to our imperiled Earth. Heather Abel has written an urgent, beautiful study of how we try to take care of one another in a threatened and threatening world, and of the astonishing ways our fates are intertwined."--Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks

"A gorgeous and compelling novel. Abel makes it not only possible but deeply pleasurable to consider uncertainty and absence--and the communities that form around them. This is a book to read with friends."--Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love

"The Emilys kept me reading late into the night. It's a bighearted novel that manages to be both wide-reaching and intimate. Each character is fascinating: humane, complex, and specific. Abel is brilliant at depicting contemporary fears and hopes, and her writing is deeply attentive to the landscapes and mindscapes that shape those fears and hopes."--Dana Spiotta, author of Wayward

"Readers who enjoy novels that explore a woman's search for herself and her place in the world will relish Eve's journey of discovery."--Booklist

"A labyrinthine and heartfelt look at the trials and triumphs of collective action. . . . Abel explores a rich tapestry of themes: the heartbreak and power of female friendship, the isolation that can exist at the heart of motherhood, class tensions, climate change, medical gaslighting, the pandemic, and much more. If this seems like a lot, it is, but Abel's writing is never grim and the swirl of theme and plot and character is vibrant."--Kirkus Reviews

"Astute . . . Abel tackles environmental themes in a way that fuels the plot without getting preachy, and the novel's satisfying conclusion eschews false optimism and demoralizing gloom about the future. Readers will find much to admire."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author