The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done - by Sandra Newman (Paperback)

From the Back Cover

When Chrysalis Moffat and her brother, Eddie, inherit a mansion on the coast of California, Eddie hatches a plan to fleece credulous Californians of their cash by starting the fraudulent Tibetan School of Miracles.

But something else is happening. Through Chrysalis's reunion with her brother, she begins to discover her adoptive father's secret past, causing her own identity to unravel. As Chrysalis lays down the facts of her life, she gambles her identity against the contradictions, half-truths, and fables of her past, leading her ultimately to question what it is we can truly know and whether it is fate or chance that dictates our lives.

Review Quotes

"Breathtaking writing...the dialogue is pitch-perfect, with laugh out loud lines...an exhilarating read." - The Independent on Sunday
"Original and powerful." - Times Literary Supplement (London)
"Mesmerizing ... [Newman's] clever and compelling tale is something you just can't afford to miss." - What's On In London
"A witty, imaginative debut from a young novelist with dazzling intellectual resources." - Adrienne Miller, Esquire
"A virtuoso performance [that] more than proves Newman a writer worth watching." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Newman ...has a penetrating voice that could one day garner a devout following." - Entertainment Weekly
"A brilliantly wicked assessment of human nature." - Dallas Morning News
"Funny and moving, quirky and intelligent, and written in a fresh, original voice." - Kate Atkinson, author of Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Emotionally Weird
"[This] is a smart, big-hearted, hysterical and gorgeously rendered novel." - Jerry Stahl, author of Plainclothes Naked and Permenant Midnight
"Like Vonnegut, she has the courage to follow her imagination down twisting alleyways and around unlikely corners....It is heartening to know there is a new voice out there willing...to take the stage in such a daring fashion." - Myla Goldberg, New York Times Book Review
"David Lynch and Dave Eggers aficionados will find much to admire in this edgy, strange, and dazzling first novel" - Library Journal
"A possible cult hit." - Time Out New York