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“Combining the edginess of modern life with the touching theme of losing someone who has become just like family, [this book] confirms Giordano as a writer who understands contemporary science and the complexities of human relationships.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“Beautifully crafted…its themes are universal and it will appeal to anyone who treasures the gifts of others.” —Library Journal (starred review)

Paolo Giordano’s prizewinning debut novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, which has been translated into more than 40 languages since its release in 2008, catapulted him into the literary spotlight. In his new novel LIKE FAMILY (Pamela Dorman Books; On-sale: December 1st; $22.00; 9780525428763)—a nuanced portrait of marriage, adulthood, and the meaning of family—Giordano once again returns to the intimate domestic setting that first made him an international sensation. A writer exquisitely attuned to compassion, isolation, and the sometimes overlooked yet startlingly powerful details of our daily lives, here he chronicles the tribulations of a married couple whose lives are indelibly changed by their housekeeper and nanny, Mrs. A.

Nora and her husband, the story’s unnamed narrator, solicit Mrs. A., a middle-aged widow, to help out with Nora’s difficult pregnancy. Mrs. A soon becomes a confidant and her exacting yet reassuring presence is swiftly and deeply felt by the entire family, including their young son, Emanuele. For Nora and her husband, Mrs. A.’s influence allows them to negotiate the complexities of married life. She becomes, as the narrator suggests, the sole “witness” to their love, someone who validates their relationship. And for Emanuele, Mrs. A. is the shield protecting him from his parents’ high expectations and disappointments. But when Mrs. A. is diagnosed with metastasizing cancer, the delicate fabric of the young family comes swiftly undone.

Elegiac, heartrending, and deeply personal, LIKE FAMILY asks a profoundly simple question: What does it mean to love someone? Giordano confronts this perhaps unanswerable question with the kind of tenderness that a husband reserves for a wife, or a parent for a child. And through his wholly realized characters—a widowed nanny, an introverted scientist, an outgoing designer—he proves that love has many forms and gives meaning to any existence, no matter how ordinary. Short yet powerfully affecting, and arguably Giordano’s most accomplished work, LIKE FAMILY will strike resounding chords with  readers of Colm Tóibín, Andrew Sean Greer, and Akhil Sharma.

AUTHOR BIO:

Paolo Giordano is the author of the critically acclaimed The Human Body and the international bestseller The Solitude of Prime Numbers, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. He has a PhD in particle physics and is now a full-time writer. He lives in Italy. LIKE FAMILY is his third novel.

To win LIKE FAMILY by Paolo Giordano, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “LIKE FAMILY” as the subject. You must include your U.S. street address in your email.

All entries must be received by Dec. 21, 2015. One (1) name will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your prize will be sent by Penguin Random House.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

LIKE FAMILY by Paolo Giordano. Pamela Dorman Books (December 1, 2015). 978-0525428763. 160p. $16.00

“[Meister] does a lovely job of imagining the voice of Dorothy Parker with equal parts wit, heartbreak, and practicality.” —Booklist
 
“A quicky, charming read that will delight Parker fans and stoke the curiosity of those unfamiliar with her great wit.”—Library Journal
 
“A wacky tale with hilarious cameo appearances…liberally sprinkled with Parker’s signature acerbic humor, wisecracks, and put-downs.”—Publishers Weekly

In a prequel to her appearance in Ellen Meister’s “delicious”* Farewell, Dorothy Parker, the acid-tongued writer haunts the halls of the Algonquin Hotel with her piercing wit and unexpectedly tender wisdom.

Death cannot quell the feisty spirit of Dorothy Parker.

For more than forty years, Mrs. Parker has been spurning the white light and wandering the famous halls of the Algonquin, drink in hand, searching for someone—anyone—who will keep her company on this side of eternity.

She may have found the perfect candidate in Ted Shriver, a brilliant literary voice of the 1970s, silenced early in a promising career by a devastating plagiarism scandal. He is now a recluse hiding away in the old hotel, waiting to die.

But when a young, ambitious TV producer enters the hotel in search of Shriver, she and Dorothy Parker begin to discover a host of secrets surrounding the life of the famous man—and why he seems as anxious to enter the beyond as Mrs. Parker is to avoid it.

To win DOROTHY PARKER DRANK HERE by Ellen Meister, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “DOROTHY PARKER” as the subject. You must include your U.S. street address in your email.

All entries must be received by Dec. 15, 2015. One (1) name will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your prize will be sent by Penguin Random House.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

DOROTHY PARKER DRANK HERE by Ellen Meister. Berkley (December 1, 2015) 978-0425278093. 384p. $16.00