October Light

October Light

by John Gardner
John Gardner s New York Times bestselling, National Book Critics Circle Award winning metafictional novel centering on the tumultuous relationship of two elderly siblings James is a cantankerous and conservative seventy-two-year-old who has spent his life caring for the animals on his farm. His widowed older sister, Sally, has strong liberal ideals and a propensity for debate. When Sally s bankruptcy forces her to move in with her brother, their lifelong feud quickly escalates and Sally becomes a prisoner in her own room with nothing to survive on but apples and a trashy novel about marijuana smugglers. As Sally becomes immersed in the book, the story envelops the narrative of the siblings dysfunctional relationship, and Gardner explores a wide array of themes from human autonomy to self-definition to political extremism. The result is a tour de force of Gardner s unique …