Heidi Durrow Comes to M&Q

Heidi Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky comes to Magers & Quinn Booksellers--7:30pm, Friday, January 21. This searing and heartwrenching portrait of a young biracial girl dealing with society’s ideas of race and class--winner of the Bellwether Prize for best fiction manuscript addressing issues of social justice--will be available in paperback on January 11.

"A heartbreaking debut . . . keeps the reader in thrall."--Boston Globe

Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on their Chicago rooftop. Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring a constant stream of attention her way. It’s there, as she grows up and tries to swallow her grief, that she comes to understand how the mystery and tragedy of her mother might be connected to her own uncertain identity.

"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky can actually fly. . . Its energy comes from its vividly realized characters, from how they perceive one another. Durrow has a terrific ear for dialogue, an ability to summon a wealth of hopes and fears in a single line."--New York Times Book Review

Details on this and all our events are here.--David E