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A Sudden Light: A Novel Audiobook
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Publisher Description
From Garth Stein, author of the beloved bestseller The Art of Racing in the Rain—now a major motion picture!
The New York Times bestselling “witty, atmospheric” (People) story of a once powerful American family, and the price that must be paid by the heirs as they struggle for redemption: “A captivating page-turner” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis).
Twenty-three years after the fateful summer of 1990, Trevor Riddell recalls the events surrounding his fourteenth birthday, when he gets his first glimpse of the infamous Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have separated, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with Aunt Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, and divide up the profits.
But as young Trevor explores the house’s hidden stairways and forgotten rooms, he discovers secrets that convince him that the family plan may be at odds with the land’s true destiny. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.
Spellbinding and atmospheric, A Sudden Light is rich with vivid characters, poetic scenes of natural beauty, and powerful moments of spiritual transcendence. “Garth Stein is resourceful, cleverly piecing together the family history with dreams, overheard conversations, and reminiscences…a tale well told,” (The Seattle Times)—a triumphant work of a master storyteller at the height of his power.
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“Effective ghost stories are alwaysabout atmosphere and characters who struggle to uncover secrets that are bestleft undiscovered. In this one, master storyteller Garth Stein finds aconsummate collaborator in talented narrator Seth Numrich…As the storyunspools, Numrich’s smooth delivery, caring tone, and perfect pauses allow thegrowing horror to creep into your psyche. Numrich shines at portraying Trevor’steenaged angst, especially his longing to understand adult decisions.Goosebumps are guaranteed as Numrich’s performance elevates this tale oftwisted terror to heights attained by Poe and Lovecraft. It’s that good.”
— AudioFile
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“Take equal parts mystery, lyrical magic, and a healthy dose of natural wonder, add a multigenerational family struggling with the ghosts of the past, literally and figuratively, and you have A Sudden Light—a beautiful, deeply thought-provoking story that is impossible to put down.”
— Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet -
“Wow! I devoured A Sudden Light, a grand, gorgeous, multigenerational epic of the Pacific Northwest. Garth Stein has given us another singular, soulful, and wise narrator for the ages, who tells us a story full of mystery and yearning. I adored this book.”
— Maria Semple, New York Times betselling author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette? -
“A haunting family saga.”
— Good Housekeeping -
“A fiction as well-written as it is creepy.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review -
“Haunting in all the right ways.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Stein transports the reader to Riddle House, a one-hundred-year-old mansion made entirely of wood overlooking Puget Sound…With its single setting and small cast of characters (ghosts not included), the story’s feeling of claustrophobia adds to the tension. Stein dramatizes the various tensions between his characters well.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A Sudden Light is the best of many genres: a ghost story, a love story, historical fiction….a truly killer read…a bold, poignant book about wealth, family ties, and the power—and fallacy—of memory.”
— BookPage -
“This magnificent and haunting ghost story will pull you into its world and hold you captive, awe you with the enduring power and beauty of nature, and, on every page, fill you with amazement at Stein’s infinite compassion for the human condition…A major achievement by a major American writer.”
— Robert Goolrick, author of A Reliable Wife
Awards
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A BookPage Top Pick for October 2014
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An Amazon Best Book of the Month, October 2014
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An AudioFile Best Audiobook of the Year for 2014
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An October 2014 LibraryReads Pick
A Sudden Light Listener Reviews
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—
De Salgado, 12/22/2016
About Garth Stein
Garth Stein is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain, published in thirty-five languages. He is also the author of the novels How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets and Raven Stole the Moon. He lives in Seattle with his family.