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“As Nazi Germany passes from living memory, novels that allow the reader
to travel its ethical landscape are increasingly important. Andromeda
Romano-Lax has a fine feel for moments of clarity that are recognized
only in hindsight, when chance and personal defects—moral and
physical—combine to produce heroism, or mediocrity, or cowardice.”
— Mary Doria Russell, New York Times bestselling author
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“Romano-Lax brings inertia to her narrative, deflating the foreboding of this German’s imploding assignment.”
— Publishers Weekly
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“A gently haunting work of subtle and surprising wisdom.”
— Booklist
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“Romano-Lax is singularly gifted: she creates full-fledged, engaging
characters and writes compelling narrative. Some of her descriptive
passages take your breath away. The author’s The Spanish Bow was a hit. This novel will make a splash, too, for the same reasons.”
— Library Journal
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“With elegance and an eye for the unexpected, Ms. Romano-Lax distills
the often overwhelming anguish of World War II into this elegiac tale of
an earnest young art curator's journey into Italy, where he finds
himself caught between his reverence for the past and the horrors of the
future. An evocative portrait of one man's passage into maturity and
the resiliency of the human spirit, even in midst of the unimaginable.”
— C. W. Gortner, author of The Last Queen
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“A poignant and important historical drama, as well as part road trip and compelling adventure, The Detour defies our expectations on every page. Andromeda Romano-Lax is a powerful and moving storyteller.”
— Jennifer Gilmore, author of Something Red
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“A marvelous adventure across landscapes both inner and outer, The Detour is
a moving study in art and memory, history and geography, courage and
compassion and every kind of love. Beautifully executed, deeply felt,
and crammed with what feels for all the world like reality itself, it's a
rare and valuable book indeed.”
— Jon Clinch, author of Finn and Kings of the Earth
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“The Detour is a suspenseful tale of artistic ideals, culture and
power, complex family bonds, and redemptive love with one of the most
finely crafted narratives I've ever read. It's certain to earn Andromeda
Romano-Lax a new level of readership. Vivid and heartbreaking, set
against a shameful time in world history, Lax celebrates the resilience
of the human condition, and its ability to heal against all odds.”
— Jo-Ann Mapson, author of Solomon’s Oak
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“The Detour is a wonderfully evocative and lyrical novel—a coming
of age story woven into an adventure of art-smuggling under the Nazis.
Romano-Lax brilliantly depicts a triumph over the seductive dangers of
passivity when faced by love, art and the moral choices of life. A
gemstone of a book!”
— Simon Goldhill, author of Jerusalem
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“The Detour is both a thriller and a poetic journey of a young
art specialist and an ancient statue through the deceits and dangers of
the Third Reich. Plunging into crazy adventures in a truck on the back
roads of Italy and fleeing long-buried memories, Ernst seeks the safe
delivery of the statue and in the process discovers loyalty, love, and
his own soul. Andromeda Romano-Lax is a unique and wonderfully gifted
writer.”
— Stephanie Cowell, author of Claude & Camille