Etta and Otto and Russell and James: A Novel

Marc Notes: Simon & Schuster Fiction Original Hardcover.. Review Quotes: ""Etta and Otto and Russell and James" is incredibly moving, beautifully written and luminous with wisdom. It is a book that restores one's faith in life even as it deepens its mystery. Wonderful!" --Chris Cleave, #1 "New York Times" Bestselling author of "Little Bee"Review Quotes: "[A] sweet, disarming story of lasting love... Hooper's steady hand creates the perfect setup for the unexpected." "--The New York Times Book Review" "Quirky, offbeat... Modern life is full of people spouting rubbish about spurious emotional and spiritual 'journeys.' Etta's trek as she comes to the end of her life and reckons with the past, has, in contrast, a real and worthwhile dignity to it." "--The Financial Times" "In this haunting debut, set in a starkly beautiful landscape, Hooper delineates the stories of Etta and the men she loved (Otto and Russell) as they intertwine through youth and wartime and into old age. It's a lovely book you'll want to linger over." "--People" "Heartfelt... In simple, graceful prose, Hooper has woven a tale of deep longing, for reinvention and self-discovery, as well as for the past and for love and for the boundless unknown." --"San Francisco Chronicle" "[Hooper's] crisp, unadorned prose beautifully captures her characters' sentiments, and conveys with compassion but also a degree of distance their experiences of love and pain, longing and loss... this novel pulsates with an energy that can best be described as raw but also highly restrained. " "--Chicago" "Tribune" "Hooper has conjured a character who is a gift... As the lines blur between Etta's and Otto's memories, and even between their physical bodies, readers emerge with a deeper appreciation for life and for its suffering against its backdrop of majesty." "--Dallas Morning News" "A bit like a fairy tale, "Etta and Otto and Russell and James" is whimsical, even magical. A bit like the Canadian prairie, it is spare, yet beautiful." "--Fort Worth Star-Telegram" "A poetic, poignant tale." "--US Weekly" "Fictional journeys toward enlightenment and self-discovery fill miles of book shelves, but few are as freshly told as the road trip traced in "Etta and Otto and Russell and James.".. It's filled with magical realism, whimsy and the idea that you're never too old to take risks." "--Minneapolis Star-Tribune" "Hooper's debut is a novel of memory and longing and desires too long denied... To a Cormac McCarthy-like narrative--sans quotation marks, featuring crisp, concise conversations--Hooper adds magical realism.... The book ends with sheer poetry... A masterful near homage to "Pilgrim's Progress" souls redeemed through struggle." --"Kirkus Reviews" (starred review) "Hooper's spare, evocative prose dips in and out of reality and travels between past and present creating what Etta tells Otto is "just a long loop." This is a quietly powerful story whose dreamlike quality lingers long after the last page is turned." --"Library Journal" (starred review) "Hooper, with great insight, explores the interactions and connections between spouses and friends--the rivalries, the camaraderie, the joys and tragedies--and reveals the extraordinary lengths to which people will go in the name of love." --"Publishers Weekly" (starred review) "Drawing on wisdom and whimsy of astonishing grace and maturity, Hooper has written an irresistibly enchanting debut novel that explores mysteries of love old and new, the loyalty of animals and dependency of humans, the horrors of war and perils of loneliness, and the tenacity of time and fragility of memory." --"Booklist" (starred review) Publisher Marketing: This "poetic, poignant" ("US Weekly") debut features last great adventures, unlikely heroes, and a "sweet, disarming story of lasting love" ("The New York Times Book Review"). Eighty-three-year-old Etta has never seen the ocean. So early one morning she takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots and begins walking the 3,232 kilometers from rural Saskatchewan, Canada eastward to the sea. As Etta walks further toward the crashing waves, the lines among memory, illusion, and reality blur. Otto wakes to a note left on the kitchen table. "I will try to remember to come back," Etta writes to her husband. Otto has seen the ocean, having crossed the Atlantic years ago to fight in a far-away war. He understands. But with Etta gone, the memories come crowding in and Otto struggles to keep them at bay. Meanwhile, their neighbor Russell has spent his whole life trying to keep up with Otto and loving Etta from afar. Russell insists on finding Etta, wherever she's gone. Leaving his own farm will be the first act of defiance in his life. Moving from the hot and dry present of a quiet Canadian farm to a dusty, burnt past of hunger, war, and passion, from trying to remember to trying to forget, "Etta and Otto and Russell and James" is an astounding literary debut "of deep longing, for reinvention and self-discovery, as well as for the past and for love and for the boundless unknown" ("San Francisco Chronicle"). "In this haunting debut, set in a starkly beautiful landscape, Hooper delineates the stories of Etta and the men she loved (Otto and Russell) as they intertwine through youth and wartime and into old age. It's a lovely book you'll want to linger over" ("People"). Review Citations: Quill & Quire 12/01/2014 pg. 35 (EAN 9780670067749, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview 08/15/2014 pg. 11 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) Library Journal 09/15/2014 pg. 67 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Publishers Weekly 09/22/2014 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Booklist 10/15/2014 pg. 30 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2014 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) - *Starred Review People Weekly 01/26/2015 pg. 54 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) BookPage 01/01/2015 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) Shelf Awareness 01/30/2015 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 02/08/2015 pg. 30 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) New Yorker (The) 03/09/2015 pg. 95 (EAN 9781476755670, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Hooper, Emma Raised in Alberta, Canada, Emma Hooper brought her love of music and literature to the UK, where she received a doctorate in Musico-Literary studies at the University of East-Anglia and currently lectures at Bath Spa University. A musician, Emma performs as the solo artist Waitress for the Bees and plays with a number of bands. She lives in Bath, UK, but goes home to Canada to cross-country ski whenever she can. "Etta and Otto and Russell and James" is her first novel.