The Outside Lands

A book that is both sensitive and powerful, a marvel of historical accuracy and a riveting read.--Donna Leon

San Francisco, 1968: Jeannie and Kip are lost and half-orphaned, their mother dead under mysterious circumstances, and their father - a decorated WWII veteran - consumed by guilt and losing sight of his teenage children.

Kip, a dreamer and swaggerer prone to small-time trouble, enlists to fight in Vietnam; Jeannie finds a seemingly safe haven in early marriage and motherhood.

But when Kip is accused of a terrible military crime, Jeannie is seduced - sexually, emotionally, politically - into joining an ambiguous anti-war organization.

As Jeannie attempts to save her brother, her search for the truth leads her into two relationships, with a troubled young woman, and a grievously-wounded veteran, that might threaten her marriage, her child, and perhaps her life.

A dramatic and morally complex novel in the vein of Tatjana Soli's The Lotus Eaters and Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers, The Outside Lands is a powerful, confident debut.