ANY BITTER THING

Book ID/图书代码： 02330005B07710

English Summary/英文概要： Richard Russo has celebrated Monica Wood’s fiction as "thoroughly captivating…warm and wise and beautifully written," and Andre Dubus III praised it as "luminous and graceful…entertaining yet transcendent." Any Bitter Thing, Wood’s brilliant new novel, is her breakout book, a timely, gripping, and compassionate tale of family, faith, and deeply hidden truths. One of its greatest strengths is its continuous ability to defy expectations. It’s not what you think. It is worse. Lizzy Mitchell was raised from the age of two by her uncle, a Catholic priest. When she was nine, he was falsely accused of improprieties with her and dismissed from his church, and she was sent away to boarding school. Now thirty years old and in a failing marriage, she is nearly killed in a traffic accident. What she discovers when she sets out to find the truths surrounding the accident—and about the accusations that led to her uncle’s death—does more than change her life. With deft insight into the snares of the human heart, Monica Wood has written an intimate and emotionally expansive novel full of understanding and hope.

"Despite its abrupt arrival, my accident felt anticipated after the fact, like a long-delayed package arriving as a thwup on the doorstep. Finally, I thought, as I spun through the air and thudded back to earth, delivered."

The opening lines told by the main character in Monica Wood’s beautifully written novel "Any Bitter Thing" foretell the pain of lost innocence and the redemption that comes with forgiveness. The story follows Lizzy Mitchell, a woman recovering from a hit-and-run accident, as she tries to piece together the mysteries of her childhood.

Lizzy is orphaned at the age of 2 when her parents are killed in a plane crash. Her uncle Mike volunteers to raise her in the idealistic small town of Hinton, Maine. Uncle Mike is really Father Mike, a Catholic priest whose parishioners question the propriety of his raising a child. This does not faze Lizzy or the priest, who share a mutual adoration for each other. Innocent and protected, Lizzy spends seven wonderful years with her uncle, who imparts his love and devotion to the ministry in every word and action. A series of events leads their jealous housekeeper to accuse Father Mike of sexually abusing his niece and Lizzy’s world is turned upside down. Father Mike is branded a "problem priest" and is sent to Baltimore for counseling and treatment in a place called a retreat center. Lizzy is spirited away to her crusty Aunt Celie’s where she feels isolated and unloved for the first time in her life. After a few weeks of Lizzy’s begging and pleading for answers, Celie breaks the news that Father Mike has died of a heart attack and will never return. Lizzy is 9 years old and still confused as to why she was removed in the first place, as she is sent away to a Catholic boarding school and is forgotten.

Now, 21 years later, Lizzy is a high school guidance counselor in her old hometown, struggling to recover from a brutal car accident. The accident has apparently caused more than physical damage, as people begin to question Lizzy’s sanity. She swears that Father Mike was in her hospital room, that he spoke to her, and that he saved her life. Determined to prove she’s right, Lizzy tries to make sense of her uncle’s fall from grace. Along the way she dredges up more questions than answers, learning a tragic secret that could destroy those she loves the most.

Wood’s characters show depth and complexity, and unexpected twists continually defy expectations. Wood’s take on the modern-day suspicions of Catholic priests is new and enthralling. She circles from past to present in a richly layered plot that builds upon themes of spirituality, innocence and the question of best intentions.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： Richard Russo 曾大赞Monica Wood的小说为彻底的迷人,温暖人心,智慧而美丽.Any Bitter Thing是Monica Wood的最新力作,一部具有开创性的作品,一部关于家庭、信仰、深藏的真理的感人故事。此书的最大魅力就在于其故事不断地与我们的预感背道而驰。主人公Lizzy Mitchell两岁开始由她身为天主教牧师的舅舅带大。她九岁时，舅舅被冤枉并被教堂驱逐，她也被送到了寄宿学校。在她三十岁的这一年，她经历了婚姻的失败，她差点死在一场交通事故中。当她开始调查事故真相时，她发现事件后隐藏着一系列的黑幕，包括当年造成他舅舅死亡的那件冤案，从此她的人生发生了很大的变化。Monica Wood以她熟练的对于人心的洞察，为读者带来了一部充满理解希望的情感小说。

Awards/获奖情况：

About the Author/作者介绍： Monica Wood也是小说集Ernie’s Ark和小说My Only Story的作者。她的小说、书评和文章频频出现在杂志和文学刊物上。她出身和居住在缅因州，那里也经常是她小说的背景。
Monica Wood is also the author of Ernie’s Ark, a collection of stories, and My Only Story, a novel. Her fiction, book reviews, and articles appear in numerous magazines and literary journals. She was born and still lives in Maine, which is also where her fiction takes place.

Monica Wood’s website at: www.monicawood.com

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：

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