ACT OF GOD

Book ID/图书代码： 02330014B73246

English Summary/英文概要： New York City is sweltering from yet another record-breaking heat wave, this one accompanied by biblical rains. Edith, a recently retired legal librarian and her identical twin sister, Kat, a feckless romantic who has always mistaken eccentricity for originality, discover something ominous in their hall closet: a phosphorescent mushroom is sprouting from the wall. Upstairs, their landlady, Vida Cebu, a Shakespearean actress far more famous for her commercials for Ziberax (the first female sexual enhancement pill) than for her stage work, discovers that a petite Russian girl, a runaway au pair, has been secretly living in her guest room closet. When the police arrest the intruder, a second glowing mushroom is found under her bedding, and the four women must evacuate the contaminated row house with only the clothes on their backs. As the mold infestation spreads from row house to high-rise, and frightened New Yorkers wait out this plague on their city and property, the four women become caught up in a centrifugal nightmare. Before the last mushroom dies, one woman will be dead, and the others left to wonder: Was it an act of God? Part horror story, part screwball comedy, Jill Ciment’s brilliant suspense novel looks at what happens when our lives--so seemingly set and ordered, yet so precariously balanced--break down in the wake of calamity. A novel, as well, about love (familial and profound) and how it can appear in the most unlikely circumstances.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 纽约市正经历着又一波的创纪录的热浪，并伴随着圣雨。伊迪丝，刚退休的法律图书馆员和她的同卵双胞胎姐姐，凯特，一个柔弱的浪漫主义者，她总是有一些自创的错误，她们发现了他们衣柜里的异样：一棵发着磷光的蘑菇在墙上发芽了。楼上的是她们的房东，维达•苏布，一位莎士比亚戏剧演员，她为Ziberax（第一支女士用伟哥）代言的广告所得的名气远比她舞台上获得的名声高，她发现一个小个子俄罗斯女孩儿，这个逃走的女佣悄悄地住在了她客房的衣橱里。当警察把这个闯入者抓走后，她们在床边发现了第二棵颜色鲜艳的蘑菇，这四个女人必须离开这已被污染的房子，只穿着她们身上的衣服。由于霉菌感染已从她们的房子蔓延到高层房子，吓得纽约人等待他们的城市和房子里的这场瘟疫过去，这四个女人陷入了离心的噩梦。在最后一个蘑菇死之前，一个女人会死，剩下的人就会想知道：这是上帝的行为吗？有点恐怖，有点神经喜剧，吉尔•西门特的这部精彩的悬疑小说关注了—当我们的生活看似已被定下和安排好了时，却变得不平衡起来——被灾难毁掉。这部小说，也有关于爱（家族性和深刻的），以及爱怎么可以最不可能的情况下出现。（YYW）

Awards/获奖情况：“丰富的、古怪的人物刻画，对人性和命运残酷的曲折变化荒诞诙谐的见解，让最初荒谬的见解变成了一个深刻的悬疑故事…故事探讨大于生活的事件是怎么夺取人类一切的--特别是那些用现代世界的服饰—让他们的灵魂充满怜悯和同情，爱与原谅的治愈力量…[A]非常令人难忘的反映了现实生活的缩影。”--《架意识》

“这是一个极其聪明的故事，讲了姐妹情纠缠不清的联系和悔改和原谅的力量…西门特取得了令人钦佩的文学成就，创作了一部，像光移动速度般的，一直在督促我们停下来看看。”–《书页》

• “Rich, quirky characterizations, witty insights into human nature and cruel twists of fate metamorphose the initial absurdity of the narrative into a profound, suspenseful story…The story examines how larger-than-life events can strip human beings of everything—especially those steeped in the trappings of the modern world—in order to fill their souls with empathy, compassion and the healing powers of love and forgiveness…[A] thoroughly entertaining and unforgettable microcosm that reflects the realities of life.” – Shelf Awareness

• “A keenly intelligent story about the tangled bonds of sisterly love and the power of repentance and forgiveness…Ciment has pulled off an admirable literary feat, creating a novel that moves at the speed of light, all the while urging us to pause and look inward.” – BookPage

About the Author/作者介绍： 吉尔•西门特出生于加拿大蒙特利尔。她是短篇故事和小说的合集《小额诉讼》；小说《物体坠落的规律》，《狗的牙齿》，《纹身艺术家》和《英勇的措施》，回忆录《半生》的作者。她曾获美国国家艺术基金会奖学金，一个日本教育协会奖，两次获得纽约艺术奖学金，珍妮特海丁格尔卡夫卡奖和古根海姆奖学金。西门特是佛罗里达大学的教授。她生活在佛罗里达州盖恩斯维尔。

Jill Ciment was born in Montreal, Canada. She is the author of Small Claims, a collection of short stories and novellas; The Law of Falling Bodies, Teeth of the Dog, The Tattoo Artist, and Heroic Measures, novels; and Half a Life, a memoir. She has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts, a NEA Japan Fellowship Prize, two New York State Fellowships for the Arts, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Ciment is a professor at the University of Florida. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.

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Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

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