July 2009 Debut of the Month.
A tale of small-town America with some wonderful characters in the present and even more going back over eight generations. The periods flow back and forth as Willie researches her family in search of her father’s identity, and what a family it is – hypocrites, philanderers, murderers and spendthrifts mixing with upstanding citizens and faithful spouses, story after story wonderfully told and blended … and then there is the monster in the lake! Glorious stuff.
Comparison: Alice Hoffman, Carol Shields, Louise Erdrich.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
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Willie Cooper arrives on the doorstep of her ancestral home in Templeton, New York in the wake of a disastrous affair with her much older, married archaeology professor. That same day, the discovery of a prehistoric monster in the lake brings a media frenzy to the quiet, picture-perfect town her ancestors founded. Smarting from a broken heart, Willie then learns that the story her mother had always told her about her father has all been a lie. He wasn’t the one-night stand Vi had led her to imagine, but someone else entirely.
As Willie puts her archaeological skills to work digging for the truth about her lineage, a chorus of voices from the town’s past rise up around her to tell their sides of the story. Dark secrets come to light, past and present blur, old mysteries are finally put to rest, and the surprising truth about more than one monster is revealed.
The Monsters of Templeton features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Debut Books of the Month, Family Drama, Book Club Recommendations, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Monsters of Templeton is available in Paperback, CD-Audio
The Monsters of Templeton was written by Lauren Groff and published by Arrow Books Ltd
The Monsters of Templeton has 460 pages
£8.99
