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Find out moreVictor Lodato is the recipient of Guggenheim and NEA fellowships and has won numerous awards for his plays, including an award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. This is his first novel. He lives in Tuscon, Arizona and New York.
Lucy, Edgar and Florence are a fractured family dealing with the loss of Frank, a husband, a father and son whose body was never recovered. Lucy and Frank were both wild horses, with Edgar born into the throes of their frenetic relationship. Now he’s a drifting soul, an albino named after Edgar Allan Poe, stumbling through childhood under the protective eye of his grandmother, mystified by the behaviour of his hollowed mother, with her butcher boyfriend and perplexing remoteness. At once epic and intimate, and laced with affecting detail, this powerfully poetic work is suffused in acutely moving evocations of loss (“It was as if grief had impregnated her, the dark seed of it a living havoc in her belly”), and the satisfyingly complex story unwinds with un-put-down-able aplomb. I loved every perfectly-chosen, perfectly-placed word.
April 2010 Debut of the Month. Mathilda Savitch isn't evil but she has a definite darkness about her. After her sister's death her life is changed forever. Determined to find the truth behind her sister's death Mathilda thinks this will heal her family's wounds. The grief and tragedy, seen through these adolescent eyes, feels raw and harsh. However the author still brings humour and compassion to this stunning debut.
Lucy, Edgar and Florence are a fractured family dealing with the loss of Frank, a husband, a father and son whose body was never recovered. Lucy and Frank were both wild horses, with Edgar born into the throes of their frenetic relationship. Now he’s a drifting soul, an albino named after Edgar Allan Poe, stumbling through childhood under the protective eye of his grandmother, mystified by the behaviour of his hollowed mother, with her butcher boyfriend and perplexing remoteness. At once epic and intimate, and laced with affecting detail, this powerfully poetic work is suffused in acutely moving evocations of loss (“It was as if grief had impregnated her, the dark seed of it a living havoc in her belly”), and the satisfyingly complex story unwinds with un-put-down-able aplomb. I loved every perfectly-chosen, perfectly-placed word.
Eight-year-old Edgar remembers nothing of the terrible accident people still whisper about. He only knows his father is dead, his mother has a limp, and his grandmother believes in ghosts. When Edgar meets a man with his own tragic story, the boy begins a journey into a secret wilderness where nothing is clear - even the line between the living and the dead. Edgar and Lucy is a thrilling adventure and an unlikely love story, combining a wonderfully rendered family epic with a desperate search for a little boy who's lost.
Eight-year-old Edgar Allan Fini is haunted - by his father's absence, his mother's secrets, and the ghosts of his grandmother's past. But he recalls nothing of the accident about which people still whisper. When Edgar meets a man with his own tragic story, he is drawn deep into a damaged, grief-stricken world. Lucy must confront the demons that plague her, to save her son and herself. Tinged with wonder and a dark fairytale heart, Edgar and Lucy is a gripping coming-of-age story about the painful and loving ties that bind us. Praise for Edgar and Lucy: 'Gorgeous. There is poetry on every page ... with delicate, precise observations and unexpected imagery' Sunday Times. 'On every page Lodato's prose sings with a robust, openhearted wit, making Edgar & Lucy a delight to read ... A riveting and exuberant ride' New York Times Book Review. 'I love this book. Profoundly spiritual and hilariously specific ... An unusual and intimate epic that manages to capture the wonder and terror of both child and parenthood with an uncanny clarity' Lena Dunham, bestselling author of Not That Kind of Girl. 'Wonder-filled and magisterial ... The book pushes the boundaries of beauty' Chicago Tribune. 'A quirky coming-of-age novel that deepens into something dark and strange without losing its heart or its sense of wonder' Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of The Leftovers. 'I tore through the luminous pages of Edgar & Lucy as if possessed ... What this book has to say about love and truth will stay with me for a very, very long time' Sophie McManus, bestselling author of The Unfortunates. 'This tale exerts a fiendish grip on the reader' Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. 'Brings to mind J.D. Salinger, Lorrie Moore, Karen Russell, even James Joyce. Edgar & Lucy will make you feel things you haven't felt in ages' Daniel Torday, author of The Last Flight of Poxl West. 'This otherworldly tale will haunt you' People.
Eight-year-old Edgar Allan Fini is haunted - by his father's absence, his mother's secrets, and the ghosts of his grandmother's past. But he recalls nothing of the accident about which people still whisper. When Edgar meets a man with his own tragic story, he is drawn deep into a damaged, grief-stricken world. Lucy must confront the demons that plague her, to save her son and herself. Tinged with wonder and a dark fairytale heart, Edgar and Lucy is a gripping coming-of-age story about the painful and loving ties that bind us. Praise for Edgar and Lucy: 'Gorgeous. There is poetry on every page ... with delicate, precise observations and unexpected imagery' Sunday Times. 'On every page Lodato's prose sings with a robust, openhearted wit, making Edgar & Lucy a delight to read ... A riveting and exuberant ride' New York Times Book Review. 'I love this book. Profoundly spiritual and hilariously specific ... An unusual and intimate epic that manages to capture the wonder and terror of both child and parenthood with an uncanny clarity' Lena Dunham, bestselling author of Not That Kind of Girl. 'Wonder-filled and magisterial ... The book pushes the boundaries of beauty' Chicago Tribune. 'A quirky coming-of-age novel that deepens into something dark and strange without losing its heart or its sense of wonder' Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of The Leftovers. 'I tore through the luminous pages of Edgar & Lucy as if possessed ... What this book has to say about love and truth will stay with me for a very, very long time' Sophie McManus, bestselling author of The Unfortunates. 'This tale exerts a fiendish grip on the reader' Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. 'Brings to mind J.D. Salinger, Lorrie Moore, Karen Russell, even James Joyce. Edgar & Lucy will make you feel things you haven't felt in ages' Daniel Torday, author of The Last Flight of Poxl West. 'This otherworldly tale will haunt you' People.
Full Length, Drama Drama / Characters: 2m, 2f (Conceived for African-American actors, but casts of other races are possible) / Multiple sets The play follows an African-American family in a low-income neighborhood whose lives are ultimately ruined by their surroundings. Clive arrives unexpectedly at the house of his mother and his sister. He says that he is fleeing from the police - but perhaps it's another one of his delusions. Unbeknownst to him, he has shown up on a tragic anniversary. Three years prior, his sister's child was killed in a brutal shooting. As fate seems bent on shattering the walls, mother Mae valiantly attempts to keep house. Mr. Lodato is a 2002-2003 Guggenheim Fellow, as well as the recipient of the 2002 L. Arnold Weissberger Award for Motherhouse