Bertrand Court

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Description

Bertrand Court is a captivating novel told in story form, intertwining seventeen luminous narratives about the secrets of a cast of politicos, filmmakers, and housewives, all tied to a suburban Washington, DC, cul-de-sac. Linked through bloodlines and grocery lines, they respond to life's bruises by grabbing power, sex, or the family silver. As they atone and forgive, they unmask the love and truth that hop white picket fences.

Michelle Brafman is the author of the novel Washing the Dead. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Slate, Tablet, the Washington Post, Lilith, the the minnesota review, and elsewhere. She teaches fiction writing at the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program and lives with her family in Glen Echo, Maryland.

Reviews

Brafmans talent for drawing human emotion shines through in this episodic, deeply sensitive, and introspective novel of the human psyche. Booklist "With insight and empathy, Michelle Brafman portrays a wide range of interconnected characters who share heartbreak, indiscretions, and tantalizing secrets in this keenly observed multi-generational chronicle." J. Ryan Stradal, author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest Brafman employs humor, deft pacing, and artful jump-cuts to vividly and warmly evoke the lives and families of policy wonks, politicos, and housewives. Politics & Prose Bookstore (a #1 Politics & Prose bestseller!) The thread of Jewish culture that runs through Brafmans novel is both respectful provocative and lovingly integrated. These graceful, insightful stories are a testament to our complicated lives and importance of family and friends. Jewish Book Council Whats not to love Kveller.com Brafmans gorgeous linked narratives focus on a group of astonishing characters, all grappling with power, lust, love, sex, and how best to be alive in a complicated world, all set against the backdrop of a Washington D.C. suburb. Gloriously alive, moving, and blazingly honestBertrand Court is brilliant. Caroline Leavitt, New York Times-bestselling author of Is Cruel Beautiful World and Pictures of You Brafman makes the familiar fascinating, just as she previously made (in Washing the Dead) the exotic familiar. Best New Fiction "[It] pulsates with the issues of modern, suburban Jewish life. Jerusalem Post I ripped through Bertrand Court in a single afternoon. Could not put it down. It was like binge-watching a great show. So much humor. So many stunning lineslines that encompassed amazing ideas. What a fabulous read. Helen Simonson, author of The Summer Before the War and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand Michelle Brafman eavesdrops on the human heart and reports back to us in Bertrand Court with honesty, compassion, and soul. This is gorgeous writing, in stories lit with grace. Dylan Landis, author of Rainey Royal and Normal People Dont Live Like This Like a Jewish Anne Lamott, Michelle Brafman reels you in with warmth, depth, and heart. Susan Coll, author of The Stager and Acceptance I had the pleasure of tearing through this book in two days.. . . As wine lovers say about their favorite blends, the characters and flavors are so deliciously complex and play off each other. This would be a fabulous book to read with friends! Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of Man Alive!

Author Bio

Michelle Brafman is the author of the novel Washing the Dead and Bertrand Court, a collection of linked short stories. She has spoken about both books at more than 150 venues, including bookstores, classrooms, synagogues, and myriad book groups. She has received numerous honors for her fiction, including a Special Mention in the XXIV Pushcart Prize Anthology. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Slate, LitHub, Tablet, The Nervous Breakdown, and elsewhere. A PEN/Faulkner Writer in Schools author, she teaches in the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing Program. Learn more at michellebrafman.com.