Indelible

(Paperback)

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Description

Magdalena has an unsettling gift. She sees the truth about people written on their skin--names, dates, details both banal and profound--and her only relief from the onslaught of information is to take off her glasses and let the world recede. Mercifully, her own skin is blank. When she meets Neil, she is intrigued to see her name on his cheek. Hes in Paris for the summer, studying a medieval pilgrimage to the coast of Spain, where the body of Saint Jacques is said to have washed ashore, covered in scallop shells. Magdalena, desperate to make things right after her best friend dies--a tragedy she might have prevented--embarks on her own pilgrimage, but not before Neil falls for her, captivated by her pale eyes, charming Eastern European accent, and aura of heartbreak. Neils father, Richard, is also in Paris, searching for the truth about his late mother, a famous expatriate American novelist who abandoned him at birth. All his life Richard has clung to a single memory of his mother--her red shoes--which her biographers agree he never could have seen. In Adelia Saunders arresting debut, secrets are revealed among forgotten texts in the old archives of Paris, on a dusty cattle ranch in the American West, along ancient pilgrim paths, and in a run-down apartment in post-Soviet Lithuania. By chance, or perhaps by fate, the novels unforgettable characters converge, and Magdalenas uncanny ability may be the key to their happiness.

Reviews

Richly detailed and highly observant . . . Fans of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Ta Obreht's The Tiger's Wife will love Saunders' debut, which takes up the mantle of myth, history, and storytelling with beautiful, sure-footed prose. * Kirkus Reviews *
Intricately plotted, complexly affecting. * Booklist *
A graceful and elegant novel about love and mystery, loss and melancholy, sorrow and hope. From words written on the skin to the sight of unbearable things, Saunders explores with great nuance the limits of human vision. -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE SYMPATHIZER
Extraordinary. Saunders' debut is grounded in such a solid world of character and place that its uncanny premise seems the most natural way to set right the missed connections of three wounded people. -- Gail Godwin, three-time National Book Award finalist and author of FLORA
A twisty gem of a book. Eloquently written, equal parts brutal and tender, Indelible is haunting in the very best way. -- Erika Swyler, author of THE BOOK OF SPECULATION
A tapestry of human fates so vivid and unusual it will leave you wondering madly what words may be written across your own skin. -- Rebecca Dinerstein, author of THE SUNLIT NIGHT
A history, a romance, a fantastic mysteryall of these descriptors could be applied to Indelible, and all of them are true. Transporting, unique, and entirely engrossing, it leaves a beautiful mark. -- Kate Racculia, author of BELLWEATHER RHAPSODY
Each scene in Indelible is a vivid postcard as ineffaceable as its title. Readers will stay up late at night turning pages, trying to riddle out the mystery of these characters' intertwined lives. Expertly plotted, beautifully written! -- Suzanne Rindell, author of THREE-MARTINI LUNCH

Author Bio

Adelia Saunders has a masters degree from Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service and a bachelors degree from NYU. She has taught English in Paris, written for an independent newswire at the United Nations, and assisted an agricultural economist in Uganda. She grew up in Durango, Colorado, and currently lives with her husband and two small children in New York City, where she works for an international think tank. This is her first novel.