Lily's Ghost: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Lily must fight - to escape her own memories, to survive an uncertain future, and to protect, above all else, the love between a mother and child. As a doctor in Vietnam, Lily survived unimaginable terror and loss. Now, safely ensconced in a close-knit Maine town and a seemingly comfortable marriage, she no longer needs to be afraid, but she is- afraid of light, afraid of sudden sounds, afraid of seeing the wide-eyed child of war who haunts her. So Lily is unprepared for the act of betrayal that threatens to take away the one thing she cannot live without- her young son. Plunged into a bitter custody battle, befriended by a man with a heartbreaking secret of his own, Lily must fight'to escape her own memories, to survive an uncertain future, and to protect, above all else, the love between a mother and child.

Reviews

"A distinctively styled novel that is especially notable for its unusual perspective on women in combat.... [An] intense debut novel."Booklist

In her novel Lilys Ghost, Cheryl Drake Harris beautifully demonstrates the ongoing power of Vietnam as a metaphor for complex aspects of the human condition. This universal story of love and loss and the longing for connection is played out brilliantly against the Vietnam War and its aftermathand, moreover, through a womans eyes, which gives the work an even wider resonance. This is impressive work indeed by a fine new writer.Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

One of the most intense renderings of a woman in Vietnam and in post-Vietnam America that I have ever read.Few novels present Vietnam so thoroughly and completely with its aftershocks. A story of great courage and tremendous power.Robert Stone, National Book Award-winning author of Dog Soldiers

The story of a woman who, as a doctor, served in Vietnam and was permanently changed by her experience. Skillfully weaving into her novel a story of romantic love and a suspenseful account of a mother's effort to remain united with her child, Cheryl Drake Harris makes a compelling, memorable debut.Frederick Busch, author of Girls and The Night Inspector

Author Bio

Cheryl Drake Harris lives with her husband in Maine, where she is at work on her second novel, about Elizabeth Siddal, model for and wife of pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which Dell will publish in 2007.