Liquid, Fragile, Perishable

(Paperback)

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A vivid and moving portrayal of the intricate web of relations and fate in a small New England town, told with interlocking storylines in a unique and mesmerizing voice of uncommon power in this debut novel. It is May in the tiny hamlet of Glenville, Vermont, bringing with it currents of rejuvenation and rebirth. For 3 families, though, the year ahead will prove to be a roller coaster of life-changing events, promises, and tragedies. Liquid, Fragile, Perishable unspools via a chorus of unforgettable voices- an old-school Christian beekeeping family and newly transplanted New Yorkers; a trio of teenage girls and a deeply rooted family of ne'er-do-wells; and one woman who just wants to live alone in the woods. The shifting set of relations among the citizens of this community encompasses teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, poverty-and a cavalcade of thwarted dreams, young love in bloom, and poignant missed connections. This powerful debut is a subtle and beautiful story about the interlocking relationships among the residents of a small town out of Sherwood Anderson or Thornton Wilder-but with a very contemporary set of problems ... By turns sexy, shocking, and wistful, this coruscating debut conveys the hopes, the sadness, and the secrets of a whole great world. Told in a vivid style of complete distinction, the novel has a magic and a momentum all its own, giving a look into the aching, silent heart of America.

Reviews

"I've spent my life in towns like this, and so so much rings truehard, sweet, right."
Bill McKibben, author Radio Free Vermont

"A true-to-life, richly detailed American tale in the tradition of Sherwood Anderson, Willa Cather, and Thornton Wilder. Carolyn Kuebler deftly weaves together, in fast-moving episodes, the lives of four teenagers and their families who come to reckon with their differences when one of their children tragically disappears. Kueblers genius as a writer is to make readers believe that the harrowing story of Glenville, Vermont is both their own and one essential for our time."
Michael Collier, author of The Wild Mountain

Author Bio

Carolyn Kuebler was a co-founder of the literary journal Rain Taxi and has been an associate editor at Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. For the past ten years she has been the editor of the award-winning New England Review. She lives in Middlebury, Vermont, where she enjoys gardening, bird-watching, and cross-country skiing. Liquid, Fragile, Perishable is her first novel.