The Inhabitants

(Paperback)

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Description

After a run of misfortune, portrait artist Nilda Ricci could use a stroke of luck. She seems to get just that when she inherits a shadowy Victorian, designed by an architect whose works were said to influence the mind- supposedly, in beneficial ways. At first, Nilda' s new home delivers multiple gifts, including the unexpected appearance of a housekeeper who' d helped maintain the home for years. Also, Nilda finds herself falling for a handsome neighbor, a chemist whose herbal tonics boost her creativity to new heights. But as Nilda seeks revenge-by-painting against a contempt-worthy portrait subject, she begins having strange experiences in the house, making her wonder whether the place is haunted or whether its architect' s intentions were less than benevolent. She also begins to suspect that her neighbor, and his gifts of tonics, aren' t what they seem. All along, the housekeeper seems to be looking out for Nilda. But in time she reveals needs of her own, which may prove more powerful than anything in the house ... or beyond it.

Reviews

"Carolyn Jack delivers a powerful story of family and the trauma of familial dysfunction that can span generations. In beautifully rendered prose, she reminds us of the essential role the arts and creative expression play in making us fully human. This tale of love, loss, and human frailty will stay with you long after the last page." John Grogan, international bestselling author of Marley & Me: Life and love with the world's worst dog and the memoir The Longest Trip Home

"How she can write! Here are grandeur and piercing moral insight. A very promising start to what will be a great career." Benjamin Taylor, author of Chasing Bright Medusas: A Life of Willa Cather and Here We Are: My Friendship with Philip Roth "A lush, elegant aria of a novel, The Changing of Keys will transport--with gorgeous, tender lyricism--the reader into the mind of a musical prodigy in search of meaning.... David Copperfield meets Norwegian Wood, this novel will break your heart only to mend it in startling and marvelous ways." Naheed Phiroze Patel, author of A Mirror Made of Rain

"Remarkable ... I could hardly put it down. It's so infused with feeling, atmosphere and texture, and the innovative way of transitioning from father to daughter is as surreal as it is captivating. I am completely gobsmacked by the poetry and pertinent detail of the writing." Donald Rosenberg, author of The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None

"A wickedly smart and thoroughly engaging writer, Jack writes with verve. The enthusiasm she has for exploring the obsessions and desires that rule the lives of her characters is contagious." Elissa Schappell, co-founder of Tin House literary magazine and author of Blueprints for Building Better Girls

"It's precisely the kind of novel so many of us are pining for - a modern classic of a literary novel with an unexpected, glamorous setting and a devastating family history." Ira Silverberg, literary editor and consultant

"With extraordinary literary style, Carolyn Jack deftly weaves the complexities of brilliant talent, the intense pressure of the world of opera, and the dark repercussions of a mother's emotional neglect into a beguiling tale of heartache." Morgan Howell, author of The Moon Won't Talk

"Carolyn Jack's, The Changing Keys is a bold and riveting story, told by a brilliantly unreliable narrator who both charms and dismays as he rises to fame in the world of classical opera. Chained to ambition, haunted by the past, he is a stunning character, tangled in complexities, surprising the reader at every turn." Megan Staffel, author of The Notebook of Lost Things and The Causative Factor

"No word is out of place in this riveting portrait of a man trapped by his past and the ghost of a cold and wounded mother. Jack writes with elegance and clarity, and with a clear-sighted emotional force that compels us to care about an intractable character who demands love he cannot return and is gifted with a great talent he fails to nurture, but who remains unfailingly human in the midst of his consuming and lonely grief." Thrse Soukar Chehade, author of We Walked On

Author Bio

Beth Castrodale is the author of the novels MARION HATLEY, which was a finalist for a Nilsen Prize for a First Novel from Southeast Missouri State University Press; IN THIS GROUND, an excerpt from which was a shortlist finalist for a William Faulkner William Wisdom Creative Writing Award; and I MEAN YOU NO HARM. She is also the recipient of an artist grant from the Mass Cultural Council.