When Maya Taylor, an English professor with a tendency to hide in her books, sends her daughter to Florida to look after a friend's child, she does so with the best of intentions; it's a chance for Ellie, twenty and spiraling, to rebuild her life. But in the sprawling hours of one humid afternoon, Ellie makes a mistake she cannot take back. In two separate timelines-before and after the catastrophe-Maya and Ellie must try to repair their fractured relationship and find a way to transcend not only their differences but also their more troubling similarities. "[Melding] psychological insight, precise plotting and limpid prose" (Huffington Post), Lynn Steger Strong traces the anatomy of a mistake and the weight of culpability.

About the Author
Lynn Steger Strong holds an MFA in fiction from Columbia University, where she teaches freshman writing. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two young daughters.

Reviews
"Haunting...Strong's characters are achingly detailed, and undeniably real." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Lynn Steger Strong has a great eye for the visible world, a near perfect sensor for those of us living in it, and a deep compassion and curiosity for how we go astray and find ourselves again." -- Richard Ford "[An] assured, illuminating examination of the complex ties between mothers and daughters." -- Gina Webb - Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Ms. Strong has a highly sensitive awareness of the special kind of disappointment-and the painfully undying connection-that comes with family. There's mercifully little armchair psychology about Ellie and no blatantly obvious reason that she should be so damaged or careless. She just is, and in that way feels authentic." -- John Williams - New York Times "A tragedy lurks at the heart of Lynn Steger Strong's achingly sad, achingly beautiful debut novel. How do you forgive your child after she does the unthinkable? How can you not? Hold Still quietly builds to a perfect crescendo, an ending that is both surprising and true." -- Marcy Dermansky, author of Bad Marie "In this compelling debut, Lynn Steger Strong paints a portrait of familial love that is real, visceral, and all the more dangerous for being unconditional. Her characters show us that loving someone deeply can be a fraught act-and trying to gain distance from them, even more so." -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine "Who do we blame when a good kid makes one disastrous mistake? The parents? The child? The bad influences lingering at the margins? Lynn Strong's captivating novel explores questions of blame and guilt from many points of view, all of them rendered with tenderness, compassion, and surprising humor. A little bit Lionel Shriver, a little bit Virginia Woolf. Hold Still is a terrific debut." -- Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver "Lynn Strong is clearly a spy. The espionage-level attention paid to the most seemingly invisible things and words and gestures that comprise the world, well, I feel like Strong broke a code that nobody else has broken. She allows us to better understand what we often see but fail to fully comprehend. Also this novel is really heartbreaking. And I loved these characters. 'Strong debut' has a whole new meaning after Hold Still. Keep an eye on Strong, that's my advice. And not because she's likely watching you. Because she is a writer worth watching." -- Heidi Julavits, author of The Folded Clock



Book Information
ISBN 9781631492655
Author Lynn Steger Strong
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 223g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 20mm