'Stunning language, raw emotion and profound wisdom' Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You

'Solomon's strong prose and fleet pacing consistently provide the essential pleasures of a good story well told' Maggie Shipstead, The New York Times Book Review

One night in 1917 Beatrice Haven creeps out of her uncle's house on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, leaves her newborn baby at the foot of a pear tree, and watches as another woman claims the child as her own. A gifted pianist bound for Radcliffe, Bea plans to leave her shameful secret behind and make a fresh start.

Ten years later, Prohibition is in full swing, post-WWI America is in the grips of rampant xenophobia, and Bea has returned to her uncle's house, seeking a refuge from her unhappiness. But the rum-running manager of the local quarry inadvertently reunites her with Emma Murphy, the headstrong Irish Catholic woman who has been raising her abandoned child - now a bright, bold, cross-dressing girl named Lucy Pear, with secrets of her own...

About the Author
Anna Solomon is the author of The Little Bride and a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in publications including the New York Times Magazine, One Story, Ploughshares, Slate and MORE. Co-editor with Eleanor Henderson of Labor Day: True Birth Stories by Today's Best Women Writers, Solomon previously worked as a journalist for National Public Radio. She was born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two children.

Reviews
Leaving Lucy Pear is that rare combination of stunning language, raw emotion, and profound wisdom that catches you up and wrings you out and yet somehow leaves you fuller than when you began. In this tender new novel, Anna Solomon looks at our most fundamental relationships - between mothers, children, and lovers - with more compassion and grace than seems humanly possible * Celeste Ng, New York Times-bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You *
In Anna Solomon's marvellously textured new novel, Cape Ann in the late 1920s thrums with the issues of the day. When two seemingly dissimilar women become bound to the same child, we're given a piercing and often profound look at motherhood, what it is and isn't, as well as the ways suffering makes and unmakes us all, sometimes many times over. Solomon is an enormously gifted writer, and her penetrating tale will linger in your mind long after the last page has turned * Paula McLain, New York Times-bestselling author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun *
Solomon's strong prose and fleet pacing consistently provide the essential pleasures of a good story well told. . . . This is a book governed...by earnest empathy, a desire to give each character opportunities for growth and betterment, bravery and openness. * Maggie Shipstead, New York Times Book Review *
Anna Solomon's novel invites you in with tons of atmosphere, from the foggy New England location to the 1920s culture to the gender politics. You'll get lost in this story, which feels truly new and fresh * Good Housekeeping *
Solomon is a beautiful writer, and her prose brings people and scenes achingly alive. . . . Her characters' struggles with motherhood and identity would be compelling in any era. * Entertainment Weekly *
From the first page, I was under the spell of Anna Solomon's emotionally engaging novel about the devastating choices we make and the unexpected consequences they bring. This is a fine literary tapestry woven with beautiful language, complex characters, and a precise probing of human desires and demons * Sue Monk Kidd, New York Times-bestselling author of The Invention of Wings *
Gorgeously moving . . . a dazzling exploration of the impact of roads untaken on motherhood, class, and gender. . . . Solomon expertly works on a large, mesmerizing canvas, with an almost dizzying array of characters, each moving the terrific drama of the book. . . . [She] renders each character so exquisitely complex, they could be the heroes of their own novels. . . . It's impossible to stop reading, because Solomon has made us care so much for all the characters, because she's fashioned a world so real, you can taste the salt spray and smell the heady fragrance of the ripe pears * Boston Globe *
Anna Solomon writes with a poet's reverence for language and a novelist's ability to keep us turning the page. Leaving Lucy Pear is a gorgeous and engrossing meditation on motherhood, womanhood, and the sacrifices we make for love * J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times-bestselling author of Maine and The Engagements *
With poetic prose but a larger understanding of the precarious world of 1920s New England, Solomon proves herself as one of the most striking novelists of the day * The Millions *
Penetrating. . . . Repeatedly opting for the less predictable outcome, Solomon reaches resolutions marked with the same reflective maturity as the rest of this solidly absorbing novel. Slow-movement storytelling: fully-fleshed, compassionate, and satisfying * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *
Spanning the Great War and Prohibition and deftly delving into the social issues of the time, Leaving Lucy Pear is the perfect choice for readers who appreciate the rigor and richness of literary fiction * Bookpage *
Ambitious and satisfying . . . [a] lushly written look at two women's haunting choices. * Publishers Weekly *
Solomon's . . . razor-sharp prose scrapes her characters raw as she plants them deeply in the history and turmoil of 1920s New England. A beautifully rendered tale of discovering one's true nature. Highly recommended * Library Journal (starred review) *
A marvel of a novel, bursting with intelligence, insight, compassion, and truth. Anna Solomon is an extraordinarily gifted storyteller * Robin Black, author of Life Drawing *



Book Information
ISBN 9780349134475
Author Anna Solomon
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Blackfriars
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 298g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 33mm