Book
Take what you need / Idra Novey.
"From award-winning novelist Idra Novey comes a "deft and surprising novel" with two unforgettable female voices. (Rumaan Alam) Set in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, Take What You Need follows the estrangement and reconciliation of stepmother and daughter, Jean and Leah. Leah always felt her path diverged from Jean's and left her hometown without looking back, making a life for herself in the city as a young mother and academic. Now that Jean's gone, Leah must return to sort through all Jean has left behind. What she wasn't expecting to find was Jean's studio filled with metal sculptures born from the scraps of Pennsylvania's industrial history--its beauty challenging all she had initially thought of her hometown, and her own skepticism for why Jean had held onto it so dearly. Told in alternating points of view, Take What You Need is a refreshing portrait of complex and resilient family relationships, and ultimately challenges our ideas about success in order to reaffirm values we all hold dear: beauty, hope, and family"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780593652855 (hardcover)
- ISBN: 0593652851 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 242 pages ; 22 cm.
- Publisher: [New York] : Viking, [2023]
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Stepmothers > Fiction. Older women > Fiction. Women artists > Fiction. Bereavement > Fiction. Homecoming > Fiction. Estranged families > Fiction. Appalachian Region, Southern > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Domestic fiction. |
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at Kenton County.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erlanger Branch | NOVEY I (Text) | 33126025072160 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
| Independence Branch | NOVEY I (Text) | 33126025072145 | Adult Fiction | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"From award-winning novelist Idra Novey comes a "deft and surprising novel" with two unforgettable female voices. (Rumaan Alam) Set in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, Take What You Need follows the estrangement and reconciliation of stepmother and daughter, Jean and Leah. Leah always felt her path diverged from Jean's and left her hometown without looking back, making a life for herself in the city as a young mother and academic. Now that Jean's gone, Leah must return to sort through all Jean has left behind. What she wasn't expecting to find was Jean's studio filled with metal sculptures born from the scraps of Pennsylvania's industrial history--its beauty challenging all she had initially thought of her hometown, and her own skepticism for whyJean had held onto it so dearly. Told in alternating points of view, Take What You Need is a refreshing portrait of complex and resilient family relationships, and ultimately challenges our ideas about success in order to reaffirm values we all hold dear: beauty, hope, and family"-- - Baker & Taylor
An award-winning writer presents a novel with two determined, unforgettable female voices. - Penguin Putnam
A New York Times Notable Book of 2023
A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, NPR, The Guardian Author Pick, and Today
Longlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award
Longlisted for 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize
âA heart-rending book, but also a beautiful celebration of âthe glorious pleasure of erecting something new,â be it a work of art or a human connection.ââThe Wall Street Journal
From âone of the finest and bravest novelists at work today,â (Vulture) award-winning writer Idra Novey has conjured a novel of âastonishing and singularâ honesty (Rumaan Alam) with two determined, unforgettable female voices.
Set in the Allegheny Mountains of Appalachia, Take What You Need traces the parallel lives of Jean and her beloved but estranged stepdaughter, Leah, whoâs sought a clean break from her rural childhood. In Leahâs urban life with her young family, sheâs revealed little about Jean, how much she misses her stepmotherâs hard-won insights and joyful lack of inhibition. But with Jeanâs death, Leah must return to sort through whatâs been left behind.Â
What Leah discovers is staggering: Jean has filled her ramshackle house with giant sculptures sheâs welded from scraps of the areaâs industrial history. Thereâs also a young man now living in the house who played an unknown role in Jeanâs last years and in her art.Â
With great verve and humor, Idra Novey zeros in on the joys and difficulty of family, the ease with which we let distance mute conflict, and the power we can draw from creative pursuits.
Take What You Need explores the continuing mystery of the people we love most with passionate and resonance, this novel illuminating can be built from what others have discardedâart, unexpected friendship, a new contentment of self. This is Idra Novey at her very best.