Fans of gentle reads will enjoy the strong focus on relationships and the slow build between Marian and Geoffrey.” — Booklist on THE FIRST WARM EVENING OF THE YEAR
“There’s much to make this novel compelling.” — Publishers Weekly
“A beautifully rendered, psychologically astute novel about the risks—and joys—of love and loving.” — Shelf Awareness
“A powerful first novel.” — Indianapolis Star
“A moving and elegant novel that lingers with the reader long after the last page is turned.” — Bookreporter.com
“A heartfelt examination of one man’s grief with a dark and intriguing mystery pulsating beneath the surface.” — John Searles, author of Strange But True and Boy Still Missing
“A gripping tour de force that leaves us stunned and breathless.” — Orlando Sentinel
“A bold and impressive debut . . . In a gripping tour de force by a writer supremely confident of his vision, Saul leaves us stunned and breathless, waiting for the next chapter in what one hopes will be a long and illustrious career.” — Orlando Sentinel
It’s the mystery of what happened to Danny that will carry you through this book . . .The ending is a reminder that we are heartbreakingly vulnerable through our children.” — Arizona Republic
“This first novel rivals Jacquelyn Mitchard’s Deep End of the Ocean as a probing exploration into the psychology of grief . . . a gorgeous literary thriller of the highest caliber.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Saul’s first novel is a powerful look at memory, family, and unexpected tragedy . . . recommended.” — Library Journal
“Saul controls his material with almost flawless skill. . . . A fine thriller, stocked with solid, effective characters and characterizations.” — Terre Haute (Indiana) Tribune-Star
“Quietly affecting . . . a debut with enormous depth of characterization and sympathy.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Powerful . . . [An] intense first achievement . . .difficult to put down” — Indianapolis Star
“One of the most satisfying and poignant novels readers will come across this year.” — Anniston Star
“Like an arrow to the heart, Jamie Saul’s page-turner novel sears through the psyche to hit bedrock.” — Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits
“LIGHT OF DAY is a haunting, beautifully-written and heart-wrenching debut.” — Harlan Coben, New York Times-bestselling author of Just One Look
“How does a novel become a work of classic literature? My betting is that this first novel by a new author will eventually be seen that way. . . . Anyone who wants in on the ground floor of that decision should grab the book now.” — Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)
“Heartbreaking and well-written.” — Winston-Salem Journal
“From its poignant opening chapter to its breathtaking conclusion, nothing about this writer or book is less than extraordinary.” — Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Breakdown Lane
“Exhilarating. . . .One of those debut novels that delivers the goods with style and compassion.” — Washington Post Book World
“An intellectual thriller laced with subtle clues throughout its gracious prose.” — Chicago Tribune Books
“In this engaging novel, a Manhattan man finds romance—and a few other surprises—when he goes to settle the estate of an old friend.” (#1 Pick) — O, the Oprah Magazine
“[T]he story flows quickly...Saul’s writing and vocabulary are sophisticated and learned.” — YourHoustonNews.com
Fans of gentle reads will enjoy the strong focus on relationships and the slow build between Marian and Geoffrey.
Booklist on THE FIRST WARM EVENING OF THE YEAR
This first novel rivals Jacquelyn Mitchard’s Deep End of the Ocean as a probing exploration into the psychology of grief . . . a gorgeous literary thriller of the highest caliber.
Booklist (starred review)
A beautifully rendered, psychologically astute novel about the risks—and joys—of love and loving.
A gripping tour de force that leaves us stunned and breathless.
It’s the mystery of what happened to Danny that will carry you through this book . . .The ending is a reminder that we are heartbreakingly vulnerable through our children.
A powerful first novel.
A moving and elegant novel that lingers with the reader long after the last page is turned.
A heartfelt examination of one man’s grief with a dark and intriguing mystery pulsating beneath the surface.
A gripping tour de force that leaves us stunned and breathless.
Heartbreaking and well-written.
How does a novel become a work of classic literature? My betting is that this first novel by a new author will eventually be seen that way. . . . Anyone who wants in on the ground floor of that decision should grab the book now.
Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)
In this engaging novel, a Manhattan man finds romance—and a few other surprises—when he goes to settle the estate of an old friend.” (#1 Pick)
Like an arrow to the heart, Jamie Saul’s page-turner novel sears through the psyche to hit bedrock.
Saul controls his material with almost flawless skill. . . . A fine thriller, stocked with solid, effective characters and characterizations.
Terre Haute (Indiana) Tribune-Star
An intellectual thriller laced with subtle clues throughout its gracious prose.
LIGHT OF DAY is a haunting, beautifully-written and heart-wrenching debut.
From its poignant opening chapter to its breathtaking conclusion, nothing about this writer or book is less than extraordinary.
[T]he story flows quickly...Saul’s writing and vocabulary are sophisticated and learned.
Exhilarating. . . .One of those debut novels that delivers the goods with style and compassion.
Washington Post Book World
One of the most satisfying and poignant novels readers will come across this year.
"This first novel rivals Jacquelyn Mitchard’s Deep End of the Ocean as a probing exploration into the psychology of grief . . . a gorgeous literary thriller of the highest caliber."
This talky, intimate look at grief and lost relationships begins with the death of Laura Wells, a music teacher in a small upstate New York town. Geoffrey Tremont, her old college friend, is enlisted to execute her will, despite not having seen her in decades. When he travels to her hometown, he meets her best friend, Marian Ballantine, who is still consumed with grief over the loss of her husband 10 years before. They’re immediately attracted to each other, but as each is involved with someone else, they have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice—and how vulnerable they can be—in order to get together. In Saul’s latest novel (after Light of Day), characters negotiate the processes of loving, grieving, and healing in different ways, but they do so often in long conversations overburdened with psychoanalysis, making for difficult going at times. Still, there’s much to make this novel compelling. Agent: Joy Harris. (May)
In this engaging novel, a Manhattan man finds romance—and a few other surprises—when he goes to settle the estate of an old friend.” (#1 Pick)
In Saul's second novel (Light of Day , 2005), a 40-ish man faces the lack of passion in his life when he becomes the executor of a college friend's estate. Geoffrey lives in Manhattan where he earns a living doing voice-overs and carries on a no-strings relationship with his girlfriend. One day he gets a call from a lawyer; his old friend Laura has died and he's been named executor of her small estate. When Geoffrey knew Laura, he was at Columbia and she was at Juilliard. She moved to Paris with her husband, fellow jazz musician Steve, but when he died nine years ago, she moved back to her upstate New York hometown and taught music. Geoffrey drives up there and soon meets her best friend Marian, who also happens to be a widow. Narrator Geoffrey announces on the second page that he has fallen in love with Marian at first sight. The only problem is that Marian has a boyfriend she doesn't even pretend she loves. Eliot runs the local hardware store and doesn't like to discuss feelings (readers will sympathize after hundreds of pages of Geoffrey's navel gazing). Marian uses their relationship to avoid feeling the kind of passion she had with her husband Buddy. Instead, since Buddy's death, she has been clinging to his memory and her grief. She and Laura bonded as "the young widows." It is less clear why Geoffrey has avoided emotional commitment, although he and his gay psychiatrist brother Alex certainly discuss their avoidance enough--at least until Alex meets and falls immediately in love with Laura's wayward brother Simon, whom Laura and Geoffrey conspired to keep from attending her wedding long ago. By then Geoffrey and Marian are talking nonstop about their emotions. For a guy who claims to be out of touch with his capacity for feelings, Geoffrey is the most touchy-feeling fictional hero since Oliver Barrett IV, the main character in Erich Segal's bestseller Love Story . This talky love story will turn the most romantic reader into a curmudgeon.
