Beyond a Thousand Words

A Novel

By: Michael Rose

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Paperback | 10 October 2023

At a Glance

Paperback
256 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 2.79

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As 1954 Vietnam roils from its conflict with the French interlopers, American photographer Coty Fine leaves Hanoi in a rush on the flatbed of a truck. Also on the truck is French priest Laurent Sabatier—a man who will forever change the course of Coty’s life.

Decades later, Coty struggles to repair the frayed bond between Jette, her often-absent, widowed daughter, and Evelyn, her only grandchild. Evelyn, at the behest of her grandmother, travels to Vietnam to locate a nun, Sister Lan, whom Coty has never met yet has been haunted by for many years. Evelyn persuades Sister Lan to return with her to San Francisco to meet Coty even as Coty invites Matheo Aubert, a visiting priest from Gabon, to move into her home as a guest during his reluctant sabbatical. The two foreigners are central, albeit unwitting, players in Coty’s scheme to heal the rift in her family and her own wounds from the past. But if she is going to succeed in her quest, she must secure Jette’s long-withheld permission to share a revelatory photograph—one that promises to change everything with Evelyn.

Industry Reviews

"Rose's prose is evocative and captures the beauty of rural Vietnam, tropical Africa, and urban and temperate San Francisco with grace and precision. . . . Coty is a remarkable character, her personality, hopes, concerns, and art will grip the interest of readers fascinated by the lives of trailblazing women. Split into four parts, the novel's form is as bold as its protagonist, leaping over decades, at times giving just a page or two to devastating developments but investing great imaginative energy into the everyday textures of life . . . This richness of detail suggests Coty's way of seeing the world: one crucial image at a time, each suggesting the complex context of a moment, era, or life."
-Publishers Weekly Booklife

"Michael Rose has again gifted readers with a stirring and poignant family saga. Beyond A Thousand Words is a grand sweeping tale-its characters leap to life as they grow, grasp, love, and yearn, in locales as disparate as Hanoi, Lagos, and San Francisco. The prose is beautiful-each scene vibrant and teeming with authenticity. The story is at times sad, funny, and inspirational, but unfailingly engrossing and insightful. A wonderful read."
-Robert Steven Goldstein, author of the novels Enemy Queen, Will's Surreal Period, and Cat's Whisker

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