Simone in Pieces

Readers first meet Simone Lerrante, a Belgian war orphan, as a child refugee in Sussex, England, her memory damaged by trauma.The novel offers a kaleidoscopic vision of Simone's fractured life and piecemeal understanding of self across multiple points of view.Following her from Cambridge to New York City and across the United States - through a disastrous marriage, thwarted desire, and the purgatory of academic backwaters - the novel charts Simone's unexpected reconnection with her past, which provides both autonomy and inspiration for her future. In the vein of Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, Janet Burroway slowly reveals a multifaceted, fascinating protagonist, who observes her own life without always allowing herself to be immersed in it.Spanning seven decades, this story is both epic and contained, rewarding readers at every turn.