普立茲獎《時間裡的癡人》作者珍妮佛‧伊根暌違七年新作
她背著思念的重量,潛入無人的海底;是那片海,給了她生命的勇氣。
一部輝煌的紐約故事。
榮獲2018年紐約市民票選「One Book, One New York」獎
打敗丹布朗「起源」和「使女的故事」,紐約公共圖書館2018年借閱率No.1
大霧散去,等我的人會是誰?
十一歲那年,安娜‧凱利根陪父親初次造訪布魯克林區曼哈頓灘一帶的豪宅時,從未想過當時邂逅的那名義大利男人──夜總會老闆戴克斯特‧史岱爾斯先生,竟會改變她一生的命運。經歷父親失蹤、妹妹病故,必須獨當一面的安娜,留在這裡,走過大蕭條時期,成為布魯克林造船廠的一分子。不久,二次大戰爆發,喜歡大海的她,一次次承受巨大的身心考驗,立志成為美國首位女性潛水員。每回不畏風險遁入深海修復船艦,安娜內心其實恐懼又渴望尋獲父親的遺物,結束無止境的尋覓。直到某天晚上,她在夜總會與戴克斯特重逢,曾經如繁星相隔的兩人再次交會,安娜幾乎可以看見自己長久殘酷又寂寞的真實生活邊緣,浮現出如夢虛幻的絢麗光采。然而,就在這時候,她從戴克斯特身上得知父親複雜的過去和必須消失的理由……災難如影隨形,像海面上飄來的白霧,眼看就要再一次無情地將她一切的希望都帶走……
揭開時間「停頓」的祕密之後,這本小說深刻地寫出了停頓之美。
憑藉《時間裡的癡人》一書囊括「普立茲獎」及「美國國家書評人年度小說獎」後,珍妮佛•伊根暌違七年全新創作,刻劃一段如濃霧般潮濕難以忘懷的往事。從大蕭條時代的紐約黑幫,到二戰期間獨當一面的女潛水員,還有當時在核子潛艦密布的海域裡,無名穿梭的商船水手,被命運打散的人們,在各自的人生道路上挺身而進,期待他日再相逢。讀者將在一個個精采非凡的故事中,走過變動的時代。這是一部大海的故事,從海岸線到海底,時間帶走依靠,卻帶來生命的蛻變。
被譽為當今世上最出色的小說家,珍妮佛‧伊根榮獲普立茲獎後,專心投入創作,將本書獻給親生父親,及當年一同從愛爾蘭來到紐約尋夢的歐洲移民。特別是布魯克林造船廠的設定,書中主角安娜在男人紛紛上戰場的1940年代,憑著自身的堅毅和勇氣,承受莫大的身心挑戰,一步步築夢成為女潛水員。作家將龐大史料及田野調查、口述紀錄化作故事,這部號稱後現代小說大師返璞歸真的狄更斯式小說,翔實考據的史實細節,不負眾望獲得最具權威的「華特史考特歷史小說獎」提名。事實上,美國直到1982年才出現史上首位女性潛水員,在小說背景四十年之後才能成真。這是伊根暗中進行的小說實驗,再次達到驚人的敘事成就,也獻給和自己同樣「挺身而進」,勇敢而偉大的新時代女性。
(中文簡介來自時報出版《霧中的曼哈頓灘》書介)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A New York Times Notable Book
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in FictionThe daring and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.Named One of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Esquire, Vogue, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA TODAY, and Time Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the house and by some charged mystery between the two men. Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished. "A magnificent achievement, at once a suspenseful noir intrigue and a transporting work of lyrical beauty and emotional heft" (The Boston Globe), "Egan’s first foray into historical fiction makes you forget you’re reading historical fiction at all" (Elle). Manhattan Beach takes us into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men in a dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world.