FINALIST FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY PRIZE FOR DEBUT FICTION
In Jennifer duBoisβs mesmerizing and exquisitely rendered debut novel, a long-lost letter links two disparate characters, each searching for meaning against seemingly insurmountable odds. With uncommon perception and wit, duBois explores the power of memory, the depths of human courage, and the endurance of love.
NAMED BY THE NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION AS A 5 UNDER 35 AUTHOR β’ WINNER OF THE CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD GOLD MEDAL FOR FIRST FICTION β’ WINNER OF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION β’ NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE
βAstonishingly beautiful and brainy . . . [a] stunning novel.ββO: The Oprah Magazine
βI canβt remember reading another novelβat least not recentlyβthatβs both incredibly intelligent and also emotionally engaging.ββNancy Pearl, NPR
In St. Petersburg, Russia, world chess champion Aleksandr Bezetov begins a quixotic quest: He launches a dissident presidential campaign against Vladimir Putin. He knows he will not winβand that he is risking his life in the processβbut a deeper conviction propels him forward.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, thirty-year-old English lecturer Irina Ellison struggles for a sense of purpose. Irina is certain she has inherited Huntingtonβs diseaseβthe same cruel illness that ended her fatherβs life. When Irina finds an old, photocopied letter her father wrote to the young Aleksandr Bezetov, she makes a fateful decision. Her father asked the chess prodigy a profound questionβHow does one proceed in a lost cause?βbut never received an adequate reply. Leaving everything behind, Irina travels to Russia to find Bezetov and get an answer for her father, and for herself.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
Salon β’ BookPage
Praise for A Partial History of Lost Causes
βA thrilling debut . . . [Jennifer] DuBois writes with haunting richness and fierce intelligence. . . . Full of bravado, insight, and clarity.ββElle
βDuBois is precise and unsentimental. . . . She moves with a magicianβs control between points of view, continents, histories, and sympathies.ββThe New Yorker
βA real page-turner . . . a psychological thriller of great nuance and complexity.ββThe Dallas Morning News
βTerrific . . . In urgent fashion, duBois deftly evokes Russiaβs political and social metamorphosis over the past thirty years through the prism of this particular and moving relationship.ββPublishers Weekly (starred review)
βHilarious and heartbreaking and a triumph of the imagination.ββGary Shteyngart, ISBN13: 9781400069774 ISBN10: 1400069777 Material Type: hardcover