After nearly 200 years of housing retardants, as they were once known, the Rosewood Institute is closing the doors on its dark history, and the complicated task of reassigning residents has begun. An adult Ella Jules, having arrived decades earlier at the tender age of seven, must rely on the state to decide her future. Ella’s aging parents have requested she be returned to her childhood home, much to the distress of Ella’s siblings, but more so to Lynetta, her beloved caretaker who has been by her side for decades. The five adult Jules children haunted by the earliest memories of their sister, each dealing with the trauma of her banishment in their own flawed way, are converging on the family home, secrets in tow, arriving from the far corners of the country to talk some sense into their aging parents and get to the root of this inexplicable change of heart.
The Precious Jules examines the thin line between selfishness and what passes for love. This family story asks what is best for one child in light of what is perceived as the greater good, and just what is the collective legacy of deep family secrets, shame, and helplessness. The Precious Jules is a deeply felt family narrative that will make you fall in love with these flawed and imperfect characters standing on the threshold of an awakening they never expected.
Praise for THE PRECIOUS JULES
"A beautifully drawn, elegantly crafted tale, THE PRECIOUS JULES explores the pain of deeply held secrets, the tricks that memory can play, and the complexities of love. A sweeping family saga, this novel will leave readers questioning what it really means to be a family. This is Nocher at her sharp, insightful, storytelling finest."
—Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil
“In THE PRECIOUS JULES, Shawn Nocher has written a big-hearted, clear-eyed story about love and obligation, truth and betrayals and dark secrets -- the very things that can hold a family together or break it apart. The members of the Jules family are messy and complicated and honest and real. I fell completely under the spell of this beautiful book.”
—Lauren Fox, New York Times bestselling author
“In THE PRECIOUS JULES, Shawn Nocher deftly peels back the intricate layers of a perfect-on-the-surface family chock full of secrets—including a particularly big one that gradually comes to light. Your heart will ache as each of the siblings and parents wrestles with his or her own decisions and the thin line between self-interest and love. The book spins backward and forward in time, revealing a complex past and its inevitable fallout as the characters inch toward a crucial decision: whether or not to bring home the now-adult Ella, institutionalized since she was a child. A nuanced, propulsive, beautifully told story of a complicated, imperfect family and the way decisions reverberate and shape the future for years to come.”
—Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author
“THE PRECIOUS JULES is a beautifully-written, sensitive portrayal of a family processing a decision made 35 years ago ‘for the good of the family.’ The characters are fully realized and the plot compelling, making this a great book club pick!”
—Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author
Shawn Nocher (pronounced No-Shay) is a mentee of Michael Glaser, Elise Levine, William Black, and Richard Bausch. Shawn Nocher's writing has appeared in Newsweek, Electric Literature, Writer’s Digest, SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, and Glimmer Train. She graduated with an MA in writing from Johns Hopkins and is currently teaching in their graduate program. A Hand To Hold In Deep Water, her debut novel published in 2021, and her second novel, The Precious Jules, will be published by Blackstone in June 2022.
Instagram: @
No comments:
Post a Comment