The Outside Lands

San Francisco, 1968: Jeannie and Kip are lost and half-orphaned, their mother dead under mysterious circumstances, and their father - a decorated WWII veteran - consumed by guilt and losing sight of his teenage children. Kip, a dreamer and swaggerer prone to small-time trouble, enlists to fight in Vietnam; Jeannie finds a seemingly safe haven in early marriage and motherhood. But when Kip is accused of a terrible military crime, Jeannie is seduced - sexually, emotionally, politically - into joining an ambiguous anti-war organization. As Jeannie attempts to save her brother, her search for the truth leads her into two dangerous relationships, with a troubled young woman,and a grievously-wounded veteran, that might threaten her marriage, her child, and perhaps her life.

An emotionally wrenching and morally complex novel in the vein of Tatjana Soli'sThe Lotus Eaters and Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers, The Outside Landsis a powerful, confident debut.