This book is a masterpiece of concision. It contains ten psychologically full characters, four countries and plot to connect these disparate pieces in 254 pages. The foil, James Pak, is part of an extended family surrounded by tragedies of twentieth century international conflict. His father was shipped to England from Ukraine by James's Grandmother, to shield him from the coming war, after which he emigrates through Canada to America. James is raised ignorant of his family history, but following his father's suicide, begins to investigate his unknown and wild family. The book moves seamlessly across the continent on James's unexpected European adventure, exposing a rare side of history's wounds and contradictions of their resolution.

A new favorite among Northshire staff, House of Widows is a fast-paced read that effortlessly traverses decades and continents while exploring such universal themes as love, hatred, and betrayal. With unrelenting, straight-forward prose, Melnyczuk creates a narrative that both delights and disturbs. The reader is drawn into James Pak's world as he attempts to find out the cause of his father's suicide. Filled with the author's dry, dark humor, a set of unlikely characters, and a flawed (yet likable) protagonist, House of Widows is a great read that will appeal to mystery readers and lovers of good literature alike.

It takes a great book to keep me reading through the night, and I managed to finish this by 1:00am. This novel is vast in its scope and extremely ambitious, especially when compared with its brevity. Melnyczuk explores the unpredictable outcomes of lives that have been perpetually overcast by war, loss, and longing. After the suicide of his father, James Pak learns that some actions have consequences that can span continents.

James Pak's father, Andrew, was a shadow. After James witnesses Andrew's suicide he embarks on a quest to discover who his father truly was. Melnyczuk begins this fast paced drama by informing the reader that "the most common grammatical error is the lie." He holds to this throughout the novel as a series of endearing, if somewhat unreliable, narrators reveal different facets of Andrew's character. James's journey leads him through time and across continents in search of identity. Melnyczuk draws you into a world where the past is present as generations and cultures clash.

Askold Melnyczuk drew me in with an irresistible opening sentence--"The most common grammatical error is a lie." After that, I was absolutely on board for this intriguing journey, which moves not only from England to Austria to the Ukraine, but also through a perilous, mystifying landscape where family and history merge in compelling ways. The House of Widows also has one of my all-time favorite lines: "Would God do this, if he were you?"

A novel that draws all sorts of different genres to its pages, yet manages to be exceedingly consistent in style. Part mystery, part political examination, part erotic journey, part dark comedy, The House of Widows will satisfy any reader looking for a master writer practicing his craft.

A novel of intrigue that is played across decades, continents, and generations by the celebrated, New York Times Notable author of Ambassador of the Dead

 

Late one night, a week after Father’s suicide, I finished sweeping the bulk of my inheritance into four giant trash bags, and heaved them into the Dumpster at the construction site around the corner from his apartment. Then I sat down at the two-person coffee table in the middle of his kitchen, the fluorescent light loud as cicadas, and examined the three
things I’d kept.

The three things that James kept are his father’s British military uniform, an oversize glass jar, and a letter written in a language he can’t read. They become the keys to unlocking the door on a past James never imagined while growing up amid the security of Boston’s north shore, and they send him on an odyssey across England, Austria, and Ukraine. Along the way, he meets his dying aunt Vera, the matriarch of a mysterious branch of the family. His mission puts him face-to-face with the international sex trade, a displaced Palestinian girl with streaked pink hair and attitude to spare, and a violent world in which he is ultimately implicated. From old America, new Europe, and the timeless Middle East, James learns what it means to live in the webbed world of the twenty-first century.

In The House of Widows, Askold Melnyczuk offers a searing exploration of the individual’s role in the inexorable assault of history.

Askold Melnyczuk is the director of creative writing at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is the author of two other novels, What Is Told and Ambassador of the Dead. He also teaches in the Graduate Writing Seminars at Bennington College.

Imprint: Graywolf Press
Distributor: MPS
Publication Date: 03-04-2008
Pages: 256
Measurements: 9.00in X 6.00in