{"product_id":"guests-on-earth-9781616203801","title":"Guests on Earth","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Reading Lee Smith ranks among the great pleasures of American fiction . . . Gives evidence again of the grace and insight that distinguish her work.\" --Robert Stone, author of \u003ci\u003eDeath of the Black-Haired Girl\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt's 1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital, a mental institution in Asheville, North Carolina, known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital's most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses cascading events that lead up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them. Author Lee Smith has created, through a seamless blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart--in which art and madness are luminously intertwined.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLee Smith \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of fourteen novels, including \u003ci\u003eFair and Tender Ladies\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOral History\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSaving Grace\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eGuests on Earth\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as four collections of short stories, including \u003ci\u003eMe and My Baby View the Eclipse\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNews of the Spirit\u003c\/i\u003e. Her novel \u003ci\u003eThe Last Girls\u003c\/i\u003e was a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller as well as a co-winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. A retired professor of English at North Carolina State University, she has received an Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and the Weatherford Award for Appalachian Literature. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Algonquin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613348335890,"sku":"9781616203801","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_56321b6a-98ee-4d84-9e8a-59689c4f50ad.jpg?v=1732397008","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/guests-on-earth-9781616203801","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}