{"product_id":"lifelines-9780358299301","title":"Lifelines","description":"\u003cstrong\u003e\"A graceful, attentive, and beautiful debut.\" -- George Saunders\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor fans of Meg Wolitzer and Maggie Shipstead: a sweeping debut novel following an American artist who returns to Germany--where she fell in love and had a child decades earlier--to confront her past at her former mother-in-law's funeral\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It's 1971 when Louise leaves Oregon for Düsseldorf, a city grappling with its nation's horrific recent history, to study art. Soon she's embroiled in a scene dramatically different from the one at home, thanks in large part to Dieter, a mercurial musician. Their romance ignites quickly, but life gets in the way: an unplanned pregnancy, hasty marriage, the tense balance of their creative ambitions, and--finally, fatally--a family secret that shatters Dieter, and drives Louise home. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But in 2008 she's headed to Dieter's mother's funeral. She never returned to Germany, and has since remarried, had another daughter, and built a life in Oregon. As she flies into the heart of her past, she reckons with the choices she made, and the ones she didn't, just as her family--current and former--must consider how Louise's life has shaped their own, for better and for worse. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Exquisitely balanced, expansive yet wonderfully intimate, \u003cem\u003eLifelines\u003c\/em\u003e explores the indelible ties of family; the shape art, history, and nationality give to our lives; and the ways in which we are forever evolving, with each step we take, with each turn of the Earth. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHEIDI DIEHL's writing has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eColorado Review, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Crazyhorse, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Indiana Review, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Mississippi Review, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Witness\u003c\/i\u003e, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from Brooklyn College and has won fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Saltonstall Foundation, and the Vermont Studio Center. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50859017830674,"sku":"9780358299301","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_af092fe5-a5b5-4d96-b399-d36fbcbe53c0.jpg?v=1737548078","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/lifelines-9780358299301","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}