{"product_id":"the-blessings-9781455574025","title":"The Blessings","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Bursting with wise observations.\" -- J. Courtney Sullivan, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Engagements \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eMaine \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Gleams like a jewel.\" -- \u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Stunning. . . Unique and unforgettable.\" -- \u003ci\u003eGlamour \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Hailed as one of the best books of 2014 by \u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer, \u003c\/i\u003e Elise Juska's \u003ci\u003eThe Blessings\u003c\/i\u003e is a moving novel about a tight-knit Irish Catholic clan over the course of twenty years. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Blessings rally around one another in times of celebration and those of sorrow, coming together for departures and arrivals, while its members harbor private struggles and moments of personal joy. College student Abby ponders homesickness in her first semester away from her Philadelphia home, while her cousin Stephen commits a petty act of violence that takes a surprising turn, and their aunt Lauren faces a crisis in her storybook marriage she could never have foreseen. Through the lens of one unforgettable family, this beautifully moving novel explores how our families define us and how we shape them in return.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eElise Juska\u003c\/b\u003e's fiction and nonfiction have appeared in \u003ci\u003ePloughshares, Gettysburg Review, The Missouri Review, Good Housekeeping, \u003c\/i\u003e the \u003ci\u003eHudson Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and many other publications. She is the recipient of the Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction from Ploughshares and her work has been cited in the \u003ci\u003eBest American Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in Philadelphia, where she is the director of the undergraduate creative writing program at the University of the Arts.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Grand Central Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50646773170450,"sku":"9781455574025","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_bde9d9a9-98a3-4399-8a0c-0056fb4391a4.jpg?v=1733185517","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-blessings-9781455574025","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}