{"product_id":"the-kept-9780062236654","title":"The Kept","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Dark and mysterious. . . . A novel whose daring is found in its bleakness. . . . The plot unfolds with a weighty languor reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. . . sparse, elegant. . . haunting.\" -- \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSet in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with \u003cem\u003eThe Kept\u003c\/em\u003e--a propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, in which a mother and her young son embark on a quest to avenge a terrible and violent tragedy that has shattered their secluded family.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the winter of 1897, a trio of killers descends upon an isolated farm in upstate New York. Midwife Elspeth Howell returns home to the carnage: her husband, and four of her children, murdered. Before she can discover her remaining son Caleb, alive and hiding in the kitchen pantry, another shot rings out over the snow-covered valley. Twelve-year-old Caleb must tend to his mother until she recovers enough for them to take to the frozen wilderness in search of the men responsible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA scorching portrait of a merciless world--of guilt and lost innocence, atonement and retribution, resilience and sacrifice, pregnant obsession and primal adolescence--\u003cem\u003eThe Kept\u003c\/em\u003e introduces an old-beyond-his-years protagonist as indelible and heartbreaking as Mattie Ross of \u003cem\u003eTrue Grit\u003c\/em\u003e or Jimmy Blevins of \u003cem\u003eAll the Pretty Horses\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as a shape-shifting mother as enigmatic and mysterious as a character drawn by Russell Banks or Marilynne Robinson. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eScott, James:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eJames Scott was born in Boston and grew up in upstate New York. He holds a BA from Middlebury College and an MFA from Emerson College. His fiction has appeared in \u003cem\u003ePloughshares, One Story, American Short Fiction, \u003c\/em\u003e and other publications. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and dog. \u003cem\u003eThe Kept \u003c\/em\u003eis his first novel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50555934802194,"sku":"9780062236654","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_13212c51-e3f5-4d69-b478-e01e2353b412.jpg?v=1731745236","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-kept-9780062236654","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}