The Fresco

Sheri S. Tepper

Sep 2009 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

An Albuquerque bookseller is caught up in an intergalactic drama when aliens choose her as messenger of their wisdom in this feminist sci-fi novel.

The bizarre events that have been occurring across the United States—unexplained “oddities” tracked by Air Defense, mysterious disappearances, shocking deaths—seem to have no bearing on Benita Alvarez-Shipton’s life. That is, until the soft-spoken thirty-six-year-old bookstore manager is approached by a pair of aliens asking her to transmit their message of peace to the powers in Washington.

An abused Albuquerque wife with low self-esteem, Benita has been chosen to act as the sole liaison between the human race and the Pistach, who have offered their human hosts a spectacular opportunity for knowledge and enrichment.

But ultimately Benita will be called upon to do much more than deliver messages—and may, in fact, be responsible for saving the Earth. Because the Pistach are not the only space-faring species currently making their presence known on her unsuspecting planet. And the others are not so benevolent.

Ratings and reviews

This book was brilliant; interesting premise and lots of interesting ironies to make the reader think (and in my case, laugh). The basic premise is tried and true in Sci-Fi: Aliens come to earth and offer human beings information and assistance to become better and solve the world's problems, however, Tepper's twist on what those interventions are, and how the aliens work is (as always) refreshing, interesting, and human-centred.

About the author

Sheri S. Tepper is the author of more than thirty resoundingly acclaimed novels, including The Waters Rising, The Margarets, The Companions, The Visitor, The Fresco, Singer from the Sea, Six Moon Dance, The Family Tree, Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Shadow's End, A Plague of Angels, Sideshow, and Beauty; numerous novellas; stories; poems; and essays. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.