Chatter: A Novel

Perrin Ireland

Jan 2007 · Algonquin Books

About this ebook

Michael and Sarah's marriage is already in trouble, held together mostly by routine and by the small comforts of domesticity. But with Sarah's discovery that Michael has a grown daughter he's never mentioned--and only just met--their relationship is pushed to the breaking point. His sudden need to visit his ex-lover and the constant, needling presence of his beautiful daughter drive Sarah to figure out why so much of her husband's past is a mystery. Trying to ferret out the truth, she begins to keep secrets of her own as she embarks on a fact-finding mission that will take her from Washington, D.C., to Latin America. "Chatter "is a portrait of a marriage taken against the landscape of our frenetic culture, where invasive news reports, overheard conversations, and screaming headlines punctuate our days. Its dead-on dialogue captures our lives: the fractured sense of communication, the unfinished conversations, the questions somehow never answered. Balancing humor and terror, Ireland brilliantly depicts the elusiveness of security--globally and in our own homes--and the longing to find that safe place in a loved one's arms.

About the author

Perrin Ireland is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Ana Imagined. Previously a senior program officer for the National Endowment for the Arts and an associate director for drama and arts for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, she divides her time between Boston, Massachusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina. For more information, see www.perrinireland.com.