Bøger af Debra Spark

How does art mirror and shape our lives? Can it transcend the boundaries of time, wealth, and circumstance? Debra Spark--whose previous work the Washington Post described as "richly imaginative" and "real world magic"--explores these themes in her new novel Discipline. With a trio of important paintings missing, the book weaves together three narratives that span almost a century. From an inhumane boarding school in Maine in the late 1970s to a contemporary Boston art appraiser struggling with raising a teen to the long-lost love letters between a painter and his wife, Discipline is a propulsive literary mystery about family strife and devotion, ambition and authorship, and the abiding and mysterious power of art. Inspired by the life and family of Walt Kuhn (the painter responsible for the 1913 Armory Show that introduced Americans to modernism) and the scandal-ridden Elan boarding school that was forced to shut down in 2011, this richly drawn, suspenseful novel shows Spark at her most masterful.

“More local color than a steamed lobster wearing wild blueberry bracelets, along with a mess of wistful nostalgia for any reader raised in Maine or New England.” —Portland Press HeraldNearly 70 renowned New England writers gather round the table to talk food and how it sustains us—mind, body, and soul An award-winning collection of essays by internationally recognized and beloved foodies, Breaking Bread celebrates local foods, family, and community, while exploring how what’s on our plates engages with what’s off: grief, pleasure, love, ethics, race, and class.Here, you’ll find reflections from top literary talents and food writers like Award-winning novelist Lily King on connecting with her children over a tweaked chocolate chip cookie recipePulitzer Prize recipient Richard Russo on the Italian soup his mother snubbed that he came to enjoyCoauthor of Mad Honey Jennifer Finney Boylan on how cheese pizza holds her family together through the good and the badCoauthor of About Grief Brian Shuff on how greasy takeout can be life-giving food for the grieving soulAward-winning writer Ron Currie on the childhood shame—and adult pride—of your mother being a “lunch lady”Author and homesteader Margaret Hathaway on building a community cookbook to bring food and family together in the early days of COVID-19Other essays address a beloved childhood food from Iran, the horror of starving in a prison camp, and the urge to bake pot brownies for an ill friend.Rich and flavorful, Breaking Bread brings together some of the most influential voices in the literary and food worlds to show how we experience life through the foods we eat.Proceeds from this collection will benefit Blue Angel, a Maine-based nonprofit founded by writer and Breaking Bread coeditor Deborah Joy Corey to combat hunger. The organization purchases food from local farmers and delivers it directly to families in need.

A novel set in Madison, Wisconsin, during the Bush administration. It deals with anti-Semitism and the way that powerful men and the women who love them negotiate bureaucracies.

Debra Spark's fourth novel, Unknown Caller, tells the story of a brief, failed marriage and its complicated aftermath. Spark's candid, intricate novel highlights the near-impossibility of truly knowing another person, the pain in failing relationships, and the joy in successful ones.