The Community Library hosts a conversation with author Emily Ruskovich on her much-anticipated and acclaimed new novel, Idaho.
About the book:
FROM O. HENRY-AWARD WINNING AUTHOR EMILY RUSKOVICH COMES A STUNNING DEBUT NOVEL ABOUT LOVE AND SACRIFICE, FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP, THE VIOLENCE OF MEMORY AND THE EQUAL VIOLENCE OF ITS LOSS.
Ann and Wade have carved out a life for themselves from a rugged landscape in northern Idaho, where they are bound together by more than love. With her husband’s memory fading, Ann attempts to piece together the truth of what happened to Wade’s first wife and to their daughters. In a story written in exquisite prose and told from multiple perspectives—including Ann, Wade, and Wade’s first wife Jenny, now serving a life sentence in prison—we gradually learn of the mysterious and shocking act that fractured Wade and Jenny’s lives, of the love and compassion that brought Ann and Wade together, and of the memories that reverberate through the lives of every character in Idaho.
EMILY RUSKOVICH GREW UP IN THE IDAHO PANHANDLE, ON HOODOO MOUNTAIN. HER FICTION HAS APPEARED IN ZOETROPE, ONE STORY, AND THE VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW. A WINNER OF A 2015 O. HENRY AWARD AND A GRADUATE OF THE IOWA WRITER’S WORKSHOP, SHE CURRENTLY TEACHES CREATIVE WRITING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER, BUT WILL BE JOINING THE FACULTY AT BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY IN THE FALL OF 2017. IDAHO IS HER FIRST NOVEL