Bright Angel Time Paperback - 2003

Mom learned to fall backward into the arms of strangers without hesitating or looking over her shoulder.

Fiction
Set in the early 1970s, this magical first novel by National Book Award finalist Martha McPhee marks not only the introduction of the Furey-Cooper family of Gorgeous Lies, but also the auspicious debut of a stunning literary talent. Meet eight-year-old Kate and her sisters as they take to a life on the road when their divorced mother falls in love with someone new. This strange freedom introduces the girls to a way of life that is vastly different from the one they knew with their geologist father. But, far from him, adult distraction and carelessness finally threaten to explode and ruin Kate's life. Rich in character, imagery, and humor, Bright Angel Time is a brilliant and moving novel from an authentic, critically acclaimed new voice.
"To get a sense of what Martha McPhee's affecting first novel is like, imagine Rabbit Run or Revolutionary Road written from the point of view of an 8-year-old child."-Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"McPhee writes such lovely sentences that you want to do more than just underline them: you want to cut them out."-Newsweek
Martha McPhee is the author of two novels and has received fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. She teaches at Hofstra University and lives in New York City with her daughter and her husband, the poet and writer Mark Svenvold.