{"product_id":"9781475917383","title":"Against the Ruins","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn a December day in 1957, schoolteacher Louise Copeland and her six-year-old daughter, Lyra, come home to discover that Louise’s gentle war-hero husband has suddenly become psychotic and has slashed his wrist with a razor blade.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom that moment on, everything Louise has believed in unravels. In their inner-city Southern neighborhood, situated between a cemetery and a madhouse, a place of leafy oak trees and ghosts, three other people become involved in Louise’s crisis: Rosa, the scandalous divorcee who entertains men for a living; Uta, the mysterious elderly lady who casts spells; and Max, the clairvoyant gravedigger.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 2004, as Louise is dying, her daughter returns home, and she and her mother confront how the family was torn asunder in 1957. Louise finally reveals the long-held secret that haunted the family for the next fifty years.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis poignant novel is a gripping drama of madness and prejudice in which a mother leaves her daughter, ultimately, with hope.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Linda Lightsey Rice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Against the Ruins contains such gorgeous writing that it nearly takes your breath away, with a sense of humor and a fine appreciation of the ridiculous even amid great agony.” \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e—Natalie Goldberg \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Rice has a fiery, incandescent talent.” \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e—Pat Conroy\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"iUniverse, Incorporated","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47126347415792,"sku":"9781475917383","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781475917383_p0.jpg?v=1763606614","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781475917383","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}