Thirsty
Thirsty (Hardcover)
$22.95
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Description
It is 1883, and all of Klara Bozic’s girlish dreams have come crashing down as she arrives in Thirsty, a gritty steel town carved into the slopes above the Monongahela River just outside of Pittsburgh. She has made a heartbreaking discovery. Her new husband Drago is as abusive as the father she left behind in Croatia.
In Kristin Bair O’Keeffe’s debut novel, Klara’s life unfolds over forty years as she struggles to find her place in a new country where her survival depends on the friends who nurture her: gutsy, funny Katherine Zupanovic, who isn’t afraid of Drago’s fist; BenJo, the only black man in Thirsty to have his own shop; and strangely enough, Old Man Rupert, the town drunk.
Thirsty follows a chain of unlikely events that keep Klara’s spirit aloft: a flock of angelic butterflies descends on Thirsty; Klara gives birth to her first child in Old Man Rupert’s pumpkin patch; and BenJo gives her a talking bird. When Klara’s daughter marries a man even more brutal than Drago, Klara is forced to act. If she doesn’t finally break the cycle of violence in her family, her granddaughters will one day walk the same road, broken and bruised. As the threads that hold her family together fray and come undone, Klara has to decide if she has the courage to carve out a peaceful spot in the world for herself and her girls.
About the Author
Kristin Bair O’Keeffe has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, Poets & Writers Magazine, the Baltimore Review, and the Gettysburg Review. She lives in Shanghai, China.
Praise for Thirsty…
"Thirsty is a rare and special type of book—an intelligent page turner, a forward-thinking historical drama, a picture painted with equal shades of light and darkness. The language is consistently surprising and often intensely beautiful, the characters rich
with nuance."
—David Crouse, author of The Man Back There
“A debut novel that is artfully told and full of literary surprises, Kristin Bair O’Keeffe’s Thirsty tackles oppression at the turn of the twentieth century without wincing. . . . Stark, poetic, and brimming with hope, Thirsty glimpses the uncomfortable truth about what it means to house a battered heart and live a life shackled by seemingly insurmountable circumstances.”
—Christina Katz, author of Writer Mama and Get Known before the Book Deal
Thirsty is a beautiful tale, vivid and gently told. It is the story of one woman’s incredible strength of spirit, and a reminder of the foundation contemporary America is built upon—one of unspeakable cruelty, and Job-like suffering, as well as generosity and unbreakable hope.
Don De Grazia, author of American Skin
CHARLOTTE ROGAN: The Lifeboat (Spirit) · Wed., May 23, 7pm
The Lifeboat is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes. READ MORE>
MICKY WARD: A Warrior's Heart (Andover) · Thursday, May 31, 7pm
In his own words, "Irish" Micky Ward tells his inspirational life story as only he can. We are thrilled to have Micky sharing that story at the Andover Bookstore. Please join us for this truly spectacular event! READ MORE >
STEPHANIE REENTS: The Kissing List (Andover) · Friday, June 1, 7pm
THe interlocking stories in The Kissing List feature an unforgettable group of young women as their lives connect, first during a year abroad at Oxford, then later as they move to New York on the cusp of adulthood. READ MORE >
Upcoming Events
- CHARLOTTE ROGAN: "The Lifeboat" (Spirit)(18 hours)
- MICKY WARD: "A Warrior's Heart" (Andover)(8 days)
- STEPHANIE REENTS: "The Kissing List" (Andover)(9 days)
- YANA BARTON will read from "SuperDad!" (Andover)(16 days)
- JARRETT J. KROSOCZKA: "Lunch Lady and the Mutant Mathletes" (Book Rack)(31 days)
- JOHN FOX presents "The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game" (Book Rack)(36 days)
- Samuel Forman: "Dr. Joseph Warren: The Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill, and the Birth of American Liberty" (Spirit/Abbot)(49 days)
- JENNIFER RICHARD JACOBSON: "Small as an Elephant" (Book Rack)(52 days)
- ELAINE TAMMI & KARIN A. TAMMI present "Scallops: A New England Coastal Cookbook" (Book Rack)(64 days)
- GREGORY MONE: "Dangerous Waters: An Adventure on the Titanic" (Book Rack)(66 days)
- TOM FITZGERALD: "Poor Richard's Lament" (Spirit/Abbot)(70 days)
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