Praise for Books
“I love novels that bring a place to life and in this Anna Quinn does not disappoint. In her second novel, she masterfully creates an island in the Pacific Northwest that jumps off the page and begs to be visited. On this island she places an avant-garde religious order of nuns who have been summarily excommunicated by the Pope for various feminist infractions. No matter to the members of the renegade convent, which houses itself in a collection of yurts and offers Sunday services to the people of the island. A nun called Sister Angeline joins them, having been sent there by a Mother Superior who knows that the radical alteration in Angeline’s preferred lifestyle of silence, contemplation, bodily punishment, and prayer needs some serious changes. Light of the Sea ‘convent’ will definitely provide that. The characters Angeline encounters are quirky and wise. The place she finds them in is a balm to her soul. She needs to be relieved of the burdens she carries from her past, and the renegade nuns are the ones to get her started. Angeline is a read that has everything: place, characters, and social issues, all delivered by the author in a way that never even verges on becoming a polemic.” —Elizabeth George, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Anna Quinn writes with bright and assured authority, making this a remarkable debut novel you won’t soon forget. Her haunting story, expertly and lovingly crafted, leaves you breathless with both terror and hope.” —Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Anna Quinn’s novels dive deep into the human psyche, exploring our capacity to harm and heal. Angeline is a call to open arms, a clear-eyed view of our often-flawed humanity and how the power of compassion can change everything. It is a novel of gorgeous sentences and beautiful messages. It left me feeling stronger, wiser, and in complete awe.” —Erica Bauermeister, New York Times bestselling author of The Scent Keeper
“The Night Child is a powerful, beautifully written, transformative novel that struck a rare chord with me. When I recall Nora’s journey, I am affected viscerally, as if I were reliving her painful memories alongside her. ‘Must-read’ is not a phrase I use often; I am using it now: you must read this book!” —Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain
“This immersive tale will resonate with readers who appreciate compelling characters and lyrical writing.” —Booklist
“The Night Child is a powerful, heart-wrenching psychological tale…Characters are extremely well developed, especially Nora, whose difficulties connecting with people, be they her unfaithful husband or her energetic daughter, feel realistic…Though it is emotionally challenging to read, The Night Child’s gentle dealings with heavy subjects highlight the fragility of the human mind and the intense journeys required to heal deep wounds.” —Foreword Reviews
“Issuing a strong refrain of redemption, Angeline is a novel in which bold and loving nuns move toward a healing future, with or without the approval of the Vatican.” —Foreword Reviews
“Quite the psychological tale. A third person narrative, this is a short story that this reader could have read in one setting but needed a break from the intense subject matter. Nora’s character is complex but relatable and the plot is a strong and disturbing emotional read. The subject matter is honest and intense, full of courage and is unforgettable, very much a book that will linger in your mind. There are trigger warnings as the book deals with child abuse, mental illness, and adultery in this story. The author wrote about a hard subject with a clear voice and is an author to be watched for future stories.” —Portland Book Review
“An incandescent novel of a young nun’s journey through searing loss, and atonement toward a shimmering redemption. The achingly spare language encapsulates Angeline’s self-negation as well as her singular gifts. A testament to the power of love to transform cruelty and loss into strength and freedom.” —Gemma Whelan, author of Painting through the Dark
“The Night Child is an exhilarating debut: Quinn immediately pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go until the final scene. She commands each page and expertly dives into the inner working of a broken mind. This fast-paced, riveting novel of coping with the past while trying to salvage life in the present is hard to put down.” —Booklist
“Angeline, Anna Quinn’s second novel, expertly evokes the complexity of our world’s situation in her well-drawn microcosm of life on Beckett Island where Sister Angeline is sent when the Chicago nunnery she has lived in must close. Even there, authoritarian power and misogyny past and present intrude on the peaceful and stirring natural Northwest environment. Sister Angeline’s adaptation to the free-spirited convent will keep you reading to learn what lies at the bottom of acts of violence, against nature, against others, even against one’s own life. Five stars for this novel that speaks compellingly through the heart of a way forward to a better future for us all.” —Sheila Bender, author of Since Then: Poems and Short Prose
“Quinn’s first novel sensitively explores a deteriorating mental-health condition…Haunting psychological suspense for readers who enjoy a generous dose of creepiness without being completely scared out of their wits. Fans of John Searles will be pleased.” —Library Journal
“A poetic, innovative story that portrays the interplay between trauma and memory. Sister Angeline’s narrative reveals how the mind is constantly processing the world around us and the world within us, a dialogue between past and present. This book is a triumph of beauty and human resilience.” —Gale Massey, author of The Girl from Blind River
“Quinn presents breakthrough emotional trauma, PTSD, and dissociation with frighteningly beautiful accuracy…Her people demonstrate the frustration and shame that often accompany psychological issues arising from severe abuse. They also demonstrate pathways out…Quinn books us on a vivid expedition inside Nora’s mind as we scramble with her for its healing…Frightening and thrilling, a freight train of a read!” —Bill Ransom, author of Burn
“Angeline is a mystical hymn to the power of women in community, with an entry point that only the rare writer has the guts to brave. Quinn does it with empathy and acumen, never vilifying. Instead, as you read her lyrical prose, you feel her pure, seeking spirit. Her never heavy-handed, third-eye-wide-open aperture, as she links arms with you from the first sentence…all the way to the last. I loved this gem of a novel.” —Laura Munson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of This Is Not the Story You Think It Is and Willa’s Grove
“A wondrous journey into the heart of survival, and our power to save our own lives. Anna Quinn plumbs the mysteries of dissociation with lyrical courage, examining the tender line between our past and present. This is a remarkable book.” —Rene Denfeld, author of The Child Finder
“Sister Angeline is a character for the ages. Anna Quinn has created a deeply moving portrait of a great soul at the precipice of faith and duty and the shadows of a wrenching past. It’s beautiful, and like all true beauty, the book is haunting, if not haunted.” —Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The Devil’s Highway
“The galvanizing story of how the world ends and how it begins again: child by child.” —Rikki Ducornet, author of Brightfellow
“Angeline is unique: a gripping read filled with darkness and light. Beautiful language and landscape coexist alongside sinister events surrounding a small community of feminist nuns, but despite the shadow of violence and fear, this story is about choosing forgiveness and compassion, and guiding others to healing and love.” —Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise between Us
“I loved this book so much…I entered Quinn’s book and lost myself and exited her book changed. She is hanging with the big dogs with this work…like Jodi Picoult and Ann Patchett.” —Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Book of Joan
“[A] mystical, marvelous tale of love and loss and growth, a story that takes place at the fascinating intersection of twenty-first-century realism and centuries-old faith. The language is pure poetry, and the story is both mysterious and inevitable, terrifying and inspiring. A beautifully plotted novel that will cling to the reader for a very long time.” —Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches
“The Night Child is beautiful, empowering—it shows us that on the other side of harrowing there is healing. Anna Quinn writes for those who have been silenced and gives them a voice in Nora.” —Erica Bauermeister, author of The School of Essential Ingredients
“A compassionate page-turner that is at once a gripping thriller and a deep examination of grief, Anna Quinn’s Angeline takes us from the cloistered halls of a Chicago convent to an island in the Pacific Northwest where a group of remarkable women have created a community on their own terms. Filled with memorable characters and startling events, Angeline illuminates the power of nature, friendship, and self-acceptance to heal the most painful of wounds. Writing with lyricism, grace, and insight, Anna Quinn reminds us of our shared suffering, our shared humanity, and the possibility of transformation even in the darkest of times.” —JoAnne Tompkins, bestselling author of What Comes After
“A flat-out page-turner that will have readers riveted as Quinn seamlessly, breathlessly explores the result of an identity irrevocably fractured in childhood and one woman’s struggle to ease the girl she once was, protect her own young daughter, and reclaim sanity.” —Adrianne Harun, author of A Man Came out of a Door in the Mountain
“Quinn is a powerful writer who straddles the depth of despair and the height of joy with grace and beauty. Her story is both lyrical and terrifying, and, for those of us who so desperately want to believe, a breath of fresh air in a world we’re not sure we want to occupy. Angeline is a book to be treasured.” —Barbara Conrey, USA Today bestselling author of Nowhere Near Goodbye
“Actress Campbell introduces Nora with a self-confident voice…Later, in the hospital, her normal speech gives way to a druggy dreaminess mixed with the childish natter of her Margaret personality…Together Quinn and Campbell present a vivid depiction of the soul-numbing ordeal of mental illness —Publishers Weekly (audio review)
“In prose that shimmers off the page, Anna Quinn takes us inside the life of a progressive convent on an island in the Salish Sea. At the heart of the story is Sister Angeline, who has been dispatched from the shelter of her old convent to seek a spiritual home with a group of radical feminist nuns. But like a tidepool that appears tranquil on the surface, island life soon proves more treacherous than it presents and Angeline’s’ spiritual quest takes a darker turn. She must break through the nested cloisters of her mind and heart to discover that salvation takes many forms. A story that is at once a nuanced journey of forgiveness and a masterfully crafted psychological thriller, Sister Angeline asks us to consider who gets to decide what is moral, what is right and whether there is a difference. ‘Wade into the water with me,’ one of Angeline’s sister nuns asks of her. Quinn asks us to do the same.” —Carol Smith, author of Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life; A Memoir
“Anna Quinn has created a story that reads like a thriller, one with the beating heart of a vulnerable child, and with the urgency of a woman unlocking her own psychic drama. The Night Child asks a vivid question about who gets a voice, and offers up the power that comes from reconciling outcast parts of ourselves.” —Sonya Lea, author of Wondering Who You Are
“Through the evocative prose and story that is Anna Quinn’s Angeline, we’re reminded that grief is complex and dynamic and that, sometimes, taking a leap of faith can be the ultimate healing experience. This is the perfect read for anyone who believes in miracles, or wants to believe.” —Meg Waite Clayton, internationally bestselling author of The Postmistress of Paris
“An incredible book. What is self? Love? Trust? Safety? The Night Child, both ‘fragile as bible paper’ and warrior in a lifelong quest for integration and healing, beautifully, artfully, and poetically carries each of us into the profound layered mysteries of our own minds and hearts.” —Susan Wooldridge, author of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words
“Angeline combines the mystical with millennia-old beliefs and twenty-first-century front-page news. This is a truly lovely novel that develops into an exciting thriller.” —Midwest Book Review
“A wrenching, gorgeous, psychologically astute novel about a young mother and English teacher, Nora, whose unremembered childhood trauma returns to haunt her and threatens to wreck her ever-so-normal life. A story of family life—raw and not-so-sweet; an adored six-year-old daughter; a gay brother; the kindly shrink who stands by Nora; and the one man she can really talk to. A novel of trauma and healing that could not be more contemporary. So skillfully rendered: I could not stop reading.” —Priscilla Long, author of Fire and Stone: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
“Quinn offers a beautifully complex story of a young woman’s search for redemption. A delightful, yet emotional listen that will have listeners laughing and rooting for this ragtag group of women.” —Library Journal
“This book captivated me. My favorite stories are those that attempt to illustrate the most painful conflicts—those between parts of ourselves. Anna Quinn has written such a book and done so with tremendous empathy, propulsive storytelling, and great reverence for the complexity of healing, the ways that it breaks us apart so that we can be remade stronger.” —Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart
“Quinn’s debut novel is stunning in its profound emotional authenticity and the luminosity of the prose. Quinn doesn’t sugarcoat this story of terribly harmful familial relationships experienced by Nora, the sympathetic protagonist. Unblinkingly, Quinn leads the reader into the night-darkness of Nora’s riveting and harrowing narrative. At the same time, Nora’s quest for truth is, ultimately, transformative: for the protagonist and, as with only the very best fiction, for the reader as well.” —Sue William Silverman, award-winning author of Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You
“It definitely hooked me…Quinn tells her story masterfully and powerfully.” —Creative Loafing (Tampa Bay, Florida)
“What I had not expected was the surprise of being so completely in character with someone experiencing the kind of disassociation Quinn portrays…She made me care about Nora and identify with her. That’s a very wonderful and difficult accomplishment.” —Dorothy Allison, New York Times bestselling author
“Packed with riveting detail and radical emotional honesty…I can’t remember a novel in which I have been more deeply emotionally invested.” —Pam Houston, #1 Los Angeles Times bestselling author
“Beautiful and haunting…This profoundly intimate novel, which has its roots in memoir, examines the fragile line between past and present…The timing of [the] book with the #metoo movement is remarkable.” —Psychology Today
“Cassandra Campbell’s performance adds depth and nuance to each character and each memory.” —BookPage (audio review)
“A novel that will leave the reader shaken with its ramifications of the way crimes against children, hidden by adults, and buried in a child’s psyche, can resurface decades later and cause even more harm.” —New York Journal of Books
“This realistic, psychological thriller will appeal to those ready to celebrate the strength of a character profoundly marked by an unstable childhood. It will satisfy those who believe in recovery through the kindnesses, the knowledge, and the understanding of people willing to help others.” —Missourian (Columbia, Missouri)
“[A] story about a woman and a young girl; of the fragile line between past and present; of the capacity of mind, body and spirit to heal itself: ‘I was there to tell their story’…[The] novel offers perspective, gives voice to those healing from childhood sexual abuse.” —Port Townsend Leader (Washington)