The Lola Quartet
by Emily St. John Mandel
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Pub Date May 08 2012 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
Description
#1 INDIE NEXT PICK FOR MAY 2012
Gavin Sasaki is a promising young journalist in New York City, until he's fired in disgrace following a series of unforgivable lapses in his work. It's early 2009, and the world has gone dark very quickly. The economic collapse has turned an era that magazine headlines once heralded as the second gilded age into something that more closely resembles the Great Depression. The last thing Gavin wants to do is return to his hometown of Sebastian, Florida, but he's in no position to refuse when he's offered a job by his sister, Eilo, a real estate broker who deals in foreclosed homes. Also, Eilo has shown him a photo of a ten-yearold girl who could be homeless and in trouble. The little girl looks strikingly like Gavin and has the same last name as his high school girlfriend, Anna, from a decade ago. Gavin-a former jazz musician, a reluctant broker of foreclosed properties, obsessed with film noir and private detectives and otherwise at loose ends-begins his own private investigation in an effort to track down Anna and their apparent daughter who, it turns out, have been on the run all these years.
In this transcendent third novel, Emily Mandel combines her most compelling characters with a breath-taking, tension-filled story as she examines again questions of identity, the surprising pull of family, the difficulties of being the person one wants to be, guilt, and the unforeseen ways in which a small and innocent action can have disastrous consequences. The Lola Quartet is a work that pays homage to literary noir and jazz, Django Reinhardt, economic collapse, love and loss, Florida's exotic wildlife problem, crushing tropical heat, the leavening of the contemporary world, compulsive gambling, and the unreliability of memory.
Emily St. John Mandel was born on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. She studied at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and lived briefly in Montreal before relocating to New York. Her first novel, Last Night in Montreal, was a finalist for Foreword Magazine's 2009 Book of the Year. Her second novel, The Singer's Gun, recently released in paperback, won the Indie Bookseller's Choice Award and was the #1 Indie Next Pick for May 2010. Currently a staff writer for The Millions, she is married and lives in Brooklyn.
Advance Praise
"The author again melds mystery plotting with literary techniques like shifting points-of-view, resulting in both sophistication and suspense . . . Mandel's novel excels as a character study that considers the slow degradation of hopes, dreams, and expectations of people who are only in their late 20s but already feel ancient."--Publishers Weekly
"The Lola Quartet had me in its jazzy grip from the first page. Emily St. John Mandel proves once again that she has major chops, and the novel's pull is irresistible." — Emma Straub, BookCourt, Brooklyn also the author of Other People We Married (stories) and Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures (Novel, Riverhead Books, coming in 2012) “One of the beautiful things about following a new author is watching the growth in each book she writes. I've loved all of Emily's books but this one rises to a new level -- everything about it works for me. The characters are flawed but compelling and likeable . . . And the pacing was impeccable. . . . I'll stop gushing now. It was beautiful. I can't wait to recommend it to readers.” — Vicki Erwin, Main Street Books, MO
“The Lola Quartet should be accompanied by the following warning: Do not read the first three paragraphs unless you have at least four more hours to spare. Emily St. John Mandel grabs the reader immediately and follows with a novel of intensity and intelligence. The small missteps and misunderstandings of a group of young people result in lives that spiral out of control and literally and figuratively are eventually destroyed. This is a work of power and depth that demonstrates how fragile live can be and how fraught with danger at every turn.” — Bill Cusumano, Nicola’s Bookstore, MI
"The Lola Quartet is a stylish tale of how the lives of four friends who were in a high school jazz group have played out over the next ten years. Mandel is a skilled story teller and her novel reads like an edgy jazz composition. The well developed characters not only played together as musicians but played each other in their personal lives. How and why they reconnect with each other years later in an outer suburban Florida which is as bleak and dangerous as their lives makes a compelling novel. Her latest novel is both a satisfying read and very entertaining. A really wonderful novel." —Sarah Knight, Northshire Bookstore, VT “Emily St. John Mandel’s writing possesses the gift of clarity. Her new novel The Lola Quartet is deceptively simple, engaging enough to serve as casual entertainment, yet rewards the mindful reader with its rich depth and subtlety. St. John Mandel is an important talent on the rise.” — John Turner, NYU Bookstore, NY
“The Lola Quartet is at once alive and frozen: vibrant with the interconnected stories of an old group of friends to whom life has not been kind, and a perfect snapshot of the many ways in which life can be unkind in our modern age. Mandel's writing is as steady and thoughtful as ever, an ideal frame for her hapless, hopeful characters. A beautiful story.” — Stephanie Anderson, WORD, NY
“This sad, yet sublime, novel should bring Emily St. John Mandel a widespread readership. . . . [She] is a master storyteller. It is exciting to watch an author perfect her craft, and this novel definitely shows that St. John Mandel is a major writer. . . .Once again, Emily St. John Mandel has taken my breath away with her taut storytelling, her flawed and deeply humane characters and a writing style that makes me fall in love with it every time.” —Joe Eichman, The Tattered Cover, CO
"Emily Mandel’s The Lola Quartet is a compelling story in which the lives of her trademark flawed characters are connected by the decisions they made in the past and their struggles to deal with the ramifications of those decisions ten years later . . . The building sense of foreboding has a subtle crescendo that almost lulls the reader into a kind of suburban ennui. . . . But the chilling denouement left me wondering how Anna, Daniel, Sasha, and Gavin are going to live the rest of their lives." — Alice Meloy, Blue Willow Bookshop, TX
"Be forewarned! Emily St. John Mandel’s new book, The Lola Quartet, is addictive. The more you read, the more difficult it is to put down. In what appears to be Mandel’s signature style, she takes her unique characters back and forth in time while also alternating character voices. The result is an engrossing, often gripping tale . . . Mandel slowly builds her novel in a deliberate crescendo that leads to a surprising conclusion. Then, when all seems bleak and despairing, she gives us one little ray of hope that the future might hold more harmonious music than the present. I have never given much thought to setting a novel to music. The musical score for The Lola Quartet would, I believe, be excellent. Encore, Ms. Mandel!" — Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault, IA
“Emily St. John Mandel carves out a place for herself among the great suspense writers with her third novel, The Lola Quartet. Wrought with tension and intrigue, The Lola Quartet slowly dips the reader into a steamy underbelly of Florida crime. Secrets from the past, a crime gone wrong, and the loyalty of family motivate a complex cast of characters to make decisions they would not make under normal circumstances. But, in the world of Sebastian, Florida, things have gone so far from normal, it's hard to tell if anyone will come back.”
— Jessilynn Norcross, McLean & Eakin, MI
“The Lola Quartet is an amazing book! The story is well written, very interesting and holds the reader's attention throughout. It is a story that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished. This is a very talented writer who should go far.” — Cheryl Kravetz, Classic Bookshop, FL
“This page-turning story of friendship, betrayal, and disappointment is a testament to the genius of Emily St. John Mandel. Her characters are supremely flawed, yet they stay with you long after you've closed the book. I was incredibly impressed by The Lola Quartet and I can't wait to put it into the hands of my customers.” — Suzanna Hermans, Oblong Books & Music, NY
“Youthful indiscretions lead to disastrous consequences in the adult lives of The Lola Quartet's estranged musicians. One by one they find each other again, but they are so accustomed to keeping secrets and withholding trust that they walk the razor-thin line between choosing their own destinies and being fate's fools. This amazing tale of synchronicity will keep you feverishly turning the pages--it's clearly Mandel's finest work yet.” —Emily Crowe, The Odyssey Bookshop, MA
"Loved the book. Didn't want to put it down. Didn't really want to see it end!" --Char Stocker, Great Debate Books, Quincy, IL
"I hope the whole would will read this new novel-with jazz in the background. Can't think of a better way to spend the weekend." --Mary Gay Shipley, That Bookstore in Blytheville, AR
“Emily Mandel…is three for three in my book. I adore her writing….I highly recommend this novel.”—Janet Geddis, Avid Bookshop
