A Marker to Measure Drift
by Alexander Maksik
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Pub Date Jul 30 2013 | Archive Date Jul 30 2013
Description
Dear Reader,
Alexander Maksik’s A Marker to Measure Drift casts an extraordinary spell.
On an island in the Aegean, Jacqueline, an elegant and well-educated young woman, is living alone in a cave accessible only at low tide. As the fabric between reality and madness becomes increasingly frayed, Jacqueline experiences the world with acute intensity—the relief of shade; the torment of hunger and the sensual bliss of food; the keen pleasure of diving into the cool sea on a blistering afternoon.
Slowly, memories begin to surface: the relentless echo of her mother’s voice; the view across lush gardens to a different sea; gin glinting in a crystal glass; a gold Rolex on her father’s dark wrist. Whether Jacqueline can find a way to reconcile the unspeakable violence she has escaped with an incipient desire to live is the question that drives this astonishing story forward.
Visceral, sensual, and hypnotic, A Marker to Measure Drift is a novel about ruin and faith,
barbarism and love, and the devastating memories that contain both the power to
destroy us and redeem up. As lacerating as it is uplifting, this is an
unforgettable tour de force, sure to be one of the most talked-about books of
the summer season. I hope you will find time to read it and share your thoughts about it with friends and followers.
Yours,
Jordan Pavlin,
Vice President, Senior Editor
Advance Praise
“I’m haunted by the power of A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik. Shattering, gorgeous, each sentence is a dagger to the heart. This is the story of a young Liberian female refugee, Jacqueline, who has come to a Greek island, whose shaky memories are suffused with profound loss and shadowy images: holding the feet of her beloved sister, an orange cat, the Rolex watch on her father’s wrist, the clink of ice mixed with gin and lime in her mother’s glass, ghost boys with machetes. The novel explores profound themes, both political and existential: Where does one find the courage to survive something horrific beyond description? How is it possible to negotiate incipient madness? Is there a context in which to describe barbarism? Can the tiniest connection with another human being, the merest act kindness lead one out of despair? Can a life that has been traumatized, pared down to the most elemental of human requirements - safety, shelter, food - find hope? The ending is breathtaking…. I’m still dazed.”
—Amy V Palmer, Northshire Bookstore
“It is rare for a book to get you so emotionally involved so quickly. My heart ached for Jacqueline within the first 20 pages of this novel and never really stopped. What is more rare is for the author to be able to navigate such a richly charged emotional landscape and be able to at once sustain it through the course of the novel and at the same time not abuse the reader in the process. This book allows you to visit a particular locale in human loneliness that is shockingly familiar in spite of being so situationally foreign. It is a journey I won't soon forget.”
—Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books
“This is one of the most powerful and beautiful books I have ever read. Jacqueline is a Liberian refugee, who has witnessed unspeakable crimes against her family and has found herself homeless and alone on a Greek island. As she struggles to cope with her past and to survive on a daily basis, the picture of a resilient and remarkable woman arises. I was so engrossed that I read the book in a day."
—Ann Berlin, The Ivy Book Shop
“This book is so immediate and moving with a riveting central character. I could not put it down.”
—Glenda Childs, Doylestown Bookshop
“From a wandering woman marked by a wandering soul, A Marker to Measure Drift moves relentlessly towards the revelation of what unspeakable act has set this woman adrift in Greece after fleeing Charles Taylor’s Liberia. Maksik, with elegant prose, gives voice to Jacqueline’s fractured perceptions that appear both all too vividly and yet simultaneously nearly unreal. This is a shattering and truly unforgettable novel of the highest order.”
—Sheryl Cotleur, Copperfield’s Books
“A lone young African woman washes up on Santorini in the Aegean Sea with no apparent resources save her memories. Her only daily contacts are the murmuring voices of her mother and father, scolding, cajoling and sometimes encouraging as Jacqueline sleepwalks through her daily existence—finding something to eat, something to drink, and a safe place to spend the night. Bit by bit, she is learning to live with memory and human contact, but you worry about her. After weeks of feral living, in her first attempt to reconnect with society, she hesitantly reveals the details of her fall from grace in the horrors of last days of Taylor’s regime in Liberia. You will be left gasping at the conclusion and will continue to agonize for the future of this gentle soul.”
—Darwin Ellis, Books on the Common
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780307962577 |
PRICE | $24.95 (USD) |