Siracusa

Reviews / Votes

'Ephron piles on the tension in this unflinchingly observed study of two couples' relationships imploding on a shared holiday. The presence of an eerily precocious child brings a chill premonition from the start.' * <i>Sunday Times Crime Club</i> star pick * 'A brilliant, biting take on modern relationships... Ephron...has conjured a minor masterpiece that reads like a mash-up of Henry James and Raymond Chandler. It leaves you longing for the film - which is already in the works.' * <i>Daily Mail</i> * 'A tense, taut cross between Big Little Lies and The Affair. A clever cautionary tale.' * <i>i</i> * 'A master of precise and keen character development, a virtuoso of pacing and surprise, a wizard at skewering convention and expectation, Ephron offers a bewitching take on relationships-marital, parental, casual, and serious-in this read-in-one-sitting, escapist escapade with a message.' * <i>Booklist</i> * '[Ephron] excels at [depicting] characters' unintended comedy, their emotional warfare and witty observations of travel and consumption....with a deft, stinging touch. They are a wise reminder that the hungers driving these people are a ravenous, even violent, business.' * <i>New York Times Book Reviews</i> * 'A seductive and edgy dissection of two imploding marriages-and an unhinged mother-daughter alliance... Each of these toxic relationships puts the characters on course to careen headlong into a dark place of deceit and rage in Ephron's brilliant takedown of marital and familial pretense.' * <i>Publishers Weekly</i> starred review * '[A] suspenseful, thoroughly delicious tale. You can almost taste the gelato.' * <i>People Magazine</i> * 'Sophisticated, elegantly written, delightfully cynical...Ephron's novel has the feel of a classic.' * Patrick Anderson, <i>Washington Post</i> * 'An irresistible novel for fans of psychological thrillers, or those considering vacationing with former lovers and spouses (often one and the same).' * <i>Oprah Magazine</i> * 'Siracusa starts innocuously enough, as an ironic travelogue about American sophisticates abroad...The situation begins to resemble a Ford Madox Ford novel, with each narrator recounting and interpreting the same encounters from vastly differing perspectives....As the clues pile up, the coming storm is expertly foreshadowed-but when it arrives, it's utterly surprising.' * <i>Kirkus Reviews</i> * 'The word 'unputdownable' is somewhat overused when describing a good book-but really, I just could not put this book down. Delia Ephron's Siracusa is a dark tale with incredibly well-drawn characters. It reveals the slights and secrets that can bring about chaos among friends and within families, and adds more than a spoonful of evil into the bargain. I stayed up well past my bedtime to finish.' * Jacqueline Winspear, author of the <i>Maisie Dobbs</i>novels * 'Siracusa is dazzling. Here is Delia Ephron with a stunning noir tale of marriage and morality, as two couples tangled in secret longings and betrayals travel through Italy, along with a gimlet-eyed ten-year-old daughter who could have been created by Henry James. Beware. You will be up all night to finish. I was.' * Marie Brenner, author of <i>Apples and Oranges</i> * 'Witty, wicked tale of desire, betrayal and murder.' * <i>i</i> * 'A seductive take on marital betrayal...the secrets and lies at the heart of all relationships.' * <i>Tatler</i> * 'A brilliantly observed novel.' * <i>Good Housekeeping</i> * 'This is a delicious story, ripe for a cinematic adaptation.' * <i>Bookbag</i> * 'An unusually crackling, tricky journey into the distant land of other people's marriages... Ephron writes like a warm-blooded Patricia Highsmith.' * Meg Wolitzer, author of <i>The Interestings</i> * 'Siracusa is an Italian aria, a Greek tragedy and a modern American masterpiece written by Delia Ephron at the height of her powers...unforgettable.' * Adriana Trigiani, author of <i>The Shoemaker's Daughter</i> * 'A stunning portrait of two marriages coming unraveled during the stress of travel abroad. Insightful and engaging. A must-read!' * Sue Grafton, author of <i>X</i> *