The Broken Places
By Susan Perabo
(Simon & Schuster, Paperback, 9780743223157, 256pp.)
Publication Date: November 26, 2002
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook
Categories: Literary
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When an abandoned farmhouse collapses in Casey, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Paul Tucker's father, Sonny, and the other Casey firemen attempt a dangerous rescue to reach a teenager buried under the rubble. Sonny himself is trapped by a secondary collapse and Paul and his mother fear the worst, but Sonny -- a second-generation fireman beloved in town -- emerges hours later, carrying the maimed body of sixteen-year-old Ian Finch. The rescue of this swastika-tattooed hoodlum -- who may have brought the house down while building bombs -- becomes a validation of all things American and true, and Sonny is immediately hailed as a national hero. But Ian's continued presence in Sonny's life creates a new set of hurdles for young Paul -- and his mother and his hometown -- to overcome.
Susan Perabo is the writer in residence and an associate professor of En-glish at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines such as Glimmer Train, Story, TriQuarterly, and The Missouri Review, and in the anthologies Best American Short Stories and New Stories from the South. She is the author of a novel, The Broken Places.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Perabo delivers a panoramic emotional drama in this stunning first novel.
San Francisco Chronicle A riveting novel of emotional suspense.
The Washington Post A strong, self-assured writer, Perabo weaves in...lyrical passage[s] of great power.
The San Diego Union-Tribune Sleek, swift, wise...[A] fine novel.











