{"product_id":"9781950691487","title":"The Bobcat : A Novel","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Katherine Forbes Riley\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e** Longlisted for The Center for Fiction's best debut novel of 2019 **\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With the hypnotic intensity of Emily Fridlund’s \u003ci\u003eThe History of Wolves\u003c\/i\u003e and Fiona McFarlane’s \u003ci\u003eThe Night Guest\u003c\/i\u003e, Katherine Forbes Riley has created a mesmerizing love story, in lush, gorgeous prose, that examines art, science, and the magic of human chemistry.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Teeming with lush imagery and mystical settings, and brimming with alluring magical realism, Riley’s tale is a beguiling journey of discovery and recovery.”\u003c\/b\u003e — Booklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaunting and lyrical, \u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e is Katherine Forbes Riley’s magical debut novel in which Laurelie, a young art student who suffers in the aftermath of a sexual assault, has grown progressively more isolated and fearful. She transfers from her busy city university to a small college in rural Vermont, where she retreats into her vivid imagination, experiencing the world through her art. Most comfortable in the company of the child for whom she babysits, and most at ease in the woods, Laurelie has shunned any connection with her peers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne day, while exploring the woods, she and her young charge encounter an injured pregnant bobcat – and the hiker who has been following it for hundreds of miles. In the hiker and his feline companion Laurelie recognizes someone as reclusive and wary as herself. The hiker, too, finds human companionship painful to endure, yet he is drawn to wounded Laurelie the way he is drawn to the bobcat. As Laurelie moves toward recovery and reconnection she also finds her voice as an artist, and a sense of purpose, maybe even a future, comes into sight. Then the child goes missing in the woods, threatening the bobcat, the hiker, and the fragile peace Laurelie has constructed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cu\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTHE BOBCAT: A NOVEL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTeeming with lush imagery and mystical settings, and brimming with alluring magical realism, Riley’s tale is a beguiling journey of discovery and recovery.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003e— Booklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“\u003c\/i\u003eMany novels feature wild animals as central metaphors, but not many novels achieve the congruity of \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e— LitHub\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"An unpredictable yet lovely exploration into healing trauma and building trust. The story centers art student Laurelie as she attempts to put the pieces of her life back together after surviving a sexual assault. Artists, nature lovers and survivors will find something here to inspire hope and healing.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e— \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMs. Magazine'\u003c\/b\u003es \u003c\/i\u003e2019 June Reads for the Rest of Us\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“The Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e is a heartfelt, revelatory, and moving novel about how the way back to our humanity and to the humanity of others leads us sometimes through the animal world. Surprising, precise, and full of love for the immeasurable possibilities of the human heart.\u003ci\u003e”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003e— Alexander Chee, PEN award finalist and author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “It would be easy—and true—to say that Katharine Forbes Riley’s \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e moves the way that beautiful feline does: with sinuous grace, coiled wildness, and ferocious independence. Yet this novel braves more than that. It probes and tests the lines between the animal and the human, safety and threat, art and daily life, health and illness through characters and language of luminous intensity and rare, real power. Haunting, haunted, truly elegant, this novel will stalk your dreams and days in equal measure.” — \u003cb\u003eCharlotte Bacon, PEN award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eA Private State\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “In \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Katherine Forbes Riley has created an honest, unflinching account of the aftermath of a sexual assault. There is profound empathy in the novel’s depiction of the wounded young artist Laurelie, and Riley’s great accomplishment is to show the tortured process by which this courageous woman stumblingly, imperfectly, navigates a hostile world while simultaneously recreating herself. A strange beauty pervades the novel, even in Laurelie's descriptions of her own terror—the sort of beauty born of careful design. This narrative is dead set on bringing the reader face to face with truth. By turns raw, hallucinogenic, redemptive, and always deeply intelligent, it’s a novel of the moment and one that deserves a wide audience.”\u003cbr\u003e  — \u003cb\u003eJack Livings, PEN award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Dog: Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Katherine Forbes Riley's tender artistry and elegant prose exalt one woman's painful tale of violence in a violent world to a memorable novel where people's capacity for humaneness and love pulsate from the center. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is graceful, profound assurance of man's perpetual instincts to refuge in nature and commune with the beasts every time our own humanity or our fellowman fails us.”\u003cbr\u003e — \u003cb\u003eKalisha Buckhanon, author of \u003ci\u003eSolemn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This novel is mesmerizing! Completely unpredictable and engaging. I loved the sentences and the descriptions and the characters.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Sarah Blake, author of \u003ci\u003eNaamah\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is an intensely lyrical, deeply involving novel about what it means to be a human animal. Blending gorgeous nature imagery, philosophical curiosity, and a story as insistent as a heartbeat, this book will grab you by the scruff of the neck and won't let go.” \u003cb\u003e— Jennie Yabroff, author of \u003ci\u003eIf You Were Here\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Saturated with emotion, vivid and sensual, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003etells the gripping story of a young woman rebuilding her life and self after trauma. Katherine Forbes Riley takes us deep into the Vermont woods to show the power of nature, art, animal companionship, and human connection. An exquisite debut.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Julia Phillips, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Disappearing Earth\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Equally intimate and expansive, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is one of the most unique books I've ever read. Riley's prose works equally as exquisite storytelling and its own thematic device to capture the isolating nature of trauma -- and the path out. All of this is wrapped in very human relationships and lush descriptions of the wilderness for a fast, distinctive read that will haunt you long after the final page.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Mike Chen, author of \u003ci\u003eHere and Now and Then\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “What a beautiful, thoughtful, touching debut. […] \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e had me at turns flipping pages to find out what happens, and re-reading pages to soak in the expansive and lovely prose. Katherine Forbes Riley steps onto the scene like a master storyteller, comfortable in her craft and precise in her presentation. This hauntingly lovely book will be a favorite of book clubs, and people in search of a novel with genuine heart and wonder.” — \u003cb\u003eMeghan Scott Molin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Frame-Up\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Poignant and evocative, lyrical and intimate—and above all startlingly original—Katherine Forbes Riley's mesmerizing debut \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is one of those rare novels that fully embraces the interiority of its characters while never sacrificing in story or pacing. Written in a unique and elegant style full of richly descriptive prose that captures both the physical landscape of rural Vermont and the fraught psychological territory of its protagonist, this is a beautifully crafted book that dares to access the isolation that haunts us in the aftermath of trauma; it is also a redemptive story about the power of human connection to see us through our darkest moments.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— James Charlesworth, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Patricide of George Benjamin Hill\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Riley's riveting novel, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, inexorably pulls readers into a strange world full of possible dangers in which the physical and the psychological are rendered in stunning detail. But she reveals, too, the beauty inherent in this world--if you can bear to let it in, if you can learn to trust again. Intense, surprising and thought-provoking, this story ultimately allows that souls and bodies can in fact heal, and that meaningful human connection is both possible and valuable.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Katrin Schumann, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Forgotten Hours\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “With its atmospherically picturesque prose and its delicious slow burn of a plot, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e was a delightful read. Told in gorgeous, crystalline images, etched deeply with detail, the story emerges slowly and satisfyingly. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is true literature, and a work of high art.” — \u003cb\u003eGina Guadagnino, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Parting Glass\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “You'll want to savor this read. […] Riley's prose is engaging and evocative. I absolutely loved her gift for description and imagery. I can't wait to read more from this talented author.” \u003cb\u003e— Juno Rushdan, author of \u003ci\u003eEvery Last Breath\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a masterpiece of understated grace, an insightful study of trauma and healing, and a work whose narrative power shines with the strength of its skillful prose. […] This realistic portrayal of recovery is light years from the superficial takes we often see in stories, and it makes the narrative that much stronger and more engaging. An extremely impressive debut, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a compelling and rewarding read.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Dan Stout, author of \u003ci\u003eTitan Shade\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a mesmerizing lyrical novel that you don’t want to rush through. I savored every beautiful sentence and description of the natural world, the people and animals. Full of empathy and compassion, this is a story about how we heal from trauma and what it takes to begin trusting again.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Daniela Petrova, author of \u003ci\u003eHer Daughter’s Mother\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “A mesmerizing novel, […] Riley uses language, both precise and lushly descriptive, to show how true connection does not depend on words. In an age of tell-all stories and healing through talk therapy, it’s a radical act. Though there is plot and mystery enough to drive this novel, what really powers it is Riley’s profound sense of empathy and her gorgeous writing – about people, animals, the natural world, fear, love and hope. This is the kind of novel that makes you turn the pages to discover what becomes of the hiker, Laurelie, the bobcat and the toddler - and then makes you slow down to savor the telling itself.” \u003cb\u003e— Karen Dukess, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Book Party\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “The novel is richly observed, the depth and detail of its description a particular strength. It has been described as ‘immersive’ and I’ll tell you why: you will lose yourself in this book. The words and sentences are enough to keep you turning the pages, even if the story were less than the fascinating tale that it is. […] The ending is perfect.” \u003cb\u003e— Melanie Golding, author of \u003ci\u003eLittle Darlings\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is deeply evocative, written in lush, delicious prose about a wounded young woman and her journey towards healing. With the help of her artwork and an unusual hiker she meets, the two come together, find love in this mystical tale that will linger with readers like a haunting dream. Highly recommend.”\u003cbr\u003e — \u003cb\u003eMarlene Adelstein, author of \u003ci\u003eSophie Last Seen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “In addition to being a moving story of healing, resilience, and love, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e includes so many lush and exquisite details that make the setting of this novel leap from the page. It also includes a line that, in my opinion, perfectly encapsulates the gift and challenge of being a teacher in the arts. As Laurelie steps into teaching duties herself, she muses how “each student was like a puzzle, finding the right artists to show, the right words to deconstruct their art and make it open up, so the student would see it working just like his or her own.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Megan Collins, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Winter Sister\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “I read this beautiful book with my heart in my throat. The world of \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bobcat\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is immersive, fully saturated, and deeply interior in the best possible way. A visceral and authentic depiction of the aftermath of trauma, the novel is also a moving exploration of the power of artistic creation and its capacity to make sense of both the light and dark sides of human experience.” \u003cb\u003e— \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eKate Hope Day\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eIf, Then\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “This book snuck up on me, its quiet fairytale quality perfect for the story of a traumatized young woman’s search for a way out of isolation and fear. Riley’s grasp of nature and art and human psychology are on full display in this spellbinding tale of connection and chemistry. [...] A book to ponder long after the final page.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eSusan Bernhard\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Winter Loon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781950691487\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Arcade","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40591168602318,"sku":"9781950691487","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_9a4b3901-9ace-4bf2-92b9-d252680f9f90.jpg?v=1637749251","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781950691487","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}