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The Orphans of Race Point

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

“Set against the coast of Provincetown, Patry Francis’s fierce, ravishing epic cuts deep to the bone about how love binds us together and breaks us apart, and how the past’s thumbprint rests on the present. Tender, violent, and alive, it’s also unforgettable.” — Caroline Leavitt, New York Times-bestselling author of Pictures of You

Set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a suspenseful page-turning saga of love, murder, and the true meaning of faith from the author of the acclaimed The Liar’s Diary.

Set in the close-knit Portuguese community of Provincetown, Massachusetts, The Orphans of Race Point traces the relationship between Hallie Costa and Gus Silva, who meet as children in the wake of a terrible crime that leaves Gus parentless. Their friendship evolves into an enduring and passionate love that will ask more of them than they ever imagined.

On the night of their high school prom, a terrible tragedy devastates their relationship and profoundly alters the course of their lives. And when, a decade later, Gus—now a priest—becomes entangled with a distraught woman named Ava and her daughter Mila, troubled souls who bring back vivid memories of his own damaged past, the unthinkable happens: he is charged with murder. Can Hallie save the man she’s never stopped loving, by not only freeing him from prison but also—finally—the curse of his past?

Told in alternating voices, The Orphans of Race Point illuminates the transformative power of love and the myriad ways we find meaning in our lives.

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    • Library Journal

      Starred review from May 15, 2014

      Like Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, this sprawling second novel by Massachusetts author Francis (The Liar's Diary) starts out with a traumatic incident involving a young boy befriended by a girl and expands from there into a Dickensian story in which criminals with murky motives mingle casually with the pure of heart. But instead of London or New York City, the tangled lives of the two motherless children, Gus and Hallie, and their friend, Neil, unfold on the beaches and narrow streets of Provincetown, on the outermost tip of Cape Cod, and in the seacoast city of New Bedford, MA. Fate lies heavily on the characters, as the book explores fatherhood, inheritance, human behavior, and the aspects of ourselves that can be changed. VERDICT Steeped in sea air and completely ignoring the tourist season, this story captures the essence of year-round life on the Cape and the Portuguese Catholic traditions of New Bedford fishermen as its themes of passionate treachery and abiding love play out in sometimes heartbreaking ways. Recommend to readers wondering what to read after The Goldfinch.--Laurie Cavanaugh, Holmes P.L., Halifax, MA

      Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from April 1, 2014
      Gus Silva is just nine years old when his mother is killed by Gus' abusive father, marking the boy forever and leaving him desolate with grief and inexpressible guilt. Only the assistance of classmate Hallie Costa, daughter of widower Dr. Nick, pulls Gus from depression. Years later, after star football player Gus has become known as Voodoo for his winning charm, he and Hallie finally yield to what seems a lifelong love, until an incident at a beach party after the senior prom leaves Hallie seriously injured and causes Gus to join the priesthood. But even Father Gus can't shake a reputation for violence, leading to his wrongful conviction for murdering Ava Cilento, an abused woman who sought Gus' counsel to protect her young daughter, then accused him of assault when she ended their alleged affair. As this epic spans decades, the third-person narration yields to the first-person account of teenager Mila Cilento, Ava's daughter, who uncovers the truth of what happened years earlier. By the author of The Liar's Diary (2007), this beautifully wrought novel is a sometimes wrenching but ultimately uplifting story of murder and betrayal in the face of faith, family in its truest sense, andmost of alllove.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

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