A Target Selection for Book Clubs for Summer 2011
A Random House Reader’s Circle Selection for Book ClubsSet in the Old-Moneyed Horse Country of Maryland, the Story of a Young Mother Moving into the Future by Uncovering the PastNelly Grace is starting over. With her two young sons, Nelly has fled to the simple stone house built by her great-grandfather in the old-moneyed horse country of Maryland in order to escape the grief of her husband’s death—and perhaps find a way back to her first love: photography. Easing her transition into this strange, mannered world is Emma Crofton, the grand matriarch of the foxhunting community, and Emma’s son, Dac, a handsome yet distant horse trainer. As Nelly slowly makes her way back to the camera, she must come to terms with her troubled relationship with her father, a photojournalist who chose fame over family. But when she finally sees him again, Nelly’s fragile new beginning is threatened by revelations of a secret past, and the fears that kept it hidden.
“The Language of Light shines on, a wonderfully knowing action photograph that has emerged from the darkroom as words.”
— James Bready, The Baltimore Sun
“A comfortable read…Light and shadows delineate the intimate contours of Ms. Clayton’s first novel…”
— Lin Rolens, The Santa Barbara News-Press
“Clayton has a gift for making her prose and her characters as captivating as Nelly’s portraits. As the story develops, “The Language of Light” raises enough perplexing questions to keep book clubs talking late into the evening.”
— Cindy Conger, Lincoln Journal Star
“Clayton has an old-fashioned sense of narrative and symbolism … will delight readers searching for a story with meaning, character and drama.”
— Bethanne Kelly Patrick, BookReporter.com
“Richly atmospheric, gorgeously written, and filled with characters so real they breathe on the page, Clayton’s first novel is as luminous as a perfect photograph shimmering with true light.”
— Caroline Leavitt, author of Coming Back To Me
“The Language of Light shines on, a wonderfully knowing action photograph that has emerged from the darkroom as words.”
— James Bready, The Baltimore Sun
“A comfortable read…Light and shadows delineate the intimate contours of Ms. Clayton’s first novel…”
— Lin Rolens, The Santa Barbara News-Press
“Clayton has an old-fashioned sense of narrative and symbolism … will delight readers searching for a story with meaning, character and drama.”
— Bethanne Kelly Patrick, bookreporter.com
“Richly atmospheric, gorgeously written, and filled with characters so real they breathe on the page, Clayton’s first novel is as luminous as a perfect photograph shimmering with true light.”
— Caroline Leavitt, author of Coming Back To Me
“An engaging and compassionate portrait of an artist learning to embrace the full potential of her power. Meg Waite Clayton writes with a photographer’s precision, clarity and care.”
— A. Manette Ansay, the author of Midnight Champagne and Limbo
“… has what readers want in a book – the believable kind of humor and pathos that makes for a terrific read.”
— Katharine Weber, author of The Music Lesson and The Little Women
“Clayton has a gift for making her prose and her characters as captivating as Nelly’s portraits. As the story develops, The Language of Light raises enough perplexing questions to keep book clubs talking late into the evening.”
— Cindy Conger, Lincoln Journal Star
