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Betty (Paperback)
  • Betty (Paperback)
  • Betty (Paperback)
  • Betty (Paperback)
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Betty (Paperback) Betty (Paperback) Betty (Paperback)

Betty (Paperback)

(author)
£9.99
Paperback 480 Pages
Published: 29/07/2021
Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £2.99
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Waterstones Says

An intricate and haunting coming of age tale, Betty charts the path of a young woman who, growing up amidst racism and poverty, discovers the power of storytelling.

Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month for August 2021

Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.

Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.

A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words.

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9781474617543
Number of pages: 480
Weight: 360 g
Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 32 mm


MEDIA REVIEWS

Breathtaking. - Vogue

Despite the beauty of the landscape and the poetry of the language, this is not an easy read. Yes, it flows beautifully, but there are depths to explore and layer upon layer of meaning. It is worth the journey... At one stage, I put the novel aside but Betty kept calling me back. I wanted to know what happened. I'm glad I did. Once I had finished the book, I wanted to start again simply so that I could savour some of the language and the Cherokee wisdom. (I also wanted to give Betty a hug and tell her it would be OK.) This is a book that will stay with you. - Irish Independent

There's a good chance you haven't read a family saga like Betty... Their story is simultaneously extraordinary (they are subjected to unthinkable racism, financial hardships, and untimely deaths) and run-of-the-mill (at the heart, they are a family like any other). Each day in their life is supplanted with the mysticism and interconnectedness of their father's traditions, offering a light at the end of a very dark plot tunnel. - Entertainment Weekly

Vivid. - Los Angeles Times

So engrossing! Tiffany McDaniel's Betty is a page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story steeped in Cherokee history, told in undulating prose that settles right into you. - Naoise Dolan, Sunday Times bestselling author of EXCITING TIMES

I felt consumed by the ambitious enormity and sadness of this book. Betty is about the power of words and the language it is written in rings with this. I loved it, you will love it. - Daisy Johnson, Booker Prize shortlisted author of EVERYTHING UNDER and SISTERS

I loved Betty: I fell for its strong characters and was moved by the story it portrayed. McDaniel deals with the passage of time with subtlety and skill and the descriptions of the rolling hills of Ohio were really beautiful. - Fiona Mozley, Booker Prize shortlisted author of ELMET

Betty is woven of many things, light and dark, and most of all it is life in all its shades: all its brilliances and disappointments, sadnesses and hopes. Vivid and lucid, Betty has stayed with me. - Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE MERCIES

Tiffany McDaniel has given us a vivid and haunting portrait of the writer as a young girl. Betty Carpenter survives the brutality of her childhood through her father's stories and his steadfast belief in her own. A novel of tragedy and trouble, poetry and power, not a story you will soon forget.

Magical, densely lyrical and often disturbing. Tiffany McDaniel follows in the tradition of The Color Purple with her unflinching portrayal of the generational ripples of racism, poverty, and abuse. Shot through with moonshine, Bible verses, and folklore, Betty is about the cruelty we inflict on one another, the beauty we still manage to find, and the stories we tell in order to survive. - Eowyn Ivey, author of THE SNOW CHILD

This novel broke my brain. The lush, hypnotic prose, the voice, so authentic and compelling, as Betty Carpenter holds your hand and leads you through a world filled with familial tragedy. Each more haunting than the last, until you're left holding your breath, with a tourniquet on your heart. This is powerful, relentless storytelling at its best. - Jamie Ford, author of HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET

Betty is Betty Carpenter's gripping coming of age story and is bold, inventive and profoundly moving. It is not a story blind to the character's abuse, but also reveals the love, sweetness, and magic in her life. Betty is too brown, too female and too poor for the world, but her story reminds us that despite all obstacles there are those blessed times when we can still manage to find our voices and sing. A triumph! - Stephanie Powell Watts, author of NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE US

A painful, powerful, transcendent story . . . Tiffany McDaniel's distinctive, poetic prose lets us know at the outset that something unique is going on in these pages. Bit by bit, she draws us into her 'other world' with amazing skill; and, before we realize it, we are like wide-eyed children, enthralled as we once were, as we listened to a story from Grimm's Fairy Tales. Yet, this is no fairytale for children. Rather, it is an intricate, complex mosaic of myths that explores the ways in which the imagination can bring hope into our lives during difficult times. With her depth as a poet and her boldness as a storyteller, the author has created an unforgettable novel. It stays in our imagination, long after we've read the last word. - Gwyn Hyman Rubio, author of THE WOODMAN'S DAUGHTER

Tiffany McDaniel gives voice to those on the fringes. Betty is a coming-of-age novel that has the courage to look into the darkness and to find the light. Betty Carpenter tells the story of her family with empathy and passion and heart. This is a book for anyone who's ever stood on the outside looking in, or for anyone who's ever scorned the unfortunate. It's a book for our uncertain times, one that has much to show us about family, about want, about love. - Lee Martin, author of THE BRIGHT FOREVER

Betty is an unforgettable story about the bonds that bind families and the power of words when it feels like all hope is lost. - Daily Express

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“Betty will capture your heart...”

The dark stories told by her mother and beautiful, poetic stories told from heart by her father made Betty who she is.

This is a dark, heart breaking story of a half Cherokee young girls’s life. She slowly grows up... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 77

“A Gut Wrenchingly Beautiful New Classic”

I am at a loss for words to say how much I love this book, but I am going to try. This beautiful, raw and brutal book could not have been any better. The atmospheric lyrical writing captures the wild landscape,... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 50

“A fine written piece and a true description of life”

The moment I started reading this novel I knew it will be hard for me to write my thoughts just like what happened to me when I read The Summer That Melted Everything. Sad and Beautiful, these are the words that will... More

Hardback edition
Helpful? Upvote 44

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