Monica Datta

In this searing debut novel, for readers of Katie Kitamura and Rachel Cusk, the tragic aftermath of a youthful relationship years after its end brings the life of a mourning woman in New York--and the pursuit of art--into stark relief. Told in short passages through a musical device, this international story follows Julienne and Gaspar to Syria, China, Germany and elsewhere. Julienne, a student of sculpture, and Gaspar, a young composer, fall in love at a small college and share a home for more than a decade before encountering the fundamental rift that will change their lives. The reverberations of grief force Julienne to confront her painful past including the mystery of her own birth and the fantastical story ascribed to it by her flight attendant mother, so that she can envision, for the first time, a real future. Ultimately, Thieving Sun is a profound and contemporary meditation on art, grief, debt, suicide loss and the danger of being alive.