Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian

'What really got my literary pulse racing is Edgarian's most fascinating creation, Lena's estranged uncle, 79-year-old Cal Rusch.

'Refreshingly grown-up, this love story follows a couple as they deal with the economic crash, a preemie, and an old flame showing up at just the wrong time.' -Good Housekeeping 'Edgarian beautifully captures the fierceness of this mother's love.' - San Francisco Chronicle Edgarian is an exceptionally gifted and generous storyteller.' - Associated Press Three Stages of Amazement savors the rich complexity of human beings and the world they negotiate.' - Washington Post Superbly crafted, skillfully plotted text. Yet that long pause feels right when you read Three Stages of Amazement, her rueful, wholly adult novel.Edgarian brilliantly evokes the grim daily grind. 'It's been 17 years since Carol Edgarian's best-selling, critically acclaimed first novel, Rise the Eurphrates announced the arrival of a gifted and ambitious young writer. Edgarian's sharp, beautiful prose captures the essence of the human condition in all its pain and glory.' -The Daily Beast 'Both an epic love story and a reflection of social anthropology in America today, Three Stages of Amazement is a gracefully rendered narrative of the inevitable joys and heartaches we face in adulthood. 'Edgarian ( Rise the Euphrates) spares no emotion in this big, lovely second novel about decent people falling apart under the demands that there be more than 24 hours in a day and more than parental determination to juggle life's realities against the heart's desire.'

Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian