INLAND BY TEA OBREHT
Published on the 13th August by W&N
In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives collide.
Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life–her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home.
Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West.
Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht’s talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely–and unforgettably–her own.
A short extract
THE MISSOURI
WHEN THOSE MEN RODE DOWN TO THE FORDING PLACE last night, I thought us done for. Even you must realize how close they came their smell, the song of their bridles, the Whites of their horses eyes. True to form blind though you are, and with that shot still irretrievable in your thigh you made to stand and meet them. Perhaps I should have let you. It might have averted what happened tonight and the girl would have been unharmed. But how could I have known? I was unready, disbelieving of our fate, and in the end could only watch them cross and ride up the wash away from us in the moonlight.
ABOUT AUTHOR TEA OBREHT
Tea Obreht is the author of The Tiger’s Wife, winner of the Orange Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award. She was born in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia, in 1985 and has lived in the United States since the age of twelve. She currently lives in New York City and teaches at Hunter College.
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