About this item
A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author ofMidwivesandThe Sandcastle Girls.Close Your Eyes, Hold Handsis the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermonts Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emilys parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom rivers and forests are destroyed and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger.
About the Author
Chris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 23 books. His work has been translated into 35 languages and three times become movies.His forthcoming novel, "The Lioness," arrives May 10, 2022.His most recent novel, "Hour of the Witch," was published in May 2021 and was an instant New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today and Indiebound bestseller. It's a novel of historical suspense set in 1662 Boston, a tale of the first divorce in North America for domestic violence -- and a subsequent witch trial. The Washington Post called "historical fiction at its best. The New York Times called it "harrowing." His 2018 novel, "The Flight Attendant," debuted as a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and National Indiebound Bestseller. It is now an an HBO Max series, starring Kaley Cuoco that has been nominated for numerous Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe awards. It was recently renewed for a second season.His 2020 novel, "The Red Lotus," is now in paperback. It's a twisting story of love and deceit: an American man vanishes on a rural road in Vietnam and his girlfriend, an emergency room doctor trained to ask questions, follows a path that leads her home to the very hospital where they met. Publishers Weekly called it "a diabolical plot reminiscent of a Robin Cook thriller," and Booklist described it as "masterful ... a cerebral and dramatic dive into what happens when love turns to agony."He is also a playwright and screenwriter. He has adapted his novel, "Midwives," for a play, which premiered in 2020 at the George Street Playhouse, and was directed by David Saint. Broadway World said of it, "The fine playwriting by Bohjalian, the directorial talents of the Playhouse's Artistic Director, David Saint, and the show's accomplished cast make this play unforgettable." His first play, "Grounded," premiered at the 59 East 59th Theatres in New York City in the summer of 2018 and is now available as an audiobook and eBook, "Wingspan." His books have been chosen as Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Hartford Courant, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Bookpage, and Salon.His awards include the Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts; the ANCA Freedom Award for his work educating Americans about the Armenian Genocide; the ANCA Arts and Letters Award for The Sandcastle Girls, as well as the Saint Mesrob Mashdots Medal; the New England Society Book Award for The Night Strangers; the New England Book Award; Russia's Soglasie (Concord) Award for The Sandcastle Girls; a Boston Public Library Literary Light; a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Trans-Sister Radio; a Best Lifestyle Column for "Idyll Banter" from the Vermont Press Association; and the Anahid L
