“I think there’s a lot of ignorance, or perhaps a mystique, about how writers live their lives. We aren’t in Entertainment Weekly. Nobody is sending out photographers to photograph our messy houses. We don’t have beautiful swimming pools with a guest cottage. We don’t hire interior decorators.” –Jean Thompson, interview, NewcityLit
What booksellers are saying about The Poet’s House
- TWe follow a young woman, unsure of who she is and her place in the world, as she observes an older woman who is very much settled and has made peace with her own life. A touching story with poetry as a through-line- how it can be both salve to the soul and a commercial commodity. ―Jamie Fiocco from Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC
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- Carla is a beautiful young landscaper who has always felt hindered by her learning disability. She serendipitously falls into a circle of poets led by the charismatic and venerable Viridian. Through their interactions, Carla discovers that poetry has a profound effect on her in ways that words never before had. Set in the dusty, fire-riddled hills of California, this novel is lovely, humorous, and warm tale of self-discovery ―Damita Nocton from The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC
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- THE POET’S HOUSE is a captivating novel about art and those who create it, following the story of Carla, an aspiring poet trying to find her voice. Jean Thompson masterfully delivers a thought-provoking story that celebrates writers, artists and the power of the written word. ―Anderson McKean from Page & Palette in Fairhope, AL
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About Jean Thompson
Jean Thompson is the author of fourteen books of fiction, including the National Book Award finalist Who Do You Love, the NYT bestseller The Year We Left Home, and the NYT Notable Book Wide Blue Yonder. Her work has been published in the New Yorker, as well as dozens of other magazines, and anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize. She has been the recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, among other accolades, and has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Reed College, Northwestern University, and many other colleges and universities.
