Reviews
"Richly imagined. . . . What Groff illustrates so deeply, and uniquely, is the difficulty of shaking off one's family ties, one's roots."-- Los Angeles Times Book Review, "Part mystery and part history. . . . Groff turns her story into a meditation on the nature of change and how evolution--of a place, a family, a person--even if it's diffcult and unsettling, can bring joyous rewards."-- Miami Herald, "Fabulously inventive . . . follows the trend of recent books such as March , Finn , and Ahab's Wife of extracting characters from classic novels, adding two cups of history, a quart of imagination, and stirring vigorously."-- The Christian Science Monitor, "Lauren Groff's debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton , is everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more. Willie is a funny, sexy, plucky heroine; her Mom--a once-upon-a-time hippie who's gone Baptist but not square--is a hoot; her family history is a funhouse through which Willie must wander in order to find her father. Best of all is Templeton, a town that will remind readers of Ray Bradbury at his most magical. There are monsters, murders, bastards, and ne'er-do-wells almost without number. I was sorry to see this rich and wonderful novel come to an end, and there is no higher success than that."-- Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly, "Groff's multilayered saga both thrills and delights with poignant, breathtaking prose. A"-- Entertainment Weekly, "At the heart of Lauren Groff's ambitious debut novel is a simple question. . . . But how that mystery is solved--through three centuries of one family's history overflowing with scandals and secrets--makes it a delightful and challenging novel. . . . The Monsters of Templeton makes readers work, but its rewards are worth it. Groff . . . is a talent to watch and celebrate."-- USA Today, " The Monsters of Templeton , a fascinating first novel by Lauren Groff, is a book with joy in its marrow--fabulous."-- San Francisco Chronicle, "In The Monsters of Templeton , Lauren Groff has crafted a multi-layered story that is boldly inventive and surprising, by turns wistful, elegiac, and sweeping."-- Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light, "Lauren Groff hits a home run in her first at-bat, with a novel that is intriguingly constructed and compulsively readable."-- Denver Post, "Groff's lyrical debut . . . brilliantly incorporates accounts from generations of Templetonians--as well as characters "borrowed" from the works of James Fenimore Cooper. Groff paints a rich picture . . . readers will delight in Willie's sharp wit and Groff's creation of an entire world, complete with a lake monster and illegitimate children."-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
