Backstitch Book Launch
Marian Mitchell Donahue in conversation with Anjali Duva
"Backstitch is a splendid, irreducible work of art—about making art, about time, about memory, about the stars in the heavens, and maybe most of all about family." —Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers
Two sisters, Violet and Marigold, reunite at a retrospective of their troubled mother's art. Together they must confront the consequences of her ambition and the difficult, private reality of the family's public narrative. Moving through the gallery's rooms and through time to arrive at the truth of her life and death, the daughters unravel their family ties, the gift and cost of artistic talent, and the legacy that they must carry.
Please join us as we help Marian Mitchell Donahue celebrate the publication oh her first novel. Marian, who lives and teaches in Brooklyn will be joined in conversation by Anjali Duva, a co-founder of Galiot Press.
More Praise for Backstitch
“In Backstitch, Marian Mitchell Donahue unspools the haunting story of a visionary artist whose brilliance is matched only by her volatility-and the two daughters caught in her gravitational pull. Moving fluidly through time, the novel exposes the blurred lines between creation and destruction, love and madness. A gripping, compulsive read.” —B.A. Shapiro, NYT best selling author of The Lost Masterpiece and The Art Forger.
“Backstitch is a wonderfully intelligent and enthralling novel about the costs of making art, both for the artist, and for her daughters. Donahue has a remarkable gift for describing art and it is as if we too are walking through the exhibition, appreciating each of Alice's vivid fibre art pieces, even as we learn about the tangled history and emotions that led to this triumphant moment. I reached the last page with profound pleasure and deep admiration.” —Margot Livesey, author of The Road From Belhaven
“Grounded in the slippery pursuit of truth, Marian Mitchell Donahue's Backstitch wrestles with the very idea of making and memory, examining both the price of art and all its riches.” —Christine Coulson, bestselling author of One Woman Show
“Marian Donahue's Backstitch is more than a remarkable or noteworthy debut novel. It is a feast of exquisite language that brilliantly depicts the complicated mess common to all families and all artists. This epic tale of the Snyders is the perfect marriage of form and masterful storytelling and it will stay with you long after you finish the last page.” —Robert Lopez, author of The Best People