What is Andrew Roe reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Andrew Roe, author of The Miracle Girl.

His entry begins:

I’m going through one of those fickle phases where I’m reading more than one book, bouncing back and forth, simultaneously enjoying the variety and freedom while also feeling a little weird and unfaithful, like I can’t fully commit.

So here’s some of what’s currently on my reading rotation: Jonathan Evison’s This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, which will be published in September by my publisher Algonquin Books and chronicles the life of the 79-year-old title character, who re-evaluates her life in the wake of her husband’s death (I wasn’t planning on reading this one yet, but I picked it up this past weekend and couldn’t stop); Sean Wilentz’s Bob Dylan in America, which puts a historical and cultural lens on Dylan and his work, focusing on key points in his decades-long career; and...[read on]

About The Miracle Girl, from the publisher:

The crowds keep coming. More and more every day it seems . . . drawn by rumor and whisper and desperate wish. Somehow they heard about the little girl on Shaker Street.

They come to see eight-year-old Anabelle Vincent, who lies in a comalike state—unable to move or speak. They come because a visitor experienced what seemed like a miracle and believed it was because of Anabelle. Word spread. There were more visitors. More miracles. But is there a connection? And does it matter?

Set against the backdrop of the approaching millennium—with all its buzz about reckoning and doom–this impressive debut novel is narrated by Anabelle herself; by her devoted mother, who cares for her child while struggling to make sense of the media frenzy surrounding her; by Anabelle’s estranged father, who is dealing with the guilt of his actions; and by the people who come seeking the child’s help, her guidance, and her healing. Yet it tells a larger cultural story about the human yearning for the miraculous to be true, about how becoming a believer—in something, anything, even if you don’t understand it—can sustain you.

Learn more about the book and author at Andrew Roe's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Miracle Girl.

The Page 69 Test: The Miracle Girl.

Writers Read: Andrew Roe.

--Marshal Zeringue