My new Silicon Valley novel, THE WONDER TEST, hits shelves today. In a review of THE WONDER TEST for the San Francisco Chronicle, Anita Felicelli writes,
“Contemporary fiction set in or around Silicon Valley doesn’t always reach far enough with its absurdity and speculation.. Richmond’s eighth work of fiction, “The Wonder Test,” hits the right notes. It is a madcap suspense novel with a clever premise.”
In THE WONDER TEST, recently widowed FBI agent Lina Connerly relocates from New York City to an affluent suburb in Silicon Valley with her teenaged son, Rory, to clear out her father’s home and get her life back in order after a series of traumatic setbacks.
After enrolling Rory in the public school, which is obsessed with an annual exam called the Wonder Test that has put the small town of Greenfield on the map, Lina is drawn into a mystery involving local teens who go missing. Meanwhile, colleagues back in New York keep trying to rope her back into and old espionage case that needs her attention.
What a blast this novel was to write! Inspired in part by a move to a small town south of San Francisco 12 years ago, and in part by nearly 25 years as an FBI spouse, this “sharply written, subtly satirical thriller” (Publishers Weekly) imagines high-achieving parents and communities in Silicon Valley willing to put their children through the most extreme paces in pursuit of excellence. Oddly enough, this Silicon Valley novel also pays homage to Shirley Jackson, author of the famous short story “The Lottery”–a story about good citizens committing heinous crimes. Jackson lived and wrote for years in the neighborhood where THE WONDER TEST is set.
THE WONDER TEST is also about grief: how we go on and rebuild our lives after the foundation has crumbled, and how work can be a solid force that helps us survive the worst. Did I mention it’s also a bit of a spy novel?
The most enjoyable part of the book, however, was writing the WONDER TEST questions at the beginning of each chapter, like “Square feet is to cubic feet as time is to what?” and “Provide examples to illustrate the term ‘diminishing returns’ without providing so many examples as to achieve diminishing returns.” The questions were inspired by many years of elementary school homework, during which my husband, son and I attempted to find the “right” answer for a series of increasingly absurd standardized test questions.
“Richmond’s (The Marriage Pact) latest is a two-in-one winner: a gripping thriller set in a Stepford-esque California suburb, and a story of surviving loss and building family bonds. With a realistic protagonist, well-described setting, and an uber-creepy villain, it will please readers who like their stories with action and heart in equal measure.”—Liz French, Library Journal
I GREW UP in the humid heat of Alabama’s Gulf Coast. My family would run the air conditioner on Christmas Day so we could use the fireplace. In a landscape devoid of snow, where all you needed to get through the coldest months of the year was a windbreaker, winter took on a magical mythology. I dreamed of sleds and bright woolen mittens, a fat snowman guarding the lawn.
When I was 7, on a family trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., I saw snow for the first time. What startled me most was the clean, bright smell and the crunching sound beneath my sneakers when I plunged my feet into a snow bank. The cold felt like a great adventure.
In 1997, I moved to New York City. The first snow of the winter filled me with awe. I loved the hush it brought to the noisy city, the way it made everything look sparkling and pristine. But when the snow turned black and piled up along the curbs and the wind bit my face, the romance soured. While I enjoy the cold, I decided I like it best in small doses. So I moved to San Francisco, where the summers are notoriously cold and winter brings occasional sun and frequent rain, never snow.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Six-year-old Emma vanished into the thick San Francisco mist. Or into the heaving Pacific. Or somewhere just beyond: to a parking lot, a stranger’s van, or a road with traffic flashing by. Devastated by guilt, haunted by her fears about becoming a stepmother, Abby refuses to believe that Emma is dead. And so she searches her mind for clues about what happened that morning and cannot stop the flood of memories reaching from her own childhood to illuminate that irreversible moment on the beach.
Now, as the days drag into weeks, as the police lose interest and fliers fade on telephone poles, Emma’s father finds solace in his faith, but Abby can only wander the beaches and city streets, attempting to recover the life and the little girl that she lost. With her hope fading and her life at a crossroads, she will leave San Francisco for a country thousands of miles away. And it is there, by the side of another sea, on a journey that has taken her into a strange subculture of wanderers and surfers, that Abby will make the most astounding discovery of all, as the truth of Emma’s disappearance unravels with stunning force. Sample instantly on Nook or other e-readers.
“Richmond gracefully explores the nature of memory and perception in key passages that never slow the suspense of the search…a page-turner with a philosophical bent.” Booklist
“What happened to six-year-old Emma? The answer, and its implications, will keep you on the edge of your chair.” Seattle Times
“The book of the summer…If you read only one book, read The Year of Fog.” Olivia de Lamberterie, Tele Matin, Ch 2, France. “A breathtaking novel…magnetic.” Elle France. “The gripping story of the search for a missing child.” Radio France. One of the “great successes of the summer.”Le Figaro, France “Intimate and exciting…a good, long, fascinating metaphysical novel.” Benzine Magazine, France
“An unusually imaginative novel of family, loss and hope, The Year of Fog tackles mysteries of time, memory and the human heart.” ~South China Morning Post
“Heartbreaking and riveting, this novel is beautifully written” ~Closer Magazine, UK. “Mesmerising and harrowing… Richmond has established herself as the mistress of the kind of literary mystery that reads like a fine thriller but with added insight and wisdom.” ~Daily Mail “Impossible to put down…five stars.” ~News of the World
“A harrowing, beautifully written story. What happened to six-year-old Emma? The answer, and its implications, will keep you on the edge of your chair.” Seattle Times“Deeply moving.” ~Madame Magazine, Germany. “Psychologically sophisticated suspense.” ~Freundin, Germany. “I’ve never found it so difficult not to race to the last page.” Brigitte Magazine, Germany. “Shines with a pleasing literary style, a quiet narrative and intense characters.” WDR5, Germany “Richmond masterfully conjures feelings of love and loss.” Paisajes, Spain. “Intriguing.” Que Leer, Spain. “With sensitivity, Michelle Richmond examines the fragility of our own stories and the role of memory.” Lalibre, Belgium
“In this spare page-turner, Richmond draws complex tensions from the setup of a child gone missing… The book is beautifully paced – one feels Abby’s clarity of purpose from the first page. The sure-handed denouement reflects the focus and restraint that Richmond brings to bear throughout.” Publishers Weekly
Grade: A. “Gripping…Richmond makes the reader feel the gamut of emotions, from the initial disbelief and blind hope to the nagging guilt and gnawing despair.” ~Alexis Burling,The Washington Post
“What marks us, and how do we react to our impressions, both large and small, of life? These are the questions asked by San Francisco author Michelle Richmond in her wonderful second novel, “The Year of the Fog. Despite all its drama — and this heart-wrenching tale does ratchet up the tension — this is primarily a story of echoes and repercussions…spare, moving…it’s all done delicately, in almost poetic terms.” Clea Simon, The San Francisco Chronicle (read the review here) GBS_insertEmbeddedViewer(‘ISBN:9780385340113?,600,500); // ]]>
“Richmond’s second novel is a startlingly original take on every parent’s worst nightmare…An unsettling and powerful punch of a book, The Year of Fog unfolds as a waking dream about the persistence of memory and the extraordinary force of love.” Cookie Magazine
“A good part of what makes “The Year of Fog” compulsively readable is the voice of its narrator. Abby’s tone is quietly conversational, almost as though she is sitting across the table and, over a cup of coffee, calmly telling her tale. The dispassionate tone reveals a brutally honest teller, and only serves to heighten the tension of the story…both believable and bittersweet.” Robin Vidimos, The Denver Post
“A harrowing, beautifully written story of a photographer and soon-to-be stepmom whose momentary lapse in attention results in the disappearance of her fiance’s little girl on a foggy beach in San Francisco. What happened to 6-year-old Emma? The answer, and its implications, will keep you on the edge of your beach chair.” Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times.
“[The Year of Fog] manages to have both the high-velocity pace of a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller and nuanced insights into the nature of memory, love, family, and guilt…Richmond burros into the details of San Francisco’s geogaphy and neighborhoods…Like all good mysteries, The Year of Fog twists the reader’s expectations, turning some of what we think we know about missing child cases on its head and providing a surprising and satisfying ending that manages to retain the complexity of real life. It is, in the end, a very memorable book.” ~Samantha Berry, Marin Magazine
“Much more than a tale of a woman looking for a child who’s lost. It’s also about the nature of passion, guilt, and most of all, memory…The Year of Fog also serves as a real-life guidebook of sorts to some of San Francisco’s lesser known neighborhoods and sites…Richmond captures the spirit of life in The City.” ~Leslie Katz, The San Francisco Examiner
“A hauntingly written novel of two people dealing with loss in their own ways… Richmond’s dream-like prose lends to an eerie atmosphere, and the solving [of] the mystery of Emma’s disappearance will leave you breathless.” Parkersburg News & Sentinel
“A child’s disappearance is at the heart of this riveting read that follows photographer, fiance and soon-to-be-stepmother Abby Mason. Once the drama starts, prepare to race to the last page.” Hallmark Magazine
“Grab your beach bag and call your book club, The Year of Fog probably will be the best new novel of the summer…vivid environmental descriptions and psychologically sound character development. As with all good novels that border on great literature, the plot is multilayered. The Year of Fog will leave the reader both perplexed and enlightened.” Reba McMellon, The Mississippi Press
“A book I just finished this morning – reading while I was making breakfast because I absolutely could not put it down- is The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. Every single word in this book was worth reading.” Tina Ristau, Des Moines Register
“Richmond artfully combines Abby’s research on memory and a sensitive depiction of her relationship with fiance Jake, resulting in a compelling, smart novel that you truly will find difficult to put down.” Birmingham Magazine
“While The Year of Fog is structured around the search for Emma, it offers a deeper meditation on the fragility of love. Which is the stronger loyalty, to child or lover? How can we relieve someone else’s despair? These sometimes unanswerable questions form the heart of Richmond’s book…The Year of Fog works well as both a literary mystery and a poignant portrait of a family ripped apart by random circumstance.” Frances Dinkelspiel, Culture Vulture
“The Year of Fog [is] written so movingly that an experience that is far from universal becomes immediate and personal… the vignettes throughout create a larger poetica in which it is the reader who becomes, happily, lost.” Santa Fe Reporter
“The dilemma with Michelle Richmond’s newest novel is this: the plot is so compelling you can’t read fast enough, but the writing is so crisp and exact you want to savor every word…Nothing is sugar-coated in these pages, which makes Abby’s self-realizations all the more honest, satisfying, and true. ” Anita Garner, Alabama Writers’ Forum
“Beautifully written, with deep insights into the human soul.” Willow Glen Books, San Jose, CA
“In The Year of Fog, Richmond gives us both a mystery and a meditation on memory. Profound, deeply moving, endlessly gripping; you will devour it in a weekend and turn it over to begin again.” ~Andrew Sean Greer, author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli
“From the very first chapter The Year of Fog grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go. Michelle Richmond is that marvelous thing, a writer who can craft a gorgeous sentence and also create a plot so propulsive that it hurts to put the book down, even for a minute. And forget about sleeping. You won’t do that until you’re finished.” ~Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits
“Michelle Richmond’s The Year of Fog is a harrowing and unputdownable novel. A moving account of one woman’s ardous journey from an ordinary day to nightmare to, ultimately, redemption. Few novelists put their characters through harder paces than Richmond. And readers have no choice but to carried away by the enduring beauty of this story.” ~Peter Orner, author of The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo & Esther Stories
“Suspenseful, richly imagined, and ultimately hopeful, The Year of Fog is a keeper. Michelle Richmond is a talent to watch.” ~Joshilyn Jackson, author of Gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia
“Michelle Richmond crafts an addictive, haunting story, filled with brainy tidbits and a local’s love of landscape.” ~Michelle Tea, author of Valencia, Rent Girl, Rose of No Man’s Land
“The Year of Fog is impossible to stop reading. Even as I savored Michelle Richmond’s rich prose and fascinating passages on photography and the nature of memory, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. A missing child, a haunting neighborhood, a search for love, The Year of Fog has it all. Make a sandwich now: you won’t stop reading for hours.”~Amanda Eyre Ward, author of How to Be Lost and Sleep Toward Heaven
“In The Year of Fog, Michelle Richmond has performed something of a magic act. From the first few pages I was hooked. As though she knows the ride she is is taking us on is harrowing, Richmond peppers the story with mischievous humor and unexpected insights, all layered over a gorgeous love letter to San Francisco.” ~Heather Juergensen, co-writer, actor, Kissing Jessica Stein
“Michelle Richmond gives us a fascinating look into the mind of an artist. Richmond’s prose is sensual, her images fresh, her writing, lyrical and lovely.” ~Ann Cummins, author of Red Ant House and Yellowcake
“In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.”
Simon and Schuster has releasedA Stolen Life, a memoir by Jaycee Dugard. There is also an ebook and an unabridged audio book, read by Dugard. A portion of the proceeds will go to The JAYC Foundation, which provides support and services for the timely treatment of families recovering from abduction and the aftermath of traumatic experiences. Scroll down for a link to Jaycee’s pinecone jewelry to support the foundation.
Jaycee Dugard
About the book: Dugard narrates the story in the present tense, beginning with the harrowing day of her abduction at the age of 11–her confusion, her terror, her absolute powerlessness as Phillip and Nancy Garrido paralyzed her with a stun gun, dragged her into the car, shoved her to the floor, and drove her from Tahoe to Antioch, California, to the dismal backyard compound where she would spend the next 18 years of her life. Scroll down to read an excerpt.
Each chapter is followed by a reflection, in which Dugard, who has been in therapy since her rescue in 2009, reveals her feelings about the ordeal now, as an adult looking back at the suffering of her younger self. Dugard’s writing style is direct and lucid, filled with detail; the naturalness of her writing is all the more impressive given the fact that her formal education stopped at the age of 11.
Dugard writes about discovering she was pregnant at the age of 14, and about delivering two baby girls in her back yard prison. She writes about how dependent she was on Phillip Garrido for everything. For most of the first six years of her captivity, she was locked in a soundproof room. Garrido convinced her that he knew everything she did. She lived in fear of getting “in trouble,” certain that he would use the stun gun again.
When her youngest daughter was two years old, Dugard was finally allowed to begin going out in public. By then, she had been so manipulated by Garrido that she believed his terrible lie: that she was safer in the back yard compound than she would be out in the world, and that her daughters were safer there as well. On outings, she avoided looking people in the eye; repeatedly, she mentions her feelings of invisibility.
Through it all, we see Dugard’s attempt to live as normal a life as possible–caring for a series of beloved pets, creating a school for her children, establishing small routines, and later, keeping the Garridos financially afloat by running the family printing business–often while Phillip and Nancy spent their days in a drug-induced slumber. She even keeps a journal, portions of which are presented–in her own childish print–in the book. Later journal entries reveal Jaycee struggling with many of the things any twenty-something young woman struggles with: her weight, her desire to eat more healthfully and be more motivated. These entries are extraordinarily poignant, infused with Jaycee’s longing, all these years after her abduction, to be with her mother; her desire to be free mixed with uncertainty about where she would go, or how she would take care of her children, if she were ever to leave; her confusion about Nancy and Phillip’s role in her life. After all, they have become her “family,” but she desperately wants to be with her real family, to be held once again by the mother whose face she can no longer remember, but whose love she remembers vividly.
Some of her journal entries include lists of dreams she has for her life. Along with taking a hot-air balloon ride, visiting Ireland, and learning two languages, she dreams of writing a best-seller. She has done just that; the day of its release, A Stolen Life hit #1 on Amazon.
Dugard also explains her reason for writing this book: she will no longer hide Garrido’s secret, she will no longer protect him from the truth of what he did to her. Others will know the brutality of his abuse.
This is a heartbreaking book from a brave and unbelievably resilient young woman, who now looks forward to a normal life for her and her two daughters. It is also inspiring; so much was taken from Dugard, and yet she has chosen to move forward without hatred. While she still experiences loneliness, she writes, she has fully embraced the joys of making home-cooked meals with her family, walking on the beach, and simply being free. Buy the book.
Having done a great deal of research into missing children while writing The Year of Fog, I followed Jaycee’s case with deep interest. One cannot help but be amazed by the fact that she survived and raised her daughters in such harrowing circumstances, and that she has now turned her efforts to helping other families through the J A Y C Foundation. In her interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired July 10 on Prime Time Life, Jaycee emphasized the fact that crimes such as those committed by the Garridos affect not only the victims, but also the victims’ families.
A note about Michaela Joy Garecht: Jaycee’s recovery momentarily gave hope to other parents of missing children–in particular to Sharon Murch, the mother of Michaela Joy Garecht, who was kidnapped from a Hayward, California, parking lot in 1988, and who has never been found. Sharon Murch is still looking for Michaela; read more about her story here.
In the summer of 1991 I was a normal kid. I did normal things. I had friends and a mother who loved me. I was just like you. Until the day my life was stolen.
For eighteen years I was a prisoner. I was an object for someone to use and abuse.
For eighteen years I was not allowed to speak my own name. I became a mother and was forced to be a sister. For eighteen years I survived an impossible situation.
On August 26, 2009, I took my name back. My name is Jaycee Lee Dugard. I don’t think of myself as a victim. I survived.
A Stolen Life is my story—in my own words, in my own way, exactly as I remember it.
View a video clip of Diane Sawyer’s interview with Jaycee Dugard here.
View Jaycee Dugard’s website, The JAYCFoundation, here.
A pinecone was the last thing Jaycee touched before she was dragged into the Garridos’ car two decades ago. It is “a symbol of hope and new beginnings,” she told Sawyer. “There is life after something tragic.” Purchase pinecone jewelry to support the foundation here.
Michelle Richmond is the author of The Year of Fog, No One You Know, Dream of the Blue Room, and The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress.
