Gone to the Forest A Novel [Paperback]

*San Francisco ChronicleBest Book of 2012
*Financial TimesBest Book of 2012
*New YorkerBest Book of 2012

FROM THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OFTHE LONGSHOTcomes this gripping saga about the destruction of a family, a home, and a way of life. Set on a struggling farm in a colonial country teetering on the brink of civil war,Gone to the Forestis a tale of family drama and political turmoil in which fiery storytelling melds with daring, original prose. Since his mother’s death, Tom and his father have fashioned a strained domestic peace, where everything is frozen under the old man’s vicious control. But when a young woman named Carine arrives at the farm, the tension between the two men escalates to the breaking point. Hailed by theBoston Globeas “a major talent,” Kitamura shines in this powerful new novel.Katie Kitamurais based in New York. She has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times,Wired, and The Guardian, and is a regular contributor toFrieze.Gone to the Forest

1

Tom hears the noise from across the hall. A quick stream of native patois. At first he thinks it is the servants talking. But then he hears the crackle of static. The high cadence of a bugle. The voice picks up again and is louder. Agitated and declaiming.

It is the radio—somebody has left the radio on. Tom gets to his feet. The old man is not in his study, he is out by the river. But the noise is not coming from the old man’s study. Tom follows the sound down the corridor. He goes to the kitchen, thinking perhaps Celeste has been listening to the afternoon drama—

The kitchen is empty. The dishes sit washed and gleaming on the shelves. A drip of waterlSH