Cost A Novel [Paperback]

Julia Lambert, an artist, is spending the summer in her old Maine farmhouse. During a visit from her elderly parents, she hopes to mend complicated relationships with her domineering father, a retired neurosurgeon, and her gentle mother, who is descending into the fog of Alzheimer's. But a shattering revelation intrudes: Julia's son, Jack, has spiraled into heroin addiction. In her attempts to save him, Julia marshals help from her loosely knit clan, but Jack's addiction courses through the family with a devastating energy, sweeping them all into a world of confusion, fear, and obsession. InCost, Roxana Robinson applies her trademark gifts as an intelligent, sensitive analyst of family life and creates a warmly human and deeply satisfying book, marking a new level of ambition and achievement for this talented author (Chicago Tribune).

Artfully portrays a family transformed by the far-reaching consequences of a son's heroin addiction. Vanity Fair

Costapplies Roxana Robinson's trademark gifts as an intelligent, sensitive analyst of family life. . . . A warmly human and deeply satisfying book, marking a new level of ambition and achievement for this talented author. Chicago Tribune

Scarily good . . . with such fierce moments of anxiety and grief, this is, frankly, a challenging novel to read, but Robinson's insight makes it impossible to break away. The Washington Post

Pitch-perfect . . .Costis unusual for being as plot-driven as it is character-driven, and the assured manner in which Robinson builds toward the inevitable train wreck is matched by her acuity in bringing us inside the characters' minds. The New York Times Book Review

Costis unsparing but not bleak. It is both lyrical and unsentimental, richly honest and humane--summer reading of uncommon stature. The Wall Street Journal

Gripping . . . Robinson paints a chilling portrait of addl3*