The Pale Surface of Things
by Janey Bennett

Summary

Janey Bennett's ambitious, action-packed first novel resonates with vitality and authenticity. The fast-moving The Pale Surface of Things has kidnappings and killings, prayers and healing, ethics and ritual. In a remote village on the island of Crete, priests ride mopeds, goat rustlers wear ski masks, a groom abandons his bride at the altar, and a rootless young American runs face-first into history.

Bennett immediately grabs the reader's attention when Douglas, a young archeologist on the Greek Isle of Crete, leaves his bride standing (and fuming) at the altar. Realizing that marriage to the wealthy, spoiled young woman he was being pushed into marrying would be a huge mistake, Douglas simply takes flight, without money or even his passport. He seeks refuge in the nearby hills, and is befriended by a local widow and her son. When a masked robber attacks the boy, Douglas leaps to the boy's defense, stabbing the robber.

When the robber's identity is revealed, Douglas is in more trouble than he knew was possible - and that's only the first complication! Greek law, village traditions, and the Orthodox church teach Douglas lessons of shame, terror, gratitude, forgiveness, and ultimately, accountability. The Pale Surface of Things is filled with fascinating characters, surprising twists, and through it all, a solid optimism about the strength of the human spirit.

The Pale Surface of Things received seven awards in 2008, including a USA BookNews Award, Indie Excellence Award, Next Generation Indies Award, Nautilus Book Award, and Beach Book Festival Awards, and is a finalist for the 2009 Montaigne Medal.

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Praise

"Winner of seven book awards in 2008, The Pale Surface of Things certainly lives up to its reputation. Filled with strange yet authentic characters, it focuses on a Cretan village filled with thrilling and entertaining writing that will keep the reader glued to the book from first page to last. A tale of small village life, The Pale Surface of Things takes what seems to be a simple concept and adds enough twists to make it believable and a great reading choice." — The Midwest Book Review

"A novel that combines the fast-forward movement of a thriller with the authenticity of place and human frailty of literary fiction." — Joanna Catherine Scott, author of The Road from Chapel Hill

"Superb imagination. Wonderful interweaving. High moral principles. Good reading for everyone." — Metropolitan Archbishop Sotirios, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto

About the Author

Janey has a master's degree in architectural history. In addition to scholarly architectural writing, her career path has included a landscape design business ("Water-Less Gardens"), teaching dressage riding, training dressage horses, teaching English to nuns in Thailand, and free-lance editing. For fun, Janey is a performing ensemble cellist, and an author. Research is second nature to Janey. In the seven years she worked on The Pale Surface of Things, Janey studied classical Greek, Byzantine icon painting, geology, botany, the vernacular architecture and sociology of Greek villages, Minoan culture and art, the science of archaeology, World War II on Crete, and criminal law in Greece.

Janey's next novel (working title: Jia Li) has received the Joanna Catherine Scott Novel Excerpt Award from PEN Nob Hill's Soul-Making Awards. Janey has lived in many parts of the world, and currently divides her time between Bellingham, WA and Hornby Island, BC.

Buy Signed Copy - $21.95 | The Pale Surface of Things Web Site