THE BEDSIDE READ

Eight years after Téa Obreht’s sensational debut, The Tiger’s Wife, she returns with her unique take on historical fiction, a re-imagining of the American West. In Inland (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, approx €16.99, out August 13), we have two complex narrative threads: Nora Lark waits with her son and niece for the return of her husband with a supply of badly needed water in Amargo, in the Arizona Territory in 1893. Her youngest is convinced a beast stalks their home, while the teen communes with spirits. Next, we meet outcast Lurie Mattie, who’s seeking refuge in the US Army’s camel cavaliers. There’s a warrant for his arrest; he’s killed a boy. He is haunted by a guilty conscience and lost souls. Here is where Nora and Lurie start to link up: Lurie has seen ghosts from early childhood and acquires their “wants”, while Nora keeps up a running conversation with her daughter, Evelyn. She died a baby, but in her mother’s mind has become a young woman. Remarkable.