The Map of True Places

Brunonia Barry

HarperCollins,  March 2011

From Brunonia Barry, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader, comes an emotionally compelling novel about finding your true place in the world.

A respected Boston psychotherapist, Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats. But the actions of a patient throw Zee into emotional chaos and take her back to places she thought she'd left behind.

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem begins a larger journey. Suddenly having to care for her ailing father after his longtime companion moves out, Zee must come to terms with a strained and awkward relationship that has always been marked by half-truths and haunted by the untimely death of her mother. Overwhelmed by her new role, Zee must destroy the existing map of her life and chart a new course -- one that will guide her not only into her future but into her past as well.

Paperback | ISBN: 9780007314553 | Publication Date: March 2011

Reviews:
"The Map of True Places is admirable in many ways. . . The voice behind the plot turns is both liable and engaging. "
-- Washington Post

"In the end, readers will have seen a talented novelist at work, with characters who are real and a story that will move them."
-- St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"An ambitious work. . .beautifully written."
-- Boston Globe

"The meditations on American history, assisted suicide, reincarnation and celestial navigation are informative and even endearing…the voice behind the plot turns is both likable and engaging."
-- Carolyn See, The Washington Post

"Masterfully woven with a cast of unforgettable characters set loose in a world so specific and real, The Map of True Places is a gripping quest for truth that kept me reading at the edge of my seat to the very last page."
-- Lisa Genova, New York Times Bestselling author of Still Alice

"A novice psychotherapist finds unsettling parallels between a patient's suicide and her mother's history in Barry's second (The Lace Reader, 2008). . . This woman-in-jeopardy thriller retooled with gothic elements - shifting identities, secrets and portents, a deserted cottage and a missing suicide note -- manages to transcend."
-- Kirkus Reviews starred review

"Barry's considerable latest delves into the long-lingering effects of a mother's suicide. . . This is a lovingly told story with many well-drawn characters, who sooner or later reconsider the courses charted by personal decisions and circumstance."
-- Publishers Weekly