An Impenetrable Screen of Purest Sky

A Novel

“A first novel of sorts that promises to be an engaging study of memory, storytelling, and coming of age.” —Library Journal

Daniel is pursued by stories. His father, in thrall to a myth, has disappeared; his mother and sister, too; and Lydia, his lover, leaves him and the novel he cannot finish for quantum mechanics, the place where theory tells tales about the real. And then there is Pearl, the girl beneath the floorboards, whose adventures hum alongside Daniel’s own.

In this contemporary, contemplative fairy tale, the autobiographical novel takes on the cast of legend, and the uncertainty of memory leaves reality on shaky ground. Can parallel universes exist? Can a preoccupation with Moby Dick overwhelm the story unfolding before you? Where do you stand in relation to the metaphysics of your own life?

“A rich, profound, fascinating book, the kind that widens the margins of everything we read.” —Los Angeles Times

“Dive in, & beneath Beachy-Quick’s carefully sculpted language, you’ll find a love story . . . [Dan Beachy-Quick] writes with heightened lyricism, an ear for rhythm and rich sensory detail.” —Chicago Tribune

“A marvelous novel, by turns lyrical, realistic, dreamlike, and philosophical but always intelligent and gorgeously written.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Dizzying and beautiful.” —Los Angeles Review of Books