This Vacant Paradise

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book This Vacant Paradise by Victoria Patterson, Counterpoint Press
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Author: Victoria Patterson ISBN: 9781582438726
Publisher: Counterpoint Press Publication: March 10, 2011
Imprint: Counterpoint Language: English
Author: Victoria Patterson
ISBN: 9781582438726
Publisher: Counterpoint Press
Publication: March 10, 2011
Imprint: Counterpoint
Language: English

**“Patterson beautifully parses the consequences of one woman’s fall in this memorable, penetrating, fully achieved novel.” —**The New York Times Book Review
 
Story Prize and California Book Award finalist Victoria Patterson revisits Newport Beach in This Vacant Paradise, examining the intersections of economics, class, race, sex, and family expectations during the mid-1990s.
 
Esther lives with her grandmother, a virulent matriarch who controls her family through her wealth. Esther knows that an advantageous marriage replete with social standing, familial and peer approval, and financial rewards will alleviate her struggles. But she has been known to self-sabotage, and her loved ones are rooting for her not to blow it with her latest beau, especially since she’s at the ripe old age of thirty-three.
 
All is well until she begins a tumultuous love affair with Charlie, a local college professor known for his unconventional ideals as much as for his golf game and good looks. He sets a fire inside Esther, sparking and delivering her—whether by choice or not—from the insular, safe, and stifling confines of societal expectations to an alternate, unglamorous, and indefinable course. The result is a stunning debut novel: a powerful work of fiction sure to provoke and engage.
 
“Patterson writes with the exuberance of a natural storyteller. Her cast is rich, her narrative sinuous and masterfully structured.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Considering the subject matter—the real housewives of Orange County—Patterson’s debut novel (after story collection Drift) is surprisingly sophisticated and nuanced.” —Publishers Weekly

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

**“Patterson beautifully parses the consequences of one woman’s fall in this memorable, penetrating, fully achieved novel.” —**The New York Times Book Review
 
Story Prize and California Book Award finalist Victoria Patterson revisits Newport Beach in This Vacant Paradise, examining the intersections of economics, class, race, sex, and family expectations during the mid-1990s.
 
Esther lives with her grandmother, a virulent matriarch who controls her family through her wealth. Esther knows that an advantageous marriage replete with social standing, familial and peer approval, and financial rewards will alleviate her struggles. But she has been known to self-sabotage, and her loved ones are rooting for her not to blow it with her latest beau, especially since she’s at the ripe old age of thirty-three.
 
All is well until she begins a tumultuous love affair with Charlie, a local college professor known for his unconventional ideals as much as for his golf game and good looks. He sets a fire inside Esther, sparking and delivering her—whether by choice or not—from the insular, safe, and stifling confines of societal expectations to an alternate, unglamorous, and indefinable course. The result is a stunning debut novel: a powerful work of fiction sure to provoke and engage.
 
“Patterson writes with the exuberance of a natural storyteller. Her cast is rich, her narrative sinuous and masterfully structured.” —San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Considering the subject matter—the real housewives of Orange County—Patterson’s debut novel (after story collection Drift) is surprisingly sophisticated and nuanced.” —Publishers Weekly

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