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Torch
Praise for Cheryl Strayed's TORCH:
Kirkus Reviews
Cheryl Strayed emphatically delivers with her debut novel, Torch,
the moving story of a family struck down by fate and how it learns to heal.
Writing with insight, compassion, and humor, Strayed reveals her gift of
getting to the core of the human condition.
People Magazine, Maria Speidel
A heartbreaking anatomy of one family's grief...Beautifully written and
authentic.
The Washington Post Book World, Carolyn See
This novelist goes fearlessly into this place of raw grief and
inappropriate lust and desperate love and simply reports what she sees:
These are people who live dense, perplexing, fascinating and authentic lives.
O, the Oprah magazine, Cathleen Medwick
A deeply honest novel of life after catastrophe, of intimacy lost and found.
The San Francisco Chronicle, Reyhan Harmanci
Strayed has a light hand, delivering emotional scenes with a journalistic eye,
picking out the important details without resorting to purple prose very moving.
The Oregonian, Wayne Scott
In her debut novel, Torch, this Portland writer delivers and astounds.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Claude Peck
Strayed proves a master of the little and the big There is throughout the
novel a perfectly tuned ear. Combined with her empathic skills, she has
transformed these familiar themes into an irresistibly engaging debut read.
Kirkus (starred review)
Strayed has a gift of getting to the core of the human condition without
artifice. The reader weeps for the loss of this dynamic woman and wants to knock
some sense into the survivors who are falling apart at the seams. Like Jane
Smiley, Strayed effectively taps into the psyche of midwestern America, and her
evocative prose leaves an indelible mark.
A hauntingly beautiful story written with tenderness and endowed with true
insights into the frailty of relationships.
Elle, Lisa Shea
An accomplished first novel.
New York Newsday, Daphne Uviller
Torch is a steady stream of finely wrought portrayals of nuance, moments and
emotions...lovely turns of phrase are coupled with subtle and keen observations
and truisms that remind a reader why she reads.
Library Journal (starred review)
A deeply moving tale...Strayed's descriptions of her characters lives, where and
how they live, what they remember, and what they wish to forget ring true and
clear and make this novel an unforgettable read; highly recommended.
The Austin Chronicle, Marion Winik
One of the small wonders of Strayed's fiction is the way she shows how ordinary
things become magical without any hocus-pocus at all.
Portland Monthly
Strayed catches fire with her first novel, Torch.
The Bookworm, Terri Schlichenmeyer
Strayed has captured the exquisitely sharp, yet totally baffling grief and
anguish of watching a loved one die, and you can't help but ache right along
with her characters as they watch a year go past. The supporting cast in this
book is well-written and completely believable.
Publishers Weekly
Beautifully observed Strayed's characters are real and lovable, even as they
fail themselves and each other; even tertiary players feel fully realized.
Though the subject is sad, the novel is not without humor; it shimmers with a
humane grace.
Bookmarks Magazine
Strayed's debut novel hits with the weight of unwelcome news and tackles head-on
some of the most difficult issues a family can face. Critics, who compare
Torch to Joan Didion's best-selling memoir The Year of Magical Thinking,
praise Strayed's attention to language and her ability to render grief--a topic
with which she is intimately familiar—through well-drawn, restrained details.
Booklist
First-novelist Strayed shows a deep appreciation for the rhythms of small-town
life, capturing the sense of community, the struggle to earn a living, and also
the disdain for "city apes." In addition, she discerns within one family's
crisis the painful, shifting nature of familial relationships.
Providence Journal, Beth Schwartzapfel
It's a beautiful book, expansive in its treatment of tragedy and grief, but
equally attentive to all of the most telling details. The language is lovely,
offering delicious, compelling imagery without being heavy-handed.
Portland Tribune, Ellison G. Weist
Strayed's Torch is an amazing feat. This is autobiographical fiction at its best...
an exquisite, powerful novel.
Minnesota magazine, Katy Read
It's a carefully observed, meticulously detailed study... complex and authentic.
Pages magazine
Strayed knows how to balance the heartache with humor, and the spiritual with
the mundane, to create characters you begin to know like friends.
Bookreporter.com, Eileen Zimmerman Nicol
Strayed addresses this universal theme with skill and unflinching compassion
by creating exceptionally believable characters... The details are precise,
understated and devastating... The metaphors are original and rich...
In short, this is a very moving and accomplished novel.
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