Praise for Edens Clock
Washington Post Historical Fiction to Read selection
An epic journey that rivals Twains picaresque novels. New York Sun
A thrilling, episodic novel of big ideas and national traumas. Kirkus Reviews
Locks final title in his resplendent American Novels series . . . poignantly explores the nature of human connection. Rich in period detail and memorable characters, this is a fitting conclusion to the series. Booklist
Entwining individual and collective fates, the immersive, propulsive historical novel Edens Clock sprawls across the early twentieth-century US. Foreword Reviews
Select Praise for Norman Locks The American Novels Series
Norman Lock has created a memorable portrait gallery of American subjects, in a succession of audaciously imagined, wonderfully original, and beautifully written novels unlike anything in our literature. Joyce Carol Oates
Shimmers with glorious language, fluid rhythms, and complex insights. Jane Ciabattari, NPR
Our national history and literature are Norman Locks playground in his dazzling series, The American Novels. . . . [ His] supple, elegantly plain-spoken prose captures the generosity of the American spirit in addition to its moral failures, and his passionate engagement with our literary heritage evinces pride in its unique character. Wendy Smith, Washington Post
This is fiction of a high caliber. . . on the cutting edge of history, providing us with a way to grapple with our evolving sense of the past, as we wonder what is next. Carl Rollyson, New York Sun
On The Boy in His Winter
[ Lock] is one of the most interesting writers out there. This time, he re-imagines Huck Finns journeys, transporting the iconic character deep into Americas pastand future. Readers Digest
On American Meteor
[ Walt Whitman] hovers over [ American Meteor], just as Mark Twains spirit pervaded The Boy in His Winter. . . . Like all Mr. Locks books, this is an ambitious work, where ideas crowd together on the page like desperate men on a battlefield. Wall Street Journal
On The Port-Wine Stain
Locks novel engages not merely with [ Edgar Allan Poe and Thomas Dent Mütter] but with decadent fin de sičcle art and modernist literature that raised philosophical and moral questions about the metaphysical relations among art, science and human consciousness. The reader is just as spellbound by Locks story as [ his novels narrator] is by Poes. . . . Echoes of Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray and Freuds theory of the uncanny abound in this mesmerizingly twisted, richly layered homage to a pioneer of American Gothic fiction. New York Times Book Review
On A Fugitive in Walden Woods
A Fugitive in Walden Woods manages that special magic of making Thoreaus time in Walden Woods seem fresh and surprising and necessary right now. . . . This is a patient and perceptive novel, a pleasure to read even as it grapples with issues that affect the United States to this day. Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women
On The Wreckage of Eden
The lively passages of Emily [ Dickinson]s letters are so evocative of her poetry that it becomes easy to see why Robert finds her so captivating. The book also expands and deepens themes of moral hypocrisy around racism and slavery. . . . Lyrically written but unafraid of the ugliness of the time, Locks thought-provoking series continues to impress. Publishers Weekly
On Feast Day of the Cannibals
Lock does not merely imitate 19th-century prose; he makes it his own, with verbal flourishes worthy of Melville. Gay & Lesbian Review
On American Follies
Ragtime in a fever dream. . . . When you mix 19th-century racists, feminists, misogynists, freaks, and a flim-flam man, the spectacle that results might bear resemblance to the contemporary United States. Library Journal (starred review)
On Tooth of the Covenant
Splendid. . . . Lock masters the interplay between nineteenth-century Hawthorne and his fictional surrogate, Isaac, as he travels through Puritan New England. The historical details are immersive and meticulous. Foreword Reviews (starred review)
On Voices in the Dead House
Gripping. . . . The legacy of John Brown looms over both Alcott and Whitman [ in] a haunting novel that offers candid portraits of literary legends. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
On The Ice Harp
Lock deftly takes us into the polyphonic swirl of Emersons mind at the end of his life, inviting us to meet the man anew even as the philosopher fights to stop forgetting himself. . . . [ A] remarkably empathetic and deeply moral novel. Matt Bell, author of Appleseed
On The Caricaturist
Lock successfully mimics Cranes impressionistic style in his marvelous depictions of late 19th-century America. Publishers Weekly
