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The girl in green / Derek B. Miller.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017Copyright date: ©2016Edition: First U.S. editionDescription: 326 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780544706255
  • 0544706250
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 813/.6 23
LOC classification:
  • PS3613.I5337 G57 2017
Summary: "From the author of Norwegian by Night, a novel about two men on a misbegotten quest to save the girl they failed to save decades before 1991. Near Checkpoint Zulu, one hundred miles from the Kuwaiti border, Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist who reports from war zones in part to avoid his lackluster marriage and a daughter he loves but cannot connect with; Arwood is a midwestern American private who might be an insufferable ignoramus, or might be a genuine lunatic with a death wish--it's hard to tell. Desert Storm is over, peace has been declared, but as they argue about whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of an ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But something has cracked for them both. Twenty-two years later, in another place, in another war, they meet again and are offered an unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she? "-- Provided by publisher.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
BOOK Meaford Public Library Fiction Fiction FIC Mille (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 85187
Total holds: 0

"From the author of Norwegian by Night, a novel about two men on a misbegotten quest to save the girl they failed to save decades before 1991. Near Checkpoint Zulu, one hundred miles from the Kuwaiti border, Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist who reports from war zones in part to avoid his lackluster marriage and a daughter he loves but cannot connect with; Arwood is a midwestern American private who might be an insufferable ignoramus, or might be a genuine lunatic with a death wish--it's hard to tell. Desert Storm is over, peace has been declared, but as they argue about whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of an ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But something has cracked for them both. Twenty-two years later, in another place, in another war, they meet again and are offered an unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she? "-- Provided by publisher.

Patron comment on 03/06/2017

This tense, quixotic tale is set in the midst of the current Middle-East conflicts of Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan. There are many reasons to read it. Frist, it’s a great story and Miller’s research and experience in the conflict area and use of actual events give it the verisimilitude of a first-hand account. Miller is a bold writer and does not shy away from controversial topics, as was quite evident in his first novel Norwegian by Night. American policy, an unrealistic hope for a new Arab caliphate, and the self-serving perverse idealism of ISIL among other aspects of the conflict do not escape his criticism. I think most readers will find the book is very informative about the combatants, what the New York Times terms “a complex array of militias ... and troops”. But this is mostly a bold adventure story, and a joy to read. Miller makes great use of wit and sarcasm throughout it, and I think every reader will grow quite fond of the anti-hero characters central to it.

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