{"product_id":"bear-by-julia-phillips-9781761380969","title":"Bear","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA mesmerising novel of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island whose lives are upended by an unexpected visitor — a tale of family, obsession, and a mysterious creature in the woods, by the celebrated, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eDisappearing Earth\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey were sisters and they would last past the end of time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSam and her sister, Elena, dream of another life. On the island off the coast of Washington where they were born and raised, they and their mother struggle to survive. Sam works long days on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club. But even together they can't earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about the limits that shape their existence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThen one night on the boat, Sam spots a bear swimming the dark waters of the channel. Where is it going? What does it want? When the bear turns up by their home, Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that it's time to leave the island. But Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Enchanted by its presence, she throws into doubt the plan to escape and puts their long-held dream in danger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA story about the bonds of sisterhood and the mysteries of the animals that live among us — and within us — \u003cem\u003eBear\u003c\/em\u003e is a propulsive, mythical, rich novel from one of the most acclaimed young writers in America.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The beautiful and haunting latest from Phillips (\u003cem\u003eDisappearing Earth\u003c\/em\u003e) ... The bear provides a vehicle for the author's masterful characterisation, as the sisters clash over their perception of the grizzly's meaning in their lives, and for the increasingly suspenseful plot. Phillips prefaces the story with an excerpt from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale 'Snow-White and Rose-Red', about two sisters who play with a bear, which sets a simultaneously playful and ominous tone and contrasts powerfully with the novel's supremely executed realism. This is brilliant.\"\u003c\/em\u003e - Publishers Weekly, starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cem\u003eBear\u003c\/em\u003e is a story of life on the margins — economically and geographically — of the American project, exploring the bonds of family and the warped relationship between humans and the natural world. There is something unsettling and uncanny about Julia Phillips's wondrous second book, less a novel than a fairy tale for the strange times in which we live.\u003c\/em\u003e - Rumaan Alam, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eLeave the World Behind\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJulia Phillips's rare and marvelous new novel weaves fairy-tale magic into a story of sisterhood, daughterhood, care, and devotion, while deftly illustrating the precarity of modern American life and the confines of social class. Building with quiet fury to its astonishing ending, \u003cem\u003eBear\u003c\/em\u003e will capture your heart and mind. I read in a state of wonder.\u003c\/em\u003e - Jessamine Chan, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe School for Good Mothers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46500058136812,"sku":"9781761380969","price":28.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3110843482815.jpg?v=1748569115","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/bear-by-julia-phillips-9781761380969","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}