The Cradle - Rilegato

"[A] magical debut novel...A deeply gratifying modern fable...with the light, graceful touch that makes Mr. Somerville, also the author of a short-story collection ("Trouble"), someone to watch. ..As a small novel with unexpectedly wide range, "The Cradle" mixes the profound emotional pull of parent-child connections with comically eccentric touches." (New York Times Janet Maslin)

"[A] lean, moving tale...'The Cradle' emerges swift and cinematic, an epic story told in a series of artfully curated, wonderfully rendered scenes...As a writer, I'm still wondering how Somerville created this exquisitely complex story on a small canvas. As a reader, I'm glad he did." (New York Times Book Review Dean Bakopoulos)

"[A] surprisingly tender novel...What matters are Somerville's characters, rendered with such warm appreciation of their complexity and resilience that, although he declines to predict their future, we have every reason to hope they will continue making slow, tentative progress toward healing the wounds of the past." (Chicago Tribune Wendy Smith)

"The link between the characters...is uncovered with a slow grace. But the story's real centerpiece is Matt's rapport with Joe. Their spare conversation is beautifully written, with lines of painstaking clarity. The weight of what Matt is doing-speaking, in a way, to his younger self-manages gravity while dodging self-seriousness, a particular gift in a debut novel." (Time Out Chicago Melissa Albert)

"Somerville makes it clear that his title plot device is no mere MacGuffin but rather a sweetly drawn symbol that not only wraps up his debut novel with a neat bow but also communicates a wise and hopeful worldview... Somerville displays an effortless command over his fiction, letting secrets reveal themselves rather than dropping them in like surprise gimmicks. More important, as his knack for oddball secondary characters in overlooked pockets of the rust belt shows, Somerville concerns himself with people as much as plot." (Chicago Reader Patrick Daily)

"Poignant and funny...a well-wrought, often comical exploration of contemporary fatherhood." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joseph Peschel)

"A heartwarming debut...a fast-paced, compassionate, moral book. . . . the author succeeds beautifully in describing Matt's journey, which is both a harrowing road adventure and a journey of self-discovery." (Minneapolis Star-Tribune Anthony Bukowski)

"A fine first effort and a rewarding read." (Hartford Courant Carole Goldberg)

"[Matt's] search, in Patrick Somerville's brilliant (and short!) debut novel is heartfelt, yes, but full of wild turns." (Louisville Courier-Journal David Daley)

"This slim and rather unusual road novel is very satisfying. . . . because [Somerville] manages to somehow pack a pretty epic family story into such a concentrated punch of a book, THE CRADLE is the kind of novel you can read in a single sitting on a rainy spring Sunday." (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Bobby Tanzilo)

A beautiful debut novel from a remarkable young writer about marriage, devotion, and parenthood.