The River Midnight - Brossura

Tammie Bob Chicago Tribune How Nattel turns the ordinary stuff of [shtetl life] into images that transcend time, place and culture is the real magic of The River Midnight.

R.Z. Sheppard Time The River Midnight [is reminiscent] of Marc Chagall's romantic paintings. Like Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County and García Márquez's Macondo, Nattel's imagined backwater is shot through with mythic significance.

Sandra Brooks-Dillard The Denver Post The River Midnight, Lilian Nattel's lovely first novel, is like Fiddler on the Roof without the music...lovingly written, beautifully crafted, meticulously researched.

Megan Harlan Entertainment Weekly Nattel's emotional, panoramic narrative proves extraordinary.

Natasha Stovall The Washington Post [A] mesmerizing first novel...The River Midnight is not simply remarkable as a historical text. Nattel's flair for the telling detail is just one treasure in her bag of writer's tricks.

Roy Hoffman The New York Times Book Review As enchanting as a Chagall mural...Nattel writes with refreshing bawdiness.

R. Z. Sheppard Time [Nattel's] supple narrative technique weds the discipline of scholarship with artistic license. The River Midnight is inspired match-making.

Janice Pomerance Nimura Newsday A magic-realist novel with equal attention to both magic and reality -- not an easy line to walk....Nattel weaves all the strands together in a visionary climax that unites the village and points across the generations to herself.

Laura Rose USA Today Readers who appreciate the magic of quality research wrapped in a well-told tale will find Blaszka worth a visit.

Paula Friedman The San Diego Union-Tribune Lilian Nattel has written a first novel of wondrous mythical depth and rare spiritual beauty....No doubt possessing prodigious literary gifts, Nattel's depth of study and passion for her subject also accounts for The River Midnight's stunning originality.

Lilian Nattel was born and raised in Montreal. Her family emigrated from Poland, their history lost in prewar memory. Reinventing this history, she has rewoven the broken threads with years of research. Nattel's short stories have been anthologized, and she has been awarded grants by the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council. She now lives in Toronto.