Enon: A Novel

by Paul Harding

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR BY
The Wall Street Journal • American Library Association • Kirkus Reviews

A stunning allegorical novel about one man’s enduring love for his daughter

In Enon, Paul Harding follows a year in the life of Charlie Crosby as he tries to come to terms with a shattering personal tragedy. Grandson of George Crosby (the protagonist of Tinkers), Charlie inhabits the same dynamic landscape of New England, its seasons mirroring his turbulent emotional odyssey. Along the way, Charlie’s encounters are brought to life by his wit, his insights into history, and his yearning to understand the big questions. A stunning mosaic of human experience, Enon affirms Paul Harding as “a contemporary master and one of our most important writers” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

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“Harding conveys the common but powerful bond of parental love with devastating accuracy. . . . [He] is a major voice in American fiction.”—Chicago Tribune
 
“Paul Harding’s novel Tinkers won the Pulitzer Prize; its stunning successor, Enon, only raises the bar.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
 
“Extraordinary . . . a darkly intoxicating read . . . [Harding’s] prose is steeped in a visionary, transcendentalist tradition that echoes Blake, Rilke, Emerson, and Thoreau.”—The New Yorker
 
“So wild and riveting it’s practically an aria . . . Harding is a superb stylist.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
“[Charlie’s grief], shaped by a gifted writer’s caressing attention, can bring about moments of what Charlie calls ‘brokenhearted joy.’”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Astonishing . . . a work of fiction that feels authentic as memoir.”—Financial Times
 
“Read Enon to live longer in the harsh, gorgeous atmosphere that Paul Harding has created.”—San Francisco Chronicle

• ISBN10: 0812981774
• ISBN13: 9780812981773
• Publish Date: 15 July 2014 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Trade Paperbacks
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780812981773

Reviews

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

I read Tinkers several years ago and loved it. Paul Harding's story has beautiful prose and a fascinating storyline. Although, I believe my interest in the novel was due to the fact that its main character, George Crosby is epileptic, a subject that I am interested in.

Enon is elegantly written and reread sentences due to their excellence. This would be an opportune moment to quote such passages as one does Shakespeare; although there are far too many and would face carpel tunnel if I were to do so.

As epilepsy takes such a major role in Tinkers I expected the disorder to be spotlighted in Enon as well only for it to be the contrary. In hindsight, I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was knowing that seizures are not genetic nor should a family be overshadowed or defined by a disability. Everyone has their own story to tell and Enon is Charlie Crosby's

Enon is a continuation of sorts, sloping down the Crosby family tree to George's grandson Charlie. To connect these generations, the reader is given vivid memories of Charlie's daughter Kate and with his Grandfather George with these reminisces woven together seamlessly.

Paul Harding's book is one of grief, an emotion we can all relate to. Charlie bares the worst kind imaginable -- the loss of a child. Charlie's maddening decent through grief leads him to prescription drugs. Enon hit a low point for me (as it did for Charlie) when he visits his neighborhood drug dealer, it became too deep a hole for me bare and found it difficult to dig myself out. Although one cannot imagine how they would handle such a situation. Life is not an episode of Growing Pains whose problems can be solved in thirty minutes.

In the end, Enon is a novel of sadness, love and redemption and is beautiful to behold.