Friday Freebie: Win a signed copy of Life Drawing by Robin Black

Congratulations to Tim Horvath, winner of last week's Friday Freebie, The Forgers by Bradford Morrow.

This week, one lucky reader will win a signed copy of Life Drawing, the debut novel from Robin Black, author of the short story collection If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This.  Some of you have probably had Robin's novel on your wish list for a long time; now is the chance to try a win a copy (and if you're name isn't drawn, I highly recommend you pony up a couple of Alexander Hamiltons to add it to your home library).  For those of you who have read it and are fiercely clinging white-knuckled to your copy, here's your chance to win a signed hardback to give away as a holiday gift.  And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, read on for more reasons why Life Drawing should be near the top of your To-Be-Read pile...

In Life Drawing, her gorgeously written first novel, Robin Black unfolds a fierce, honest, and moving portrait of a woman, and of a couple’s life—the betrayals and intimacies, the needs and regrets, the secrets that sustain love and the ones that threaten to destroy it.  Augusta and Owen have moved to the country, and live a quiet, and rather solitary life, Gus as a painter, Owen as a writer.  They have left behind the city, and its associations to a troubled past, devoting their days to each other and their art.  But beneath the surface of this tranquil existence lies the heavy truth of Gus’s past betrayal, an affair that ended, but that quietly haunts Owen, Gus and their marriage.  When Alison Hemmings, a beautiful British divorcée, moves in next door, Gus, feeling lonely and isolated, finds herself drawn to Alison, and as their relationship deepens, the lives of the three neighbors become more and more tightly intertwined.  With the arrival of Alison’s daughter Nora, the emotions among them grow so intense that even the slightest misstep has the potential to do irrevocable harm to them all.  With lyrical precision and taut, suspenseful storytelling, Black steadily draws us deeper into a world filled with joys and darkness, love and sorrows, a world that becomes as real as our own.  Life Drawing is a novel as beautiful and unsparing as the human heart.

And here's some nice Blurbworthiness to topple you fence-sitters:

“In her debut novel, Black skillfully conveys the way a long-term relationship can so easily shift between love and affection and a petty tallying of old hurts and disappointments.  In addition, she delivers a hair-raising portrait of a poisonous female friendship.  Full of emotional turmoil yet subtle in its effect, this elegant novel is sure to draw in both women’s-fiction and literary-fiction fans.”

—Booklist

“The simple facts—Gus’s relationship with Owen, her love affair with Bill—are, of course, not simple.  [Robin] Black is a writer of great wisdom, and illuminates, without undue emphasis, the flickering complexity of individual histories. . . . The atmosphere of their love, of this house, is one of the most powerful aspects of Black’s unsettling and compelling novel. . . . [Her] taut, elegant prose is both effective and affecting. . . . Life Drawing is at once quiet and memorable.  This makes it far from fashionable, and all the more to be applauded.  Its author pursues real and vital questions.  Astringent and wise, Black is not afraid to discomfit her readers.  This novel, like life, is uneasy: what a relief.”

—Claire Messud, The Guardian (UK)

BONUS: If you haven't already read it, you should check out Robin's contribution to the "My First Time" series here at the blog.

If you’d like a chance at winning Life Drawing, simply email your name and mailing address to

thequiveringpen@gmail.com

Put FRIDAY FREEBIE in the e-mail subject line.  One entry per person, please.  Despite its name, the Friday Freebie runs all week long and remains open to entries until midnight on Nov. 20, at which time I’ll draw the winning name.  I’ll announce the lucky reader on Nov. 21.  If you’d like to join the mailing list for the once-a-week newsletter, simply add the words “Sign me up for the newsletter” in the body of your email.  Your email address and other personal information will never be sold or given to a third party (except in those instances where the publisher requires a mailing address for sending Friday Freebie winners copies of the book).

Want to double your odds of winning?  Get an extra entry in the contest by posting a link to this webpage on your blog, your Facebook wall or by tweeting it on Twitter.  Once you’ve done any of those things, send me an additional e-mail saying “I’ve shared” and I’ll put your name in the hat twice.