Beautyland -- Marie-Helene Bertino, Hardcover

A Must Read: Nylon, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Review of Books, Literary Hub, The Millions, Kirkus Reviews, BookRiot

A wise, tender novel about a woman who doesn't feel at home on Earth, by the acclaimed author of Parakeet.

At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.

For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. Then, at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?

Marie-Helene Bertino's Beautyland is a novel of startling originality about the fragility and resilience of life on our Earth and in our universe. It is a remarkable evocation of the feeling of being in exile at home, and it introduces a gentle, unforgettable alien for our times.

Author: Marie-Helene Bertino
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 01/16/2024
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 7.70h x 5.60w x 2.00d
ISBN: 9780374109288

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 08/01/2023 pg. 2
Publishers Weekly 10/02/2023
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2023
Booklist 12/01/2023 pg. 97