Dear Fang, With Love tells the story of seventeen-year-old Vera - ravishing, troubled, wildly intelligent.
After a decade of absence, her dad Lucas is newly involved in Vera's life. But when Vera's mental health starts to dramatically unravel, Lucas takes her to Lithuania, his grandmother's homeland, for the summer. Here, in Vilnius, Lucas hopes to save Vera from the sorrow of her diagnosis.
As Lucas uncovers a secret about his remarkable grandmother, a Home Army rebel, Vera searches for answers of her own. Why did her father abandon her as a baby? And who can she trust with the truth about what is happening to her?
Skillfully weaving personal and political histories, with a story of mania, inheritance, young love, and adventure, Rufi Thorpe has written a breathtakingly intelligent, emotionally enthralling masterpiece.
Read MoreHauntingly beautiful . . . an enthralling narrative that has me desperate to keep turning the page - Robin Wasserman, author of Girls on FireWhile the themes of the book - mania, the Holocaust, and the devastating number of ways that any parent-child dynamic can go awry - are undeniably dark, Thorpe's prose is light, often hilarious, and unshakably grounded in the concrete details of daily life . . . Thorpe has written an absolute winner. - Publishers Weekly, Starred ReviewDear Fang, With Love is a beautiful story about mental illness and love - PopSugar, '26 Books You Should Read This Spring'Startling... [Vera] is so unapologetically appealing, someone you root for and see the struggle of the muscle under the skin... It's the language, writing, and characterization that spring the novel from a well-told-tale into one of the finest releases of 2016... Thorpe is a major talent, and reading her work will bring to mind other writers who deftly control their universes with such clarity and acuity, like Donna Tartt or Ann Patchett - Seattle Review of BooksThorpe's voice, language, and attention to detail sucked me into the world she's created. Thorpe manages to tackle dark issues-estranged families, mental illness, and failed relationships-with a unique sense of humor and big-hearted empathy. - Electric LiteratureA deeply-detailed, beautiful, often hilarious novel, Dear Fang, With Love unflinchingly examines mental illness, the Holocaust, the power of family myths, and the relationships between generations. A captivating, compulsively readable and utterly original book - Huffington Post