To Be Sung Underwater

Judith Whitman always believed in the kind of love that picks you up in Akron and sets you down in Rio. Long ago, she once experienced that love. Willy Blunt was a carpenter with a dry wit and a steadfast sense of honour. Marrying him seemed like a natural thing to promise. But Willy Blunt was not a person you could pick up in Nebraska and transport to Stanford. When Judith left home, she didn't look back.

Twenty years later, Judith's marriage is hazy with secrets. In her hand is what may be the phone number for the man who believed she meant it when she said she loved him. If she called, what would he say?

TO BE SUNG UNDERWATER is the epic love story of a woman trying to remember and the man who could not even begin to forget.

"An exceptional novel.... McNeal writes a kind of prose that's almost endangered today: natural, smooth and subtle."-- The Wall Street Journal "Cynthia Crossen "
"Bautifully written.... a compelling story, uniting the literary, character-driven novel with what eventually becomes quite a page turner.... This novel will make for great book-club discussions."-- The Cleveland Plain-Dealer "Sarah Willis "
"Hypnotic .... so vividly written that it takes you to a place where all your perceptions seem dizzyingly altered. Which is, of course, exactly like love itself."-- Washington Post "Caroline Leavitt "
"Love stories have a terrible gravity, a centrifugal force. McNeal has created characters so dimensional, so memorable, that we are caught up in that urgency. Our rationality is compromised; the rules of the world fade away."-- Los Angeles Times "Susan Salter Reynolds "
"McNeal's ability to tell the story from a female point of view is shockingly accurate, as is his Richard Russo-esque ability to make small town characters simply complicated....a beautiful novel that bravely examines the effect a broken relationship can have on one's life path."-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Carrie Keyes "
"Smart, sexy, gorgeous, and at times devastatingly sad--these words describe the woman at the heart of this wonderful novel almost as well as they do the book itself. This ravishing love story will envelop you for a few days and then linger for a long time thereafter."--Ann Packer, author of "Swim Back to Me "and "The Dive from Clausen's Pier"
"This lovely novel is quiet and smart, drawing you so deeply into the characters that the ending might just leave you coming up for air."-- Oprah Magazine "Gale Walden "
"To Be Sung Underwater is such an immensely readable novel. McNeal has the enviable talent of making splendid writing look easy at no cost to the complexity and the beauties of what fascinates him (and me) -- the terrain occupied by women and men in love with each other. This is a wonderful book."--Richard Ford
"You don't so much read "To Be Sung Underwater" as you're consumed by it. The characters are unforgettable. The writing is staggering. More importantly, though, it's the courage of this book that sets it apart. It's the bravest, most beautiful book I've read in a long time."--Markus Zusak, author of "The Book Thief"

Tom McNeal grew up in California. He has been a Wallace Stegner Fellow and a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University. His debut novel Goodnight, Nebraska was published in the UK in 1998.

Judith Whitman always believed in the kind of love that picks you up in Akron and sets you down in Rio. Long ago, she once experienced that love. Willy Blunt was a carpenter with a dry wit and a steadfast sense of honour. Marrying him seemed like a natural thing to promise. But Willy Blunt was not a person you could pick up in Nebraska and transport to Stanford. When Judith left home, she didn't look back.Twenty years later, Judith's marriage is hazy with secrets. In her hand is what may be the phone number for the man who believed she meant it when she said she loved him. If she called, what would he say?TO BE SUNG UNDERWATER is the epic love story of a woman trying to remember and the man who could not even begin to forget.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.