Set in the 1930s, this is a novel about a husband and wife who travel across the United States performing acts of aerial daring and a chance encounter they have with William Faulkner that has unexpected consequences for all.
WINGWALKERS
by Taylor Brown
St. Martin’s Press, April 2022
One part epic adventure, one part love story, and—as is the signature for critically-acclaimed author Taylor Brown—one large part American history, WINGWALKERS follows Della and Zeno Marigold, a vagabond couple who fund their journey to the west coast in the middle of the Great Depression by performing death-defying aerial stunts from town to town. Woven into their story is that of the author (and thwarted fighter pilot) William Faulkner. Based on a tantalizing tidbit from Faulkner’s real life, this novel captures the true essence of a bygone era and sheds a new light on the heart and motivations of one of America’s greatest authors.
Taylor Brown grew up on the Georgia coast. He has lived in Buenos Aires, San Francisco, and the mountains of western North Carolina. He is the recipient of the Montana Prize in Fiction and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. His novels include Fallen Land, The River of Kings, Gods of Howl Mountain, and Pride of Eden, and his short fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Rumpus, Garden & Gun, The Bitter Southerner, Chautuaqua, Southwest Review, and many others. He lives in Savannah, Georgia.
Le producteur Frank Marshall (Jurassic World, série Jason Bourne) travaillera avec le réalisateur Barry Sonnenfeld (séries de films Men in Black et La Famille Addams, Les Désastreuses Aventures des orphelins Baudelaire) pour adapter en film d’animation le prochain roman de Jane Smiley, PERESTROIKA IN PARIS. La date de sortie n’est pas encore connue.
Seventeen-year-old Poppy Winslow doesn’t know why her family has been running her entire life. Her beautiful, caring, mysterious parents won’t tell Poppy and her younger sister why they won’t disclose their true identities or why they move every few years. Poppy’s family is everything to her, but with each passing year, her curiosity has only grown, and she is beginning to wonder how she can have her own future when staying with her parents means giving up a normal life. When the family lands in San Francisco, Poppy comes across a DNA testing kit at school and seizes the chance to try and find out more about her family’s history. But she may not be ready for the shocking truth of her parents’ real identities or the fallout from her actions as the net tightens around the Winslow family. And now she must ask herself: how much of herself does she owe her family? And is it a betrayal to find her own place in the world?
Everyone likes Hani Kahn—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita Dey. Ishita is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after. 
Jennifer Barnes never expected the shocking news she received at a routine doctor’s appointment: she has a terminal brain tumor—and only six weeks left to live. While stunned by the diagnosis, the forty-eight-year-old mother decides to spend what little time she has left with her family—her adult triplets and twin grandsons—close by her side. But when she realizes she was possibly poisoned a year earlier, she’s determined to discover who might have tried to get rid of her before she’s gone for good. Separated from her husband and with a contentious divorce in progress, Jennifer focuses her suspicions on her soon-to-be ex. Meanwhile, her daughters are each processing the news differently. Calm medical student Emily is there for whatever Jennifer needs. Moody scientist Aline, who keeps her mother at arm’s length, nonetheless agrees to help with the investigation. Even imprudent Miranda, who has recently had to move back home, is being unusually solicitous. But with her daughters doubting her campaign against their father, Jennifer can’t help but wonder if the poisoning is all in her head—or if there’s someone else who wanted her dead.