Dawn Moore Roy
Gray
by Author - Dawn Roy - Dawn Moore Roy
In her exciting debut novel,
Gray, Dawn Moore Roy weaves a brilliant narrative latticework in striking prose with measured surprises of lovely lyricism.
GRAY is a poignant and original exploration of doubt, humility, and judgment.
“Roy is a very talented writer, often wickedly so.”
— Kirkus “Starred Review”
BookLife Prize Review
"Editor's Pick"
— Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Dawn Roy has been a home engineer for most of her life, managing a ménage of various biped and quadruped creatures.
Her writing began decades ago with daily (almost) entries into her very personal journals. Along the way she became afflicted by the psychiatric disorder of aspiring to be a writer and after staring at stacks and stacks of annual diaries, her illness developed, leading her to complete a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh, where a special professor cured her by saying, “Just write a damn book.” So she did, and now feels ready to share it.
Roy lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, with her husband and German Shepherd, Otto.
A viscerally lush, sometimes playful,
and unflinching exploration of loss, sexuality, and the search for fulfillment, even in the face of death.
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Reviews of Dawn Moore Roy's Work
"A viscerally lush, sometimes playful,
and unflinching exploration of loss, sexuality, and the search for fulfillment, even in the face of death."
Reviews of Gray
“Roy is a very talented writer, often wickedly so. [Gray is] an impressive tale, wonderfully plotted and detailed, about a woman starting over. The ending delivers a delightful twist, an upsetting of expectations worthy of a mordant O. Henry.”
"" Roys approach emphasizes observation with original, artfully expounded detail, perceptions and thoughts captured in remarkably clean and composed prose. Lovers of self-investing
literary fiction will find much to contemplate."
—Publishers Weekly
"Editors Pick"
"The story hinges on Vera, her perspectives, her thoughts--ugliness, pettiness, beauty, intelligence--her journey as a person who ultimately is like the rest of us; trying to figure out what life can be and how to make that vision a reality. Roy's prose is lyrical and beautiful--some
passages are heartbreaking in their truth and honesty. Poetic without being oversaturated with excessive lyricism, the writing is introspective and explorative, while the subtlety and beauty of
language transform this book into something more; a study in humanity and the ebbs and flows of human emotions and doubt, and the trappings of memory."
— BookLife Prize Review
About the Novel
Vera Mine’s father is dying. She sits beside his hospital bed and watches the parade of people come and go. Only a few are his travelers, the people he holds close as he passes on. Faced with questions of meaning and mortality, Vera reflects on her life and the travelers she has encountered on the way. Finally, she understands what she, and people like her, need to have a satisfying life and a good death, or as good as a death can be.
Unknowingly, Vera (an ordinary middle-aged divorced white American woman) wants to be a modern-day interpretation of the Greek Goddess Athena. However, unlike Athena, with her crown of feathers and natural ability to judge and take action, Vera has a big problem. Everything she sees around her is gray, never even slightly black or white. She is a realist, yet fragile; unable to sugarcoat and always fighting the demons that question what she sees, what needs to be done. Vera surrounds herself with paralyzing clouds of gray.
Hopelessly insecure, she struggles to speak up, change the course of events. Considers herself a coward. After her father’s funeral and still mending, Vera surprises her friends and family when she sets out with great gusto on a mission to fulfill her newly realized needs and makes her home on the honeyed Greek island of Naxos. In a place where everyone is a stranger, Vera finally has the opportunity to look inward and explore her own creativity. She forges connections and is treated like an honored guests by a local family, who become part of her everyday life.
But the tranquility doesn’t last.
She immediately falls for Demetri, the island demigod, and finds herself caught up in hurtful lies and shocking secret plans that threaten to upend the idyllic island town. Soon she will be confronted with a choice to remain, once again, on the sidelines or make a judgment and find the courage within herself to act.
The narration takes you on an intimate ride in and out of Vera's thoughts as she confronts death, doubt, her cowardice, judgement, her mid-life sexuality, and the amazingly lovely power of humility.
Giving Back
20% of all royalties from hardcover books will be donated to the Worldwide Fistula Fund.
