Stephanie Clare Smith
"Everywhere the Undrowned offers an account of trauma and its aftermath more acute than any I have read. Reminiscent in places of Sylvia Plath at her sharpest and most bleakly funny, it deserves to become a classic."
—Emma Brockes, Author, She Left Me the Gun: My Mother's Life Before Me
"Stephanie’s writing shines a light on the possibilities of language and the human spirit."
—Abigail DeWitt, Author, News of Our Loved Ones
"In lyrical, metaphor-rich prose fragments that mine the cosmos, television, and avian life for meaning, Smith offers a harrowing yet hopeful look at the long road to recovery..."
—Publisher's Weekly
"I turned loneliness into trees and trees into dancers,' Stephanie Clare Smith writes in this gut-punching and gorgeous memoir. While there's trauma in these pages, Smith traverses the spaces of an abundant imagination that made survival possible."
—Robin Hemley, Author, Oblivion: An After Autobiography
It’s a pity that the language, in comments about books, has been so abused that when the real thing comes along, when something new, haunting and at the same time beautiful arrives, we are at a loss to convey how keenly important such a book is. So, yes, Stephanie Clare Smith’s Everywhere the Undrowned, is powerful, written with a fresh and beguiling voice, just as it really is haunting, dramatic and something else, too. It advances our understanding of language and experience, of character and sensibility. New, exciting, and unique.
—Craig Nova, Award Winning Author
What a frightening, memorable book!
Everywhere the Undrowned is a sort of miracle---a horrific yet beautiful memoir of parental neglect and its results--Smith's perception and vision are stunning, and the writing is extraordinary.This is an instant classic.
—Lee Smith, Award Winning Author
A MASTERFUL LITERARY MEMOIR
— #1 Must Read Memoir, STARRED review, Kirkus
SILENCE MIGHT HELP YOU COPE, BUT IT'S NOT HOW YOU SURVIVE.
AN EXQUISITE VISIT TO PLANETS OF PAIN AND REDEMPTION
...A WORK OF LITERATURE.
— Washington Post - view as PDF
...A TRIBUTE TO WOMEN WHO DID WHAT THEY HAD TO, TO SURVIVE...YET STILL HELD ON TO THEIR CORES.
EACH PARAGRAPH READS LIKE A POEM BUT URGES YOU FORWARD LIKE THE MOST COMPELLING NOVEL.
University of North Carolina Press
Lithub's exciting new books roundup.
— Literary Hub
One of the top 12 picks for spring 2024
— Deep South Magazine