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Critically Recognized
  • Taft by Ann Patchett book cover
  • Taft by Ann Patchett book cover
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Taft

by Ann Patchett

A father’s loss and a stranger’s past

$16.48 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Editorial selection

    A New York Times Notable Book

    Named a New York Times Notable Book.

  • Critical praise

    Praised by The New York Times Book Review

    Attributed praise describes the novel as resonant as a blues song.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A father’s loss and a stranger’s past

Set around John Nickel’s bar on Beale Street in Memphis, the novel links his longing to be a good father with the arrival of Fay, a young waitress whose family carries its own history of loss. As Nickel becomes preoccupied with Fay’s deceased father, Taft, he begins piecing together the life of someone he never knew. The book’s two strands—Nickel’s present-day relationships and his reconstruction of Taft’s past—bring questions of fatherhood, attachment, and the stories people build about others into the same frame.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For readers interested in family relationships and the responsibilities of parenthood.
  • For readers who enjoy fiction set in Memphis and shaped by music and local place.
  • For readers drawn to novels that connect a present-day story with the reconstruction of a person’s past.

Themes

Fatherhood and separationFamily bondsGrief and memoryReconstructing another person’s life

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

A New York Times Notable Book

"As resonant as a blues song. . . . Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett's fiction."--New York Times Book Review

An ex-jazz drummer wants nothing more than to be a good father in this moving family novel by the New York Times best-selling author of The Dutch House.

When John Nickel's lover takes away his son, Nickel is left only with his Beale Street bar in Memphis. He hires a young waitress named Fay Taft, who brings with her a desperate, dangerous brother, Carl, and the possibility of new intimacy. Nickel finds himself consumed with Fay and Carl's dead father--Taft--obsessing over and reconstructing the life of a man he never met.

A stunning artistic achievement, Taft confirms Ann Patchett's standing as one of the most gifted writers of her generation and reminds us of our deepest instincts to protect the people we love.

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