Overview

A complex family drama with a Manhattan family court judge at its center. I Don't Know How to Tell You This focuses on Judge Rachel Sugarman and her life both inside and outside the courtroom. Rachel is part of a close Jewish family whose lives are marked by significant emotional challenges, including the painful recognition that her beloved husband is slowly being diminished by memory loss, and the past trauma of her mother-in-law, a prickly Holocaust survivor who, in old age, continues to struggle with her grief. Rachel's career as a judge and the power she wields in her courtroom offer an intimate look at a woman navigating what is still, in the 21st century, a profession most often dominated by men. The novel explores the very topical issues of child and spousal abuse, which color the dark undercurrent of the courtroom scenes. And though it reflects serious issues, there is very clearly a pitch-black comic sensibility at work throughout the novel. Equally sad and touching and quirkily humorous, I Don't Know How To Tell You This is quintessential Marian Thurm.

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9781953002570

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Reviews

"""Marian Thurm writes with an authority that is always impressive…and that compels our innocent belief…She writes so brilliantly of the battle of the sexes.”  New York Times Book Review “What is wonderful…are Thurm’s cold, clear eye and her perfect ear for the way people talk…As an observer and reporter, she is wickedly accurate, generously tolerant and wryly amused.” The Washington Post Book World “Exceptional…(Thurm) embraces the ironies and absurdities of the ordinary world and transforms them into a series of small epiphanies.” Newsday “Careful, assured, exact, she is a delight to read. She has a heart that is almost broken—‘almost’  because there’s humor and wit and a glimmer of hope.” Chicago Tribune “Eloquent…Thurm writes with such precision, such attention to psychological detail that she makes this world completely recognizable and true…We come to see her characters in the round, like beautifully shaped sculptures rather than as simple portraits in a frame.” The New York Times “Thurm hits the funny/sad spot every time, whether the subject is bereavement, divorce, betrayal, or some other form of abandonment... (She)…chronicles the frustrations and heartbreaks of contemporary domestic arrangements with a brilliantly light touch."" Kirkus Reviews (starred) “Marian Thurm is one of the most delightful writers around…the writing is gorgeous and the emotional truths and pains we all harbor are painfully explored and exposed.” The Providence Journal"

Author Information

Marian Thurm is the author of nine novels and five short story collections, including Today Is Not Your Day, a New York Times Editors' Choice. Her novel The Clairvoyant was a New York Times Notable Book. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Michigan Quarterly Review, Narrative Magazine, The Southampton Review, and many other magazines, and have been included in The Best American Short Stories, and numerous other anthologies. Her books have been translated into Japanese, Swedish, Dutch, German, and Italian. She has taught creative writing at Yale University and Barnard College, and in the MFA programs at Columbia University and Brooklyn College.

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