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The Third Law of Motion Explores the Shadows of 1960s Domesticity

By: Jun. 29, 2013
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The Third Law of Motion: Meg Files's newest novel is set in Michigan in the early 1960s, when domestic violence remained hidden in silent basements and the worst thing a girl could do was to get herself "in trouble." It tells the stories of Dulcie White, a bright, confused college girl distracted by sexual discovery and the power of her boyfriend's neediness, and track star Lonnie Saxbe, caught up in his own confusions and compulsions. The Third Law of Motion offers an intimate look at the subtle complexities of the dynamic between a battered wife and a violent husband, where nothing is so simple as a fist punched through a wall.

"... the delicious writing, the pitch-perfect and absolutely fresh evocation of these lives of the 1960s immediately dazzled me; and then, the suspense that Files had been oh-so-deftly building into the story would not let me stop reading?or resume breathing-until the last page." - Elizabeth Evans, Suicide's Girlfriend

"Meg Files unfolds her story gently with clean, lyrical prose, balancing vivid scenes of raw sensuality with heartrending moments that foreshadow disaster. The Third Law of Motion is about love, madness, coming-of-age, and redemption, and it is also a tragedy and a page-turning thriller; in short it is a timeless classic. Meg Files is a deeply insightful and generous writer who allows even her most flawed characters grace and humanity. The Third Law of Motion is a wonderful book that absolutely deserves to be read." - Laila Halaby, Once in a Promised Land

"I read this novel in one sitting without stopping for sleep or food. The characters climb inside your skin so you feel acutely their desires, their obsessions, and the family secrets that bloom between them. Most of all, you find yourself in love and irreparably tied to them, so that as the novel reaches its final, exhilarating climax it is your own soul on the line, waiting either to be extinguished, or to find redemption." -Suzanne Kingsbury, The Gospel According to Gracey

Meg Files is the author of Meridian 144, a novel; Home Is the Hunter and Other Stories; Write from Life, a book about using personal experience and taking risks in writing; The Love Hunter and Other Poems; and Galapagos Triptych. She edited Lasting: Poems on Aging. She directs the Pima Writers' Workshop and teaches creative writing at Pima College in Tucson.
E-mail: orders@ingrambook.com



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