“In this fierce and impressive debut, Miriam Herin asks us to open our eyes wide to the hopes, failure, compassion, and cruelty of life. Absolution ventures deep into the human psyche. Remarkable in scope, the story takes us from Boston to Vietnam and back, a journey that is unsettling – at times, harrowing – but unquestionably spellbinding…
Among the thorny truths that haunt Miriam Herin’s gripping, all-too human novel, Absolution, is that no war is ever over when it’s ‘over.’ Time may heal wounds, but the shards of desperate acts remain invisibly imbedded. The scars that mar the prosperous, smooth-surfaced marriage of pretty do-gooder Maggie Delaney and her Vietnam vet-turned-lawyer husband, Richard, are…
“Absolution delicately and skillfully depicts an anguished clash between secrets and justice in the heart of Maggie Delaney, a grieving widow. In the process, it also casts a beguiling and suspenseful net back across five decades—dropping the reader into nightmarish battles in Vietnam and also into backrooms of the 60s U.S. peace movement. Miriam Herin…
War often divides families, and in Miriam Herin’s timely first novel, “Absolution,” the effects of Vietnam cast a long shadow over the lives of Richard and Maggie Delaney…. Herin’s straightforward prose is well suited for the book’s emotionally charged subject matter, and the chapters in which Maggie meets with Pete Fellows deliver both beautiful and…
“Absolution entertains with a solid story populated by compelling characters. The writing style is straightforward, crisp and pitch-perfect.” Matthew Fiander, Greensboro News & Record
“Absolution grips and holds like popular fiction, but its themes and complexity encourage the reader to slow down…. “Absolution” is not history, but maybe something better than history: an account that gathers many threads and shows in unmistakable fashion how extraordinary times change people, and how the consequences of one’s actions can come decades after…
“Part murder mystery, part legal thriller, part reflection on the Vietnam War in light of current wars, this novel finds Maggie Delaney recovering from the violent death of her husband, Richard, as the young man accused of the crime goes to trial…. recommended for most fiction collections.” Library Journal
“This impressive Novello Literary Award–winning debut skillfully combines a contemporary courtroom thriller with a subtle look back at the competing passions and pressures of the Vietnam War era….Herin delves deep into questions of guilt and forgiveness while demonstrating a gift for the nuances of personal interactions.” Publisher’s Weekly
Miriam Herin’s first novel, Absolution, is a well-crafted, well-told tale that deals with the present-day murder of a Vietnam veteran (by a young Vietnamese immigrant) and the veteran’s wife’s search for answers to questions involving his war-time deeds. It includes well-rendered scenes in the jungles of Vietnam. VVA Veteran