“Girl Held in Home gracefully walks the knife’s edge between wild satire and ripped-from-the-headlines realism. Elizabeth Searle’s new novel is sexy, funny, creepy and highly enjoyable.” Tom Perrotta
A mother tries to deal with complex relationships, race, and fear in the days following 9/11 while her teenage son attempts to rescue a girl that may be trapped in a house filled with a family of terrorists.
Praise for Girl Held in Home
“Searle (Celebrities in Disgrace, 2001) manages to spin a completely zany plot that holds some hard truths about prejudice, sexual politics, and fear. This is one political novel that manages to convey its message with insight and humor.” Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist
“In this serio-comic novel, Searle has managed to take such meaty topics as bigotry, fear, and hysteria, and whip them into a tasty stew. By alternating between dual narrators… Searle balances the moral and emotional sides of these issues, while serving up more than a dollop of satire.” Joan Silverman, Portland Press Herald
“Elizabeth Searle finds the over-the-top comedy for her breakneck new novel… Will the world end while we shop at Whole Foods? Will it end before we finally get laid? The result is touching as well as funny.” Clea Simon, The Boston Globe
“Searle’s new novel is sexy, funny, creepy and highly enjoyable.” Tom Perrotta
“A thrilling reflection of post-9/11 suburban America.” Josie E. Davis, The Literally Plop Review
“A capsule of post-9/11 suburbia…loaded with its own dark discoveries and precarious desire…heaps of heartfelt wit…A complex deconstruction of that strange grey area that ecclipses hero and traitor, hostage and terrorist.” Rachael Katz, Dig Boston
“Elizabeth Searle uses her signature zany brilliance to turn suburbia, adultery, parenting, politics and even terrorism into something new and insightful. Move over, John Cheever! Elizabeth Searle has arrived!” Ann Hood
“A smart, quirky and ultimately profound tale of domestic suspense.” Joseph Finder
“Girl Held in Home is the ‘not now, honey, I’m reading’ book of the year. Believe me, you will not want to be interrupted once you begin this thrilling novel. It is, in a word, unputdownable.” Leslea Newman
“In case fans of John Barth have been wondering what that master ironist might have done with 9/11 and its aftermath, hold onto your hats. Here comes Elizabeth Searle… The new novel, part thriller and part romance is tense and satirically funny at once.” American Book Review
“Trademark Searle: quick with the life of the moment but also tuned to deeper implications.” Sven Birkerts