The Sunken Cathedral

FromtheNationalBookAwardnomineeandauthoroftheacclaimed,NewYorkTimesbestsellingAShortHistoryofWomen,adeeplymoving,“lyrical,ominous,andunexpectedlyfunny”(TomPerrotta,authorofTheLeftovers)novelthatfollowsacastofcharactersastheynegotiateoneofManhattan’sswiftlychangingneighborhoods,extremeweather,andtheuneaseoftwenty-first-centurylife.MarieandSimone,friendsfordecades,wereonceimmigrantstothecity,survivorsofWorldWarIIinEurope.NowwidowslivingaloneinChelsea,theyremainrobust,engaged,andadventurous,evenasthevistasfromtheirpastinterrupttheirpresent.HelenisanarthistorianwhotakesapaintingclasswithMarieandSimone.SidMorris,theirinstructor,presidesoveradustystudioinatenementslatedforcondoconversion;heawakestheinterestofbothSimoneandMarie.ElizabethisMarie’supstairstenant,awomanconvincedthatothershaveasecretwayofbeing,aconfidenceandcertaintyshelacks.Sheisincreasinglyunmoored—baffledbyherteenageson,herhusband,andtherolessheismeanttoplay.Inachorusofvoices,KateWalbert,a“wickedlysmart,gorgeouswriter”(TheNewYorkTimesBookReview),exploresthegrowingdisconnectbetweentheworldofactionhercharactersinhabitandthelongings,desires,anddoubtstheyexperience.Interweavinglongnarrativefootnotes,Walbertpaintsportraitsofmarriage,offriendship,andofloveinitsmanyfacets,alwayslimningtheinnerlife,theplaceofdeepestyearningandanxiety.TheSunkenCathedralisastunninglybeautiful,profoundlywisenovelaboutthewaywelivenow.,