{"product_id":"the-gulf-of-lions","title":"The Gulf of Lions","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Shetterly writes with intimate, journal-like immediacy, threading humor and longing throughout Alice's journey. Without veering into the maudlin or the morose, her prose is warm and self-aware. Readers who cherished the self-reinvention of Frances Mayes's \u003ci\u003eUnder the Tuscan Sun\u003c\/i\u003e (1996), the emotional depth of Nina Riggs' \u003ci\u003eThe Bright Hour\u003c\/i\u003e (2017), and the fish-out-of- water perspective of Nicki Chen's \u003ci\u003eWhen in Vanuatu\u003c\/i\u003e (2021) will enjoy Shetterly's luminous and life-affirming novel.\" -- \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Gulf of Lions\u003c\/i\u003e is witty, breezy and great fun to read, with the travelogue bonus of lively descriptions of the gorgeous places the family visits and the incredible things they eat. I am dying to sample the juicy green plums they keep inhaling, for instance, to enjoy their honeyed complexity. And, come to think of it, 'honeyed complexity' is not a bad way to describe Shetterly's satisfying writing.\" -- \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMinnesota Star Tribune\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"What a deliciously irresistible novel! In \u003ci\u003eThe Gulf of Lions\u003c\/i\u003e, Caitlin Shetterly takes us on a trip through France where we inhale the scenery, the cafe au lait and croissants, and the emotional journey of a travel writer as she tries to both heal and forgive. This book is a five-star read. I guarantee you'll love it.\" \u003cb\u003e-- Elin Hilderbrand\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A wry, aching, life-affirming novel about cancer, motherhood, and the mess of being human. Caitlin Shetterly writes with unsparing honesty and grace. A tour de force.\" \u003cb\u003e-- Christina Baker Kline, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003ePlease Don't Lie\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Exiles\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A stunning meditation on midlife and motherhood that builds into something urgent and unforgettable. \u003ci\u003eThe Gulf of Lions\u003c\/i\u003e captures the beauty and complexity of being human with rare depth and sincerity.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Meagan Church, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Mad Wife\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Gulf of Lions\u003c\/i\u003e is a joyful, generous portrayal of the love between mothers and children, the exhilaration of discovering new places, gorgeous food, and the many sensual pleasures of France. This novel examines the thorny question of what can we offer others when we are vulnerable ourselves; it arrives at a beautiful answer.\" \u003cb\u003e-- Alice Elliott Dark, author of \u003ci\u003eFellowship Point\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eIn the Gloaming\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"This is a tender, deeply felt novel, a love story about motherhood and coming of age. Alice and her young daughters travel to France where they find both beauty and danger. Caitlin Shetterly writes masterfully about the journey this family takes and the heartrending, necessary push and pull between parent and child.\" \u003cb\u003e-- Allegra Goodman, author of \u003ci\u003eIsola\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSam\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Caitlin Shetterly has written a gorgeous novel about rediscovering joy. \u003ci\u003eThe Gulf of Lions\u003c\/i\u003e is unflinchingly honest about the work of living and beautiful about the rewards of reaching for hope.\" \u003cb\u003e-- Ann Packer, author of \u003ci\u003eSome Bright Nowhere\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Children's Crusade\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"An exquisite and indelible portrait of mothers and daughters and the many ways we lose our children. Caitlin Shetterly writes with a thin skin to the world, alert to both its beauty and its ghastliness. I didn't so much read this novel as inhabit it.\" \u003cb\u003e-- Daisy Alpert Florin, author of \u003ci\u003eMy Last Innocent Year\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The family's year of living dangerously unfolds slowly, yet compellingly.... What we see from the distance of the novel and its fundamentally earnest protagonists is that despite the boredom, fear, loneliness and despair the pandemic wrought, it also brought the potential to become the only thing we have to look forward to: the better, happier humans we aspire to be.... I loved reading this book, which I gulped down in two otherwise busy days.\" \u003cb\u003e-- \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e, on \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"[A] perceptive debut novel . . . the psychological acuity applied to the family drama is undeniable.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly, on Pete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Shetterly . . . gives voice to the fearful, isolated beginnings of COVID-19. . . . With the tone and tenor of Matthew Norman's \u003cem\u003eLast Couple Standing, \u003c\/em\u003e Sarah Pekkanen's \u003cem\u003eThe Ever After\u003c\/em\u003e, and Greg Olear's \u003cem\u003eFathermucker\u003c\/em\u003e, the story taps on every fault line within one family, as a whole world grapples with its own fragility. Heartwarming and heartwrenching in equal turns, Shetterly's foray into fiction is unforgettable.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist (starred review), on Pete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A masterly debut novel about the first year of the plague and its corrosive effects on one family in the United States struggling to survive intact. Readers will be hard-pressed to leave this story behind.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal, on Pete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eShetterly's debut achieves a subtle grace, a quality of light and shadow worthy of a Bergman film.\" --\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003eon \u003ci\u003ePete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Thought-provoking and raw, this pandemic reflection is about so much more than lockdown--it's about our roles in society and how to come into our own as mothers and women.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eZibby Owens, Good Morning America, on Pete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"A\u003c\/em\u003e tender, big-hearted, clear-eyed portrait of a marriage, and a family, in crisis--set during the plague years when the entire world was in crisis. As she investigates the insidious effect of lies, betrayal, fear, and anger, not to mention the mundane joys and wrenching heartaches of everyday life, Caitlin Shetterly gets to the heart of what it means to be a family.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristina Baker Kline, on Pete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"When we first meet the title characters of Caitlin Shetterly's gripping novel \u003cem\u003ePete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/em\u003e, they're fleeing pandemic ravaged New York with their children for the relative safety of their second home. How satisfying it would be in this age of easy social media judgment to despise them for their privilege. The only thing preventing it, really, is that this very fine novel--like all good novels--insists upon getting to know them. I loved it.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRichard Russo, on Pete and Alice in Maine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"What a deliciously irresistible novel! This book is a five-star read. I guarantee you'll love it.\" -- Elin Hilderbrand\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A wry, aching, life-affirming novel about cancer, motherhood, and the mess of being human. Caitlin Shetterly writes with unsparing honesty and grace. A tour de force.\" -- Christina Baker Kline\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003ePete and Alice in Maine \u003c\/i\u003ecomes a standalone and evocative sequel about a mother who, recovering from the trauma of breast cancer and a mastectomy, takes a once-in-a-lifetime trip across France with her two daughters. In France, she finds out what it means to fully live.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReconciling with her husband after a betrayal and recovering from a yearlong battle with breast cancer, Alice longs for an escape from the trials of everyday life. When the opportunity arises for a once-in-a-lifetime camping trip across France, she packs up her daughters, hoping it's the new start she so desperately needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlice, teenage Sophie, and young Iris begin their odyssey in the French Alps, entering a foreign world they did not know existed: beautiful people, luscious food, and sensual temptations. It's a freeing experience--exploring the countryside, sleeping beneath the stars, reveling in the sights and scents of nature. For the first time since her diagnosis, Alice starts to feel alive, less afraid of dying, and less angry about her husband's affair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut as the family continues south, traveling through Provence, where they camp on the Gulf of Lions, an area of the Mediterranean known for wild, roaring winds and purple fields of lavender, they start to unravel the yarn that binds them together. By the time they head to the charred Pyrenees, and then back across France to stay in a castle that sits on the confluence of two rivers, Alice worries that the trip might have been a disastrous and reckless mistake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA beautiful meditation on womanhood, personhood, exploration, survival and sexual awakenings, \u003ci\u003eThe Gulf of Lions\u003c\/i\u003e is a breathtaking and emotionally resonant story that plumbs the eternal question: What, in the end, will keep a family from falling apart?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 (EAN 9780063421073, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/20\/2026 (EAN 9780063421073, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eShetterly, Caitlin\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCaitlin Shetterly\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of \u003cem\u003eModified, Made for You and Me, \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003ePete and Alice in Maine. \u003c\/em\u003eShe the editor of the bestselling \u003cem\u003eFault Lines: Stories of Divorce\u003c\/em\u003e. She won the Maine Literary Award for \u003cem\u003eModified \u003c\/em\u003ein 2017.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer work has been featured in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Magazine, Orion, Elle, Self, \u003c\/em\u003e the\u003cem\u003e Boston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMedium, \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eLitHub, \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eRomper\u003c\/em\u003e, and on \u003cem\u003eOprah.com\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as on \u003cem\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHidden Brain\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eStudio 360, \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eWeekend Edition\u003c\/em\u003e and various other public radio shows. She an editor-at-large for \u003cem\u003eFrenchly, \u003c\/em\u003e a French arts and culture online news magazine. A Maine native, she graduated with honors from Brown University and now lives with her two sons and husband in her home state. Caitlin is passionately committed to helping preserve, in every way she can, the peace of wild things. www.caitlinshetterly.com\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496161771798,"sku":"9780063421073","price":34.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780063421073.jpg?v=1783054527","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-gulf-of-lions","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}