{"title":"Norah Labiner","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"german-for-travelers","title":"German for Travelers: A Novel in 95 Lessons","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Norah Labiner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eMay 1, 2009 • 6 x 9 • 270 pages • 978-1-56689-223-0\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eA family saga redolent of the Old World, layered with consequence, and frosted with Technicolor.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn search of the key to unlock a great family mystery, Lemon Leopold, a Hollywood starlet, and her cousin Eliza, a romance writer, go to Berlin. Soon they are on a trail leading back to their great-grandfather Jozef Apfel, a Jewish pioneer of psychoanalysis in early twentieth-century Germany. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlternating between the great doctor’s household, the mysterious case of his patient Elsa Z., the rise of Nazi Germany, 1960s and 1970s Detroit, and modern-day Berlin, this is a story about a girl whose dreams reveal the future, a family beset by ghosts, and the place that haunts them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNorah Labiner is the author of three previous novels: \u003cem\u003eOur Sometime Sister, Miniatures,\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eGerman for Travelers.\u003c\/em\u003e She has received a Minnesota Book Award for Literary Fiction, as well as fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been recognized by the American Library Association, the Jewish Book Council, and the Barnes \u0026amp; Noble Discover Great New Writers series. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“A creative, modern novel.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJewish Woman Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Inventive and engaging. . . . A great read.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePioneer Press\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Labiner’s voice is bold and outgoing, giving the impression that she can tromp through whatever story she pleases.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eOnion\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eA.V. Club Twin Cities\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An intricate family saga.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cleverly constructed. . . . Labiner shows a light comic touch.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDenver Post\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707448462,"sku":"","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/German_for_Travelers.jpg?v=1515043847"},{"product_id":"let-the-dark-flower-blossom","title":"Let the Dark Flower Blossom","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Norah Labiner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eApril 30, 2013 • 5.5 x 8.25 • 384 pages • 978-1-56689-320-6\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eAn existential murder mystery about two rival writers willing to do anything——lie, steal, kill——to get the perfect story.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSheldon and Eloise Schell are twins, orphans, and the estranged college companions of the rich, scandalous, celebrated Roman Stone. Now Roman is dead, stabbed in the heart, and Eloise and Sheldon must separately tease out their secret past—a burning house, a murdered girl—that is the one story they could never tell. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving between the muffled plush of wintry Chicago, the fog-bound darkness of a Lake Superior island, and the even darker precincts of memory, \u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e is a book about the pull of the closed door. It is about the small pleasure of being right, the tremendous thrill of doing wrong, and the lengths writers will go—lie, steal, kill—to get the perfect story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNorah Labiner is the author of three previous novels: \u003cem\u003eOur Sometime Sister, Miniatures,\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eGerman for Travelers.\u003c\/em\u003e She has received a Minnesota Book Award for Literary Fiction, as well as fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been recognized by the American Library Association, the Jewish Book Council, and the Barnes \u0026amp; Noble Discover Great New Writers series. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThanks to a 2013 ADA Access Improvement Grant administered by \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/vsamn.org\/\"\u003eVSA Minnesota\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, this title is also formatted for screen readers which make text accessible to the blind and visually impaired. To purchase this title for use with a screen reader please email us at \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:info@coffeehousepress.org\"\u003einfo@coffeehousepress.org\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“As rewarding as it is challenging, this book is a great alternative to a beach read for those who love literary mysteries. . . . Recommended for those who thought that even Gone Girl didn't have enough troubled characters and unforeseen twists.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A puzzle of a book, [\u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e] engages one’s attention through staccato prose and a number of interrelated and compelling characters. This ‘existential murder mystery’ . . . will reward attentive readers.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eBooklist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A dark and truly original work of extraordinary strangeness and beauty.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Emily St. John Mandel\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The joy of \u003cem\u003eLet The Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e is going on this complicated journey—speculating on the monstrosity of novels with their great narratives of escape, their vastness, their horrors and tragedies—to come to discover what a ‘perfect’ story is for you. With a wicked sense of humor, a compelling narrative, beautiful lyrical language, and strong characters, Labiner does not disappoint.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eArcadia Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e thrills in all the right ways: it’s moody, suspenseful, and intellectually exciting. The story defies all expectations and comes replete with the chilly darkness of characters mining what’s long been buried. Norah Labiner is an ambitious artist and this may be the most satisfying novel I’ve read all year.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Dean Bakopoulos\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Dark and intriguing.” \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Kirkus\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A splendid, leisurely meditation on the meaning of fame, identity, and love.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews,\u003c\/em\u003e starred review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Labiner, narrating in several distinct and haunting voices, proves herself a metafictional adept. She succeeds in crafting an ambitious, poignant and sharp-tongued novel filled with secrets and ghosts, jealousy and love.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Norah Labiner’s \u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e (Coffee House Press) is a definitely a novel for writers and avid readers. It is one of those intellectually written novels that doesn’t just tell a story in a smart and unique way, it examines the story and all of the aspects that make a story, the elements that a story needs to succeed in a readers mind.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eBusking at the Seams\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The complex characters, the oppressive sense of fate, the vivid winter landscape, and, most of all, the challenging questions about the nature of storytelling lingered long after I finished \u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom.\u003c\/em\u003e . . . A tale to be read curled up, surrounded by your own papers and the stories they hold, as the snow falls in the background.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eMinerva Rising\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Labiner, with a firm control over events . . . and a fine way with language, presents us with an intellectual murder mystery that seeks to determine how writers’ foibles and eccentricities can be dangerous to themselves and, often, to others.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eQuarterly Conversation\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e is wholly original and brilliantly imaginative. . . . The author has created a living narrative, one that almost seems to grow, change, and breathe right before our eyes. It is almost as if Labiner’s story has a mind of its own. You’ll never read a book the same way again.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eGently Read Literature\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I was driven forward by the mystery’s peculiar unravelings and . . . by the haunting beauty of Labiner’s writing. The way \u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e encourages reflection on the malleability of memories, and on the stories we make from them, was, for me, one of the great pleasures of the book.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eSmall Press Picks\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e will subsume you. It’s a protean universe—lush with scandal, violence, and perverse glamour—where everything and nothing is true. . . . As readers we are implicated. As readers we bear guilt. On the rare occasion of novels such as this, our passivity is revoked and we are restored, if monstrously, to power.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eKGB Bar Lit Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e, in addition to being an elegant and sometimes jarring exploration of the malevolent and destructive power that stories can wield, is for most of its duration a page-turning murder mystery.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eStar Tribune\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is a first-rate, highly literate murder mystery, one that proves even more rewarding . . . on a second read.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eMinnesota Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is a literary thriller about the process of writing, and, like that process, it consists of many good ideas, and some puzzling ones. . . . Labiner rewards, not mocks, the reader’s investment in the plot and characters.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A ‘literary ambush’—perfect for a stormy summer night.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eMinnesota Monthly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Labiner’s tale first draws a set of compelling characters, and then connects them. . . . Even better, the reader gets to unravel a series of dark secrets and try to solve a murder, or two.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eMinnPost\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLet The Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e [is] Norah Labiner’s densely layered, self-reflexive novel that is about much more than just a brother and sister. . . . Labiner demands a lot of her reader, challenges you to reassess your sense of self and to revisit your most important stories, asking the whole time: is this memory true? Does it matter?” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePhiladelphia Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Beautifully worded and stylistically arranged, \u003cem\u003eLet the Dark Flower Blossom\u003c\/em\u003e is an innovative and candid take on the world of writers, relationships, and human nature itself.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Corresponder\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Labiner’s writing has a perseverative quality, like an incantation. . . . Story and memory become characters in their own right, malleable and unreliable. 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Amidst the Liebs’s riddled and deceitful world, Fern forges an alliance with Brigid, Owen’s young and beautiful second wife. When the two share the discovery of a controversial bundle of hidden letters, Fern not only unearths answers to the first wife’s suicide, but also to her own past.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNorah Labiner is the author of three previous novels: \u003cem\u003eOur Sometime Sister, Miniatures,\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eGerman for Travelers.\u003c\/em\u003e She has received a Minnesota Book Award for Literary Fiction, as well as fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been recognized by the American Library Association, the Jewish Book Council, and the Barnes \u0026amp; Noble Discover Great New Writers series. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eThanks to a 2013 ADA Access Improvement Grant administered by \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http:\/\/vsamn.org\/\"\u003eVSA Minnesota\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, this title is also formatted for screen readers which make text accessible to the blind and visually impaired. To purchase this title for use with a screen reader please call (612) 338-0125 or email us at \u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:info@coffeehousepress.org\"\u003einfo@coffeehousepress.org\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“A splendid, leisurely meditation on the meaning of fame, identity, and love.” \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e—Kirkus Reviews,\u003c\/em\u003e starred review\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43707548814,"sku":"","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":2760144584728,"sku":"","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Miniatures-RGB.jpg?v=1499210817"},{"product_id":"our-sometime-sister","title":"Our Sometime Sister","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Norah Labiner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eApril 1, 2000 • 6 x 9 • 442 pages • 978-1-56689-072-4\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn her brilliant first novel Norah Labiner introduces Pearl Christomo, an elusive, forgetful, ambitious, and talented narrator, herself an aspiring novelist, who finds that the fictions she writes resemble her own life, and that her own life resembles nothing so much as a set piece from \u003cem\u003eHamlet.\u003c\/em\u003e Complex and subtle, Labiner’s engrossing book is both a sly joke on and an homage to the coming of age\/portrait of the artist genre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNorah Labiner is the author of three previous novels: \u003cem\u003eOur Sometime Sister, Miniatures,\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eGerman for Travelers.\u003c\/em\u003e She has received a Minnesota Book Award for Literary Fiction, as well as fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the National Endowment for the Arts. 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