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Alena
  • Published: 23 January 2014
  • ISBN: 9780698141605
  • Imprint: PEN US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320

Alena

A Novel

Formats & editions
EBook
23 Jan 2014
Paperback
27 May 2015
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In an inspired restaging of Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca, a young curator finds herself haunted by the legacy of her predecessor.

Two years have passed since the tragic death of Alena, curator at the Nauk, a cutting-edge art museum on Cape Cod. At the Venice Biennale, Bernard Augustin, the Nauk’s wealthy, enigmatic founder—to whom Alena had been closest confidante and muse—offers the position to an aspiring young curator from the Midwest. It’s the job of her dreams, and she dives at the chance.

Just as quickly, she finds herself well out of her depth. The Nauk echoes with phantoms of the past—a past obsessively preserved by the museum’s staff—and the newcomer’s every move mires her more deeply in artistic, erotic, and emotional entanglements. When recently discovered evidence calls into question the circumstances of Alena’s death, shattering secrets surface, putting to the test the loyalty, integrity, and courage of our heroine—who remains nameless, like the heroine of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, the inspiration for this provocative and spellbinding tale.
  • Published: 23 January 2014
  • ISBN: 9780698141605
  • Imprint: PEN US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320
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Praise for Alena


Praise for Lady of the Snakes

"Fast-paced, well-written and entertaining." Publishers Weekly

"A literary mystery crossed with a funny feminist commentary on marriage. Think A. S. Byatt linking arms in sisterhood with chick-lit champs Susan Isaacs and Jennifer Weiner. I was hooked from the opening scene." Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air

"Pastan's writing is fluid and frank, and her characters are luminescent." The Washington Post

"Both a clever academic novel and a cunning literary detective story, Lady of the Snakes is perhaps most remarkable in its unflinching and compassionate portrait of its heroine, a young woman struggling to manage the competing demands of marriage, motherhood and career. This is a marvelous, fearless book." Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen's Pier

Praise for This Side of Married

"Rachel Pastan has written a novel about families and falling in love that is at once moving, funny, and true. This Side of Married is a wedding bouquet of great wit and affection." Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings

"Smart and insightful... an engaging look at the current state of love and courtship." Booklist