“Wild and ambitious . . . [with] something ablaze at its core. It burns.” —The New York Times Book Review
A Tiny Upward Shove is inspired by Melissa Chadburn's Filipino heritage and its folklore, as it traces the too-short life of a young, cast-off woman transformed by death into an agent of justice—or mercy.
Marina Salles’s life does not end the day she wakes up dead.
Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother’s old Filipino stories—an aswang, a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others. Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known—even her killer—as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an aswang, while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion.
In A Tiny Upward Shove, the debut novelist Melissa Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society’s castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim. What does it mean to be on the brink? When are those moments that change not only our lives but our very selves? And how, in this impossible world, full of cruelty and negligence, can we rouse ourselves toward mercy?
Genre: Literary Fiction
A Tiny Upward Shove is inspired by Melissa Chadburn's Filipino heritage and its folklore, as it traces the too-short life of a young, cast-off woman transformed by death into an agent of justice—or mercy.
Marina Salles’s life does not end the day she wakes up dead.
Instead, in the course of a moment, she is transformed into the stuff of myth, the stuff of her grandmother’s old Filipino stories—an aswang, a creature of mystery and vengeance. She spent her time on earth on the margins; shot like a pinball through a childhood of loss, she was a veteran of Child Protective Services and a survivor, but always reacting, watching from a distance, understanding very little of her own life, let alone the lives of others. Death brings her into the hearts and minds of those she has known—even her killer—as she accesses their memories and sees anew the meaning of her own. In her nine days as an aswang, while she considers whether to exact vengeance on her killer, she also traces back, finally able to see what led these two lost souls to a crushingly inevitable conclusion.
In A Tiny Upward Shove, the debut novelist Melissa Chadburn charts the heartbreaking journeys of two of society’s castoffs as they make their way to each other and their roles as criminal and victim. What does it mean to be on the brink? When are those moments that change not only our lives but our very selves? And how, in this impossible world, full of cruelty and negligence, can we rouse ourselves toward mercy?
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"A writer who can make the language sing and bleed." - Steve Almond
"Melissa Chadburn gives words to a life's sorrow, breathing into a life's pain what novels provide--detailed and observant empathy." - Gina Apostol
"A novel that grabs your attention and won't let it go--fueled by a wild, jagged energy and an exuberant mixing of cultures and a narrator whose frank, poignant voice will keep echoing in your head." - Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
"Every line carries music, emotional weight, philosophical insight, and punk rock glory." - Amber Dermont
"A Tiny Upward Shove is gloriously voiced, the kind of addictive and headlong novel that makes reading into a wild bronco ride. Melissa Chadburn has it, the spark; her first novel is strange and tender and not to be missed." - Lauren Groff
"A beautiful and brave novel about powerlessness, longing, and that universal, unavoidable desire to be loved. Let this book happen to you." - Edan Lepucki
"A knife pressed to the throat of secrecy. There is no other debut novelist whose work I'm more excited to share with everyone in the world." - Kyle Minor
"In its verve, vibrancy, and sheer reckless energy, Chadburn's writing recalls a number of wonders: Ondaatje's Running in the Family, say, or Kincaid's At the Bottom of the River. Chadburn's vision, however, her intelligence and empathy, are entirely her own." - Matthew Specktor
"A fiercely original, brave writer. Chadburn finds the lyrical and the deeply human in seemingly dark and impenetrable landscapes." - Héctor Tobar
"Melissa Chadburn gives words to a life's sorrow, breathing into a life's pain what novels provide--detailed and observant empathy." - Gina Apostol
"A novel that grabs your attention and won't let it go--fueled by a wild, jagged energy and an exuberant mixing of cultures and a narrator whose frank, poignant voice will keep echoing in your head." - Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
"Every line carries music, emotional weight, philosophical insight, and punk rock glory." - Amber Dermont
"A Tiny Upward Shove is gloriously voiced, the kind of addictive and headlong novel that makes reading into a wild bronco ride. Melissa Chadburn has it, the spark; her first novel is strange and tender and not to be missed." - Lauren Groff
"A beautiful and brave novel about powerlessness, longing, and that universal, unavoidable desire to be loved. Let this book happen to you." - Edan Lepucki
"A knife pressed to the throat of secrecy. There is no other debut novelist whose work I'm more excited to share with everyone in the world." - Kyle Minor
"In its verve, vibrancy, and sheer reckless energy, Chadburn's writing recalls a number of wonders: Ondaatje's Running in the Family, say, or Kincaid's At the Bottom of the River. Chadburn's vision, however, her intelligence and empathy, are entirely her own." - Matthew Specktor
"A fiercely original, brave writer. Chadburn finds the lyrical and the deeply human in seemingly dark and impenetrable landscapes." - Héctor Tobar
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