The true story of the first women to compete in Olympic track and field comes to life in this "rich and resonant" historical sports novel (Publishers Weekly). "A fascinating exploration of a little-known chapter in sports history. With gorgeous, restrained prose and a crystalline eye for detail, Victoria Patterson takes us on a thrilling journey of long odds and unbreakable spirit." —Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette The 1928 Amsterdam Olympics were the first games in which women were allowed to compete in track and field (and on a trial basis, at that). Nicknamed "the Peerless Four," the Canadian track team included some of the strongest and most diversely talented women on the scene. These women and their chaperone embark on their journey with the same golden goals as every other Olympian, male or female. But as tensions begin to rise, each discovers new fears and new priorities, all...

Life is pretty sweet for Even Hyde. Despite his parents' divorce in 2001, he's doing just fine, having chosen to live with his richly successful father in Newport Beach, California. When not spending 'bonding' time with his partially absent father, he has his run of the house, where he more or less comes and goes as he pleases.Even's older brother Gabe continues to live in Cucamonga with their emotionally unstable mother. Though he feels discarded and left behind, Gabe visits Even and their father on the weekends.Even doesn't seem too worried about Gabe's quick-to-ignite temper or his evolving addiction to skipping school and smoking weed.But then Gabe commits a crime so unbelievably heinous that Even can't forgive his own flesh and blood for it. In his personal recounting for THE LITTLE BROTHER,Even shares the events immediately following his brother and two of his friends savagely gang raping (while videotaping) an unconscious girl. When Gabe somehow ends up...

Victoria Patterson, whose writing Vanity Fair has called "brutal, deeply empathetic, and emotionally wrenching," returns with a new collection of stories that contains echoes of Denis Johnson and Raymond Carver, along with the emotional depth and density of Elena Ferrante. There's a pitch-perfect blend of linguistic dexterity, emotional wisdom, and wry observation in The Secret Habit of Sorrow. The characters in these stories feel like people you know, their struggles real. Patterson's prose has a Denis Johnson re-filtered through Raymond Carver-vibe, along with the emotional depth and density of Elena Ferrante. Whether it be the ties between women and their own and each other's infants, the struggles of parenthood, or the trials that come with excessive drinking and drug abuse, Patterson has an amazing ability to convey relationships, and how our bonds can both save and destroy us. Her previous collection of stories, Drift, was a finalist for...

A "wonderfully realized" story collection that "scrapes off the glitter" of posh Newport Beach, California (Publishers Weekly). Welcome to Newport Beach, California—a community often found glittering in the spotlight, but one that isn't always as glamorous as we imagine. Through the lives of waiters and waitresses, divorced and single parents, and alienated teens, Victoria Patterson's Drift offers a rare and rewarding view into the real life of this nearly mythical place, all the while plumbing the depths of female friendship and what it means to be an outsider. Fresh, energetic, deceptively powerful and delightfully frank, hers is a voice you won't be able to stop reading.

Story Prize and California Book Award finalist Victoria Patterson revisits Newport Beach in This Vacant Paradise, examining the intersections of economics, class, race, sex, and family expectations during the mid-1990s. Esther lives with her grandmother, a virulent matriarch who controls her family through her wealth. Esther knows that an advantageous marriage replete with social standing, familial and peer approval, and financial rewards will alleviate her struggles. College dropout, fashion boutique clerk, caregiver for a drug-addicted brother, Esther is also aware that beauty and an uncanny savvy foretell success. But she has been known to self-sabotage, and her peers and family are rooting for her not to blow it with her latest beau, especially since, at the ripe age of thirty-three, Esther’s desirability is on the cusp of decline.All is well until she begins a tumultuous love affair with Charlie, a local college professor known for his unconventional ideals...