The Mercy of Thin Air: A Novel
Atria, September 2005
From debut author Ronlyn Domingue comes a stunning, imaginative novel that beautifully captures the nature of love and how is transcends all barriers -- even death.
In 1920s New Orleans, smart and fearless Raziela Nolan is in the throes of a magnificent love affair when she suddenly dies in a tragic accident. Immediately after her death, she chooses to stay between -- a realm that exists after life and before whatever lies beyond it. From this remarkable vantage point, Razi narrates the story of her lost love, as well as the relationship of Amy and Scott, a young couple whose home she haunts seventy years later. Their trials finally compel Razi to slowly unravel the mystery of what happened to her first and only love, Andrew, and to confront a long-hidden secret.
The Mercy of Thin Air entwines two tragic and redemptive love stories that echo across three generations and culminates in a startling finish that will leave readers breathless. From plucky, forward-thinking Razi, who illegally slips birth control guides into library books, to hip web designer Amy, who begins to fall off the edge of grief, to Eugenia, caught between since the Civil War, the characters in this ambitious and original debut sing with life, as well as Southern flair.
"With lucid supple prose, Ronlyn Domingue weaves a gossamer tale suspended between two worlds," lauds acclaimed author James Wilcox. The Mercy of Thin Air is a wondrous, incredibly wrought novel that evokes the transformative power of love, memory, and time.
hardcover | ISBN: 9780743278805 | Publication Date: September 2005
Reviews:
"In The Mercy of Thin Air, Raziela Nolan -- a ghost --
spins vivid portraits of the world she left, and the world she isn't
allowed to join, reminding us that there is the finest of lines between
present and past, between life and death, between love and regret. This
is that rarest of first novels -- a truly original voice, and a truly
original story." --Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling
author of Vanishing Acts and My Sister's Keeper
"Ronlyn Domingue's glimpse into the other side reveals the poignancy lurking behind our more mundane lives and loves. Flappers from a glamorous era of New Orleans high life linger and evanesce in this thoroughly modern dissection of thwarted love and the redeeming mercy of letting go. Readers, though, will find it difficult to let go of this moving debut by a remarkable talent well on her way to a distinguished career." --James Wilcox, author of Heavenly Days
"Ronlyn Domingue's debut novel is an ethereal and eternal love story with images so luminous they lift off the paper. The Mercy of Thin Air will haunt you long after the last page is turned." --Paula Wall, national bestselling author of The Rock Orchid
"Like The Lovely Bones, Ronlyn Domingue's own first novel makes the reader feel as if he's died and gone to heaven. The Mercy of Thin Air should enjoy a similarly long and happy life." --James Gordon Bennett, author of The Moon Stops Here
