JENNY D. WILLIAMS has lived in the U.S., Uganda, and Germany. She holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and a BA from UC Berkeley. Her award-winning fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and illustrations have been published in The Sun Magazine, Vela, and Ethical Traveler, as well as several anthologies. A former Teachers & Writers Collaborative fellow and recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation grant for emerging writers, she currently lives in Seattle with her husband and dog. The Atlas of Forgotten Places is her first novel
"Gritty and intricately plotted...Williams's book paints the
contours of the real-life conflict admirably, making the thrilling
disappearance story relatable with nuanced characterizations and a
wealth of strong subplots concerning reclaiming love, protecting
family, and guarding hope for a new future when the present seems
to be teetering on disaster." --Publishers Weekly "A complex and
suspenseful tale with dozens of subplots, questioning loyalty and
exploring forgiveness at the individual and societal levels."
--Library Journal "Jenny D. Williams' Atlas of Forgotten Places is
an extraordinary debut. Written with confidence and compassion,
masterfully plotted, her characters drawn in swift, sure
strokes--this was a book I could not put down." --Marisa Handler,
Nautilus Award-winning author of Loyal to the Sky "Every page of
The Atlas of Forgotten Places resonates with an intimate knowledge
of life in 'Africa'...the impossible beauty of the landscape, the
depths of sorrows carried by ordinary citizens, the miraculous
melding of violence and personal grace. Jenny D. Williams has
written that rare thing: a page-turning adventure story that
simultaneously goes deep into the heart of what it is to be human
and present." --Malla Nunn, award-winning screenwriter and author
of A Beautiful Place to Die, Silent Valley, and Present Darkness "A
young American woman gone missing in Africa, her German aunt forced
to revisit her own past. From these elements, Jenny Williams has
produced a riveting alchemy. In the vein of Paul Bowles and Robert
Stone, The Atlas of Forgotten Places is part political thriller,
part love story, always attuned to matters of the heart. It's a
splendid debut." --Joshua Henkin, author of The World Without You,
Matrimony, and Swimming Across the Hudson "I think Jenny Williams
is a wonderfully gifted writer, who is at the beginning of a long
and distinguished career." --Richard Bausch, author of Peace and
Before, During, After, winner of the PEN/Malamud Award for
Excellence, and a Guggenheim fellow "A beautiful, heartbreaking
story of civil war, family secrets, lost love and found hope.
Unforgettable." --Lian Dolan, Los Angeles Times bestselling author
"The Atlas of Forgotten Places is a beautifully written,
all-engulfing novel about our responsibility for each other and the
faltering ways in which we try to help." --Erika Mailman, author of
The Witch's Trinity "The Atlas of Forgotten Places is a thriller
that sweeps the reader into intrigue, adventure, and mystery. In
the tradition of socially influential writers, from Shakespeare to
Graham Greene, Jenny Williams employs exciting fiction to convey
truths about the political, corporate, and economic systems that
impact us all." --John Perkins, New York Times bestselling author
of The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret
History of the American Empire "The narrative moves between Sabine
and Rose in this suspenseful, compelling story set in a perilous
region that many readers may have only heard about on the news."
--Shelf Awareness "Williams has created characters the reader will
bond with immediately and a narrative that grips the imagination
with a vital quest across the boundaries of countries and of the
heart...An extraordinary debut, written with a masterful sense of
plot and pacing and a keen understanding of the thorny world of
western intervention in the developing world...A stunning
combination of intrigue and despair, redemption and love."
--Washington Independent Review of Books
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