“The Art of Falling is a terrific whodunit, but the it is brilliantly elusive; it’s not a murder but a sculpture—a different kind of dead body. Who created it? Who inspired it? Who owns it? And—actually—what is it? This is a gripping novel and a sharp, entertaining examination of the nature of art and its power to inspire and corrupt.”—Roddy Doyle, author of Love and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
“McLaughlin’s descriptions of the art and its appeal have an almost mythic quality. . . . She has a gift for precise characterization. This engaging and evocative work will stay with readers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“There are very few writers who can craft characters with the depth and subtlety Danielle McLaughlin brings to her writing. The Art of Falling is a delicate slow burn of a novel. It is a big novel sitting within a close and small frame; a book of unspoken regrets and long-kept secrets and the slow revelation of humanity. There are shades here of Alice Munro at her finest. Like Munro, McLaughlin is best when writing those quiet moments which resonate long after the event.”—Jan Carson, author of The Fire Starters
Praise for Danielle McLaughlin
“In [Danielle] McLaughlin’s world, the everyday has the same sparkle—or the same devastation—as a glittering galaxy or a war.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Only an author who loves what human beings are can so compassionately reveal them in all their flawed, gorgeous contradictions and communicate unmistakable joy while doing so. . . . Her fiction is a gift we need.”—Robin Black, author of Life Drawing
“[McLaughlin] focuses on fraught relationships and those sudden, illuminating moments that can light up ordinary lives.”—Library Journal
“A writer of exceptionally deep empathy in the naturalistic tradition of John McGahern and Claire Keegan but with a knack for keen, and often disturbing, observation all her own.”—LitHub
