Books with author Howard Norman

National Book Award Finalist Howard Norman delivers another provocative, haunting novel, this time set in a Vermont village and featuring a missing child, a newly married private detective, and a highly relatable ghost.Simon Inescort is no longer bodily present in his marriage. It s been several months since he keeled over the rail of a Nova Scotia bound ferry, a massive heart attack to blame. Simon s widow, Lorca Pell, has sold their farmhouse to newlyweds Zachary and Muriel after revealing that the deed contains a ghost clause, an actual legal clause, not unheard of in Vermont, allowing for reimbursement if a recently purchased home turns out to be haunted.In fact, Simon finds himself still at home: Every waking moment, I m astonished I have any consciousness ... What am I to call myself now, a revenant? He spends time replaying his marriage in his own mind, as if in poignant reel-to-reel, while also engaging in occasionally intimate observation of the new homeowners. But soon the crisis of a missing child, a local eleven-year-old, threatens the tenuous domestic equilibrium, as the weight of the case falls to Zachary, a rookie private detective with the Green Mountain Agency.The Ghost Clause is a heartrending, affirming portrait of two marriages one in its afterlife, one new and erotically charged and of the Vermont village life that sustains and remakes them.

National Book Award Finalist Howard Norman delivers another "provocative . . . haunting"* novel, this time set in a Vermont village and featuring a missing child, a newly married private detective, and a highly relatable ghost (*Janet Maslin, New York Times)Simon Inescort is no longer bodily present in his marriage. It's been several months since he keeled over the rail of a Nova Scotia-bound ferry, a massive heart attack to blame. Simon's widow, Lorca Pell, has sold their farmhouse to newlyweds Zachary and Muriel--after revealing that the deed contains a "ghost clause," an actual legal clause, not unheard of in Vermont, allowing for reimbursement if a recently purchased home turns out to be haunted. In fact, Simon finds himself still at home: "Every waking moment, I'm astonished I have any consciousness . . . What am I to call myself now, a revenant?" He spends time replaying his marriage in his own mind, as if in poignant reel-to-reel, while also engaging in occasionally intimate observation of the new homeowners. But soon the crisis of a missing child, a local eleven-year-old, threatens the tenuous domestic equilibrium, as the weight of the case falls to Zachary, a rookie private detective with the Green Mountain Agency. The Ghost Clause is a heartrending, affirming portrait of two marriages--one in its afterlife, one new and erotically charged--and of the Vermont village life that sustains and remakes them.

"It's Me. Poco!" is a natural (and true) follow-up to "Hi! My Name is Poco." A dog with a definite Alpha bent continues doing what he likes most-destroying things! Still a dog who loves people and other dogs, Poco still cannot resist eating pencils, toys, and pillows, among other things. But at the age of four he IS mellowing! Author Norman Ward has a varied history of teaching music in schools and composing music for the orchestra, band, and chorus, as well as writing magazine articles on diverse topics. This book is part of a series that was triggered by a string of misadventures with the family's first "challenging" dog. Norman lives in Dix Hills, New York with wife Ellie and Poco.