Vinegar Hill - Softcover

The first time Ellen sat at this table she was twenty years old, bright-cheeked after a spring afternoon spent walking along the lakefront with James, planning their upcoming wedding. It was 1959 and she was eager to make a good impression. She didn't know then that Mary-Margaret disliked her, that she was considered Jimmy's mistake.

In Vinegar Hill Ansay paints a searing portrait of the Midwest's dark side, of a rural culture infected with despair and ruled over by an unforgiving God. Yet she does hold out a grain of hope, too. Just as Ellen seems permanently entangled in familial desperation, she makes a surprising discovery about James's long-dead grandmother--a woman whose rebellious spirit inspires Ellen to rescue herself and her loved ones from the impinging darkness. This late-breaking redemption doesn't cancel out the preceding unhappiness: Vinegar Hill remains a tough, uncompromising tale, one that requires some fortitude to read. But those with the heart for it will be rewarded with fine, spare prose and a hopeful ending. --Alix Wilber

"A soul aches here, and the future seems forlorn. But Sister rises above that with its frankness and acuity, and the rhythmic beauty of its prose." -The New York Times Book Review

Praise for River Angel

"A writer with a gift for persuasive and shapely narrative...With River Angel, A. Manette Ansay has moved beyond her prior mastery of the family scene to lucid, eloquent representation of the commingled and conflicting lives of a town." -The New York Times Book Review

Praise for Midnight Champagne

"A funny, touching novel...[Ansay] weaves in and out of the sundry dramas with grace, warmth, and a good deal of humor, striking a fine balance between comedy and compassion." -The New York Times Book Review