BETWEEN HEAVEN & HERE - Tapa dura

"It is only the rarest of novels that cry for a sequel, the most unusual of stories that at once satisfies and leaves the reader aching for more. Susan Straight's remarkable "Take One Candle Light A Room" is such a novel. And she has satisfied our desires in "Between Heaven and Here," a magnificent novel, that manages to be at once unflinchingly real and transcendently beautiful. Susan Straight is one of the very best American writers. If you haven't read her, you're in for a delight and an awakening. If you have, then you're probably as thrilled as I am that she has taken us back to Rio Seco."
--Ayelet Waldman
"Susan Straight finds LA's secret heart in "Between Heaven and Here" and with a sleight of hand only the masters have, she creates an alley, a neighborhood, a history that is as rich and tragic as any Shakespearean tale."
--Walter Mosley
"Straight employs glorious language and a riveting eye for detail to create a fully realized, totally believable world."
--"Kirkus" (Starred Review)
"Straight plunges readers into a whirlwind of dialects, drugs, derelict homes, and delinquent locals as she weaves together the story of Glorette's life and death, while addressing weighty and timely issues like race, language, and the socioeconomically disenfranchised. Straight deftly avoids cliches and easy outs, and her refusal to vilify or sanctify the numerous members of her cast allows the experiences of each to resonate powerfully."
--"Publishers Weekly" (Starred Review)
"Despite the tragedies that befall them, Straight's characters still recognize the splendor of the natural world, from the pepper trees behind the taqueria to the orange blossoms in the alley scenting the midnight air. . . Straight's group portrait of this community ought to be recognized as a national artistic treasure. Her focus on this singular place magnifies the hopes and disappointments of so many Americans, so many humans on earth."--"The Boston Globe"

When Glorette Picard is found dead in an alley, those who knew her struggle to come to terms with her death and discover the killer, all the while finding out how intertwined her life and death was with the dark history of her city, Rio Seco. Original.