The Light in the Ruins is a critical hit!

Just a day after publication, the reviews for Chris Bohjalian’s retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story are already excellent!

The Light in the Ruins elucidates, haunts and raises moral quandaries…Bohjalian’s historical retelling is riveting…A memorable read.”         — Claudia Puig, USA Today

“One of the fifteen best books of summer. . .A picturesque page turner.” — Good Housekeeping

“The subtlety and language of a literary novelist…The denouement is dead solid perfect. Bohjalian has written another winner.” — Curt Schleier, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Bohjalian raises questions about the nature of injustice and the often arbitrary codes we deploy in order to keep a firm grasp on right and wrong, good and evil, or hero and villain. The Light in the Ruins offers an engaging story that unspools in such a way as to keep the reader with her nose to the pages long after the light has actually faded.” — Sheila Moeschen, New York Journal of Books

“At the heart of a good novel is a good story, and this story is a doozy. Bohjalian expertly weaves together a tale of how the war split Italy between the people who willingly collaborated with the Germans and the ones who did not. . .Not every author could manage to tell a war story, throw in a serial killer and drop in several interesting romances, but Bohjalian manages.” — Amanda St. Amand, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Historic fiction at its very finest…This novel moves with the heat and inexorable flow of lava. Not to be missed.” — Edmund August, Louisville Courier-Journal

“Thoroughly gripping, beautiful, and astonishingly vengeful, this novel is a heartbreaker. Bohjalian’s latest turn to historical fiction is immensely rewarding.” — Julie Kane, Library Journal — starred review

“Mastering matters subtle and grotesque, Bohjalian combines intricate plotting and bewitching sensuality with historical insight and a profound sense of place to create an exceptional work of suspense rooted in the tragic aberrations of war.” — Donna Seaman, Booklist — starred review

“A taut, suspenseful page-turner…Bohjalian effortlessly turns a work of historical fiction into a breathless whodunit.” — Wendy Plotkin, The Armenian Weekly

“A riveting re-creation of a time and a place long gone, but not forgotten.” — Valerie Ryan, Shelf Awareness

“A literary thriller. . .a soulful why-done-it.” — Kirkus Reviews