johndaviesburt.com

I will be reading in the Gardner Jackson room in the Goldfarb Library Mezzanine on Wednesday, March 18 at 3:30. The reading will also be broadcast on zoom at
https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/99305344887

A Moment’s Surrender follows freshman writing instructor Paul Bishop in the aftermath of the murder of his former best friend, the renowned poet Tom Corbin. Haunted by guilt and bound by a devastating secret, Paul takes it upon himself to care for Tom’s terminally ill widow, Susan. But the truth he withholds — that Tom had planned to leave Susan for another woman, Paul’s own long-ago lover Rachel Lake — draws Paul into a painful triangle of loyalty, betrayal, and unresolved desire. Caught between the two women, Paul must navigate a web of grief and deception that threatens to undo them all.

Praise for A Moment’s Surrender:

The mystery at the core of John Burt’s psychologically rich and emotionally satisfying debut is not only what killed famed poet Tom Corbin; it’s how Fate–in its ravenous appetite for trouble—has undone and will ultimately remake the man, women, and child in his immediate orbit. A Moment’s Surrender shimmers with intelligence and with astute insight into the many ways we all possess to destroy and save each other.

— Christopher Castellani (author of Leading Men)

Riveting and rich, this is a novel that takes on the complexities of love with deep compassion. It is a gorgeous exploration of grief, the connections that sustain and break us, and the surprising grace that can unfold as we die and as we heal.

— Marjan Kamali (author of The Stationery Shop and The Lion Women of Tehran)

A Moment’s Surrender is a rigorous examination of four people who learn the painfully high cost of trifling with love. John Burt’s emotionally rich and psychologically complex novel pulls the reader into a tangled web of relationships that slowly unravels in the aftermath of a senseless murder. With its vividly rendered settings and insightful intelligence, this splendidly written book casts a spell as its characters lurch toward redemption.

— Stephen McCauley (author of My Ex-Life and You Only Call When You’re in Trouble)

Copies are available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online retailers.

To order a copy of A Moment’s Surrender from Bookshop, scan: