Guests on Earth Paperback - 2014

From the rear cover

"Reading Lee Smith ranks among the great pleasures of American fiction . . . Gives evidence again of the grace and insight that distinguish her work." --Robert Stone, author of Death of the Black-Haired Girl

It's 1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital, a mental institution in Asheville, North Carolina, known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital's most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses cascading events that lead up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them. Author Lee Smith has created, through a seamless blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart--in which art and madness are luminously intertwined.

"An elegant historical novel . . . [Smith's] use of Zelda as a subject is brilliant . . . A carefully researched, utterly charming novel. By the time you finish it, you fall in love with these fascinating lives, too." --The Washington Post

"Lee Smith shines new light on a shadowy, complex subject . . . She offers a broader historical perspective--and with it, a captivating, inimitable voice." --The Raleigh News and Observer

"Perennially best-selling Smith presents an impeccably researched historical novel that reveals the early twentieth century's antediluvian attitudes toward mental health and women's independence." --Booklist

"A testament to Lee Smith's legendary gifts as a novelist." --Knoxville News Sentinel

"Guests on Earth unfolds with a sense of urgency that feels both fabulous and deeply personal." --Bobbie Ann Mason, author of The Girl in the Blue Beret

"Engaging and engrossing . . . Smith's well-developed characters, rich historical detail and easy prose create a novel that some may call her best yet, and which it just may be." --Minneapolis Star Tribune