Bright and Distant Shores

Chicago, 1897. An obsessive collector and insurance magnate commissions the world’s tallest building. Determined to compete with Marshall Field’s recent donation of $1 million to found the Field Museum, the tycoon funds a private collecting voyage into the Pacific. In addition to bringing back a bounty of artifacts, the voyage also brings back a Melanesian brother and sister to appear in the insurance company’s rooftop ethnographic exhibition. Bright and Distant Shores chronicles life in Chicago after the World’s Fair and the collision course between commercial America and the tribal Pacific.

“A magnificent epic…”
BOOKLIST

“…extraordinary literary grace...masterful...an enthralling narrative...”

KIRKUS REVIEWS

“…atmospheric, meticulously observed…a footsure and stylish writer with a fine sense of narrative pace.”

THE AGE