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Blood Tie
First edition cover
Author Mary Lee Settle
Publication date
June 12, 1979
Awards National Book Award for Fiction (1978)

Blood Tie is a 1977 novel by American novelist Mary Lee Settle, published by Houghton Mifflin. [1] The novel, her eighth, won the 1978 National Book Award for Fiction. [2] [3] With the award, Settle became the fourth woman to win the NBA in fiction out of 32 winners. [4]

The novel explores the going-ons of expatriates in a hotel in Ceramos on the Turkish coast. [5] The characters in the novel are generally unlikable, and their foibles become the central focus of the novel's plot. [5] [6] Settle wrote the novel after returning to West Virginia, from time abroad, first in England then Italy. [3]

Reception

Though initial reception of the novel was less than positive, Settle won the National Book Award and critical consensus treats the novel as a turning point in her critical reception. [7] The New York Times was generally positive about the book, writing that Settle "has done a remarkable job of capturing the [expatriate] culture that is, in a sense, the most important character in her book." [5] George Garret in the Dictionary of Literary Biography called the novel "clearly a virtuoso work." [3]

References

  1. ^ "First Edition Points to identify Blood Tie by Mary Lee Settle". www.nbaward.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  2. ^ Crane, John Kenny (1990-01-01). "Mary Lee Settle, The Art of Fiction No. 116". Paris Review. No. 114. ISSN  0031-2037. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  3. ^ a b c "Biography of Mary Lee Settle". www.wvwc.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  4. ^ "1978 - www.nbafictionblog.org - National Book Awards Fiction Winners". www.nbafictionblog.org. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  5. ^ a b c Broyard, Anatole (August 18, 1977). "Books of The Times". The New York Times Books.
  6. ^ "Book review -- Mary Lee Settle. BLOOD TIE". faculty.webster.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  7. ^ Rosenberg, Brian C. (Summer 1989). "Mary Lee Settle and the Critics". Virginia Quarterly Review.