New World Monkeys

by Nancy Mauro

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139	17	208,235	(3.43)	3
Duncan and Lily, young and adrift in a prickly marriage and lackluster careers, flee Manhattan for the peaceful allure of a recently inherited crumbling Victorian home. But the two are left with little time to ponder the traditional "he said, she said" failings of a relationship: On an upstate road miles shy of their house, a wild boar leaps to his death in front of their Saab--an accident whose consequences will haunt them throughout the summer. That was no ordinary hog. Lily and Duncan arrive in the eccentric town of Osterhagen to discover the boar had a name: The Sovereign of the Deep Wood. That it was the town mascot. And, as the hapless urbanites are coerced into the vortex of tea socials, cannon fire, and communal history, they realize that the residents of the bizarre hamlet intend to seek justice for their fallen hero.… (more)

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Read by my book group, it started off as being "quirkily fun" and one of those "yeah, this could freakishly happen to me" books. But at some point, there was the sudden realization, no, this just went too far. Mauro is a talented writer, the writing is beautiful and compelling; the characters are overly flawed, but well developed. Overall, not a great book, but an interesting one to think about. (

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amillion | Feb 18, 2020 |

I hate this book. The characters suck and it moves at a glacier pace. 200 pages in and I officially give up. I honestly can't remember if I've ever given up on a book before. (

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PagesandPints | Sep 1, 2016 |

At it's best this book merits five stars. The opening scene -- in which the husband runs over a feral hog and the wife finishes him off -- is a masterpiece of psychologically insightful black comedy. And the advertising campaign developed over the course of the book for a company that makes both flared and straight blue jeans tops anything Mad Men has come up with. Overall, the book is highly original, funny, and psychologically insightful as it diagnoses a marriage that is falling apart and then comes back together. That said, it is also somewhat repetitive at points and aimless the second half is at times aimless. But I'm very much looking forward to Nancy Mauro's second novel. (

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nosajeel | Jun 21, 2014 |

i absolutely adored this book until a pivotal moment when one of the main characters does something I could never respect. But the fact that the author got such a strong reaction out of me is a good thing, I think. (

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stacy_chambers | Aug 22, 2013 |

This strong debut is a convincing portrait of a messed-up marriage that reminded me at times of A.M. Homes's MUSIC FOR TORCHING.

While the protagonists (Duncan and Lilly) aren't exactly sympathetic, the reader feels drawn into their predicament: each of them slowly going off the deep end as their lives -together and apart- go off the rails. Nancy Mauro overcomes a few first-novel stumbles with smart prose, strong supporting characters, and some nice absurdist touches (a dead boar, a skeleton in the garden, crazy townfolk) that add interesting conflict and a little dark humor.

Can't wait for the next one!

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JohnHastie | Apr 5, 2013 |

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Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction – 2009)

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New World Monkeys

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Duncan and Lily, young and adrift in a prickly marriage and lackluster careers, flee Manhattan for the peaceful allure of a recently inherited crumbling Victorian home. But the two are left with little time to ponder the traditional "he said, she said" failings of a relationship: On an upstate road miles shy of their house, a wild boar leaps to his death in front of their Saab--an accident whose consequences will haunt them throughout the summer. That was no ordinary hog. Lily and Duncan arrive in the eccentric town of Osterhagen to discover the boar had a name: The Sovereign of the Deep Wood. That it was the town mascot. And, as the hapless urbanites are coerced into the vortex of tea socials, cannon fire, and communal history, they realize that the residents of the bizarre hamlet intend to seek justice for their fallen hero.

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