NEWS!
Check out my PRIDE essay “Calling All Allies”
Dian Greenwood’s Substack interview!
Cheryl Strayed’s FIVE QUESTIONS
Deborah Kalb’s Author Interview
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EVENTS!
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PRAISE FOR BITTERROOT
“Deceptively easy to read, this book strikes at the heart of loss, and the alchemy of change. Suzy Vitello is a gifted writer with a deep understanding of people and places. Bitterroot is an exceptional novel by a great talent.”
— Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Sleeping Giant
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“Don’t be surprised if the book keeps you up late into the night. This is one you won’t want to miss!” — Jacqueline Friedland, author of He Gets That From Me
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“In Vitello’s novel, a young widow grapples with an attack on her family. Hazel finds herself at the center of a trial that unleashes a flood of racism and resentment against her family that has been building for generations. Vitello’s crystalline prose elegantly captures the numbing grief that grips Hazel for much of the novel … memorable characters nimbly embody the larger cultural forces at war in contemporary America … A gripping and emotionally intelligent tale of resentment and loss.”
—Kirkus Reviews
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“Bitterroot is an intricate novel—a tapestry of family dynamics, generational trauma, and the pursuit of social justice in a small town. The prose is captivating and immersive, and the story pulsates thanks to its rich, small-town atmosphere.”
—Foreword Reviews
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“Among the reasons we readers love a novel are two that seem impossibly at odds: a compelling plot that keeps you up way too late flipping pages as fast as possible, and dazzling writing with such beautiful phrasing you are inspired to slow your reading down to savor each sentence. Paradoxically, Bitterroot by Suzy Vitello possesses both hallmarks of excellence.
Bitterroot’s believable characters pop off the page and its profound themes will inspire many provocative discussions, long after the last page is turned. I love this book.”
—Debby Dodds, author of Amish Guys Don’t Call
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“As a plot person, I could not put this book down. Talk about one surprise/revelation/ unexpected turn after another. Never mind that the sex scenes were deliciously inventive. I loved the unlikely hero, Hazel, a benign name, but she draws dead and maimed bodies for a living, as the only forensic artist in the Silver Valley. ‘When our father died … yellowed with cirrhosis … I chose watercolor.’ Through a rollercoaster-from-hell life, and against all odds, she rises to the challenges of a family full of faults. One of the last lines: ‘May we bloom where we’re planted.’ That’s Hazel.”
—Jan Baross, author of award-winning, Bye-Bye Bakersfield