IN HER FIRST NOVEL, following two highly acclaimed short story collections (Monogamy and The Summer Before the Summer of Love, HarperCollins), Lincoln writer Marly Swick introduces a memorable young woman protagonist whose coming of age coincides with an unexpected crisis in her family.

Everyone in Suzanne's family acknowledges her mother's instability, yet no one has any idea why she suffers these bouts of depression--they simply accept them as fact and enjoy the moments when she emerges from them, buoyant and energetic. With John F. Kennedy's election, presidency, and assassination as a background, Suzanne tells the story of the dissolution--and ultimate redemption--of her family.

Paper Wings is a subtle and moving novel about a mother and daughter who struggle, hope, and learn from each other to emerge from the shadows of tragedy.

HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-017434-X; $21.00; Canada, $29.50; 288 pages.

BORN IN INDIANAPOLIS IN 1949, Marly Swick spent her childhood moving--from Massachusetts to Delaware to California--with book in hand, due to a voracious appetite for reading encouraged by her mother and teachers. She continued her travels and her love for books during her education, receiving her B.A. from Stanford University, her M.A. from Mills College, her Ph.D. from the American University, and finally, her M.F.A. at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Swick is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a James Michener Award, and an O. Henry Award. Her first book received the Iowa Short Fiction Award. Her stories have appeared in numerous publications, among them The Atlantic, Redbook, and The North American Review.

Upholding a self-professed "Victorian lifestyle in the 90's," Marly Swick enjoys painting and reading in her spare time. She is currently an Associate Professor of Fiction Writing at the University of Nebraska and lives in Lincoln. For more information about Marly, Swick, click here.

Nebraska Center for Writers