Lauren Groff's debut novel, <i>The Monsters of Templeton</i>, is everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more ... There are monsters, murders, bastards, and ne'er-do-wells almost without number. I was sorry to see this rich and wonderful novel come to an end, and there is no higher success than that.
Stephen King
THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON is a bold and beautiful hybrid of a book...Lauren Groff is an exciting young novelist, gifted with an elegant prose style and a narrative ambition as deep and as serious as the human mysteries she sets out to explore.
Lorrie Moore
Groff's delightful debut is a glorious hybrid of history and humour, with just a sprinkling of magic.
Easy Living
This cracking tale, admirer Stephen King gleefully says, is full of "monsters, murders, bastards and ne'er do-wells". Yet Lauren Groff's remarkable debut is not a horror at all...as Willie slays her demons by slowly but surely excavating her family tree, the novel blossoms into a crossbreed of intimate confession, eccentric social history, origin myth and literary biography... the true 'monsters' of Templeton are its secrets.
Metro
This has an opening to die for ... a riveting read
Scotland on Sunday
humourous and magical
Sainsbury's Magazine
Lauren Groff's debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton, is everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more. Willie is a funny, sexy, plucky heroine; her Mom--a once-upon-a-time hippie who's gone Baptist but not square--is a hoot; her family history is a funhouse through which Willie must wander in order to find her father. Best of all is Templeton, a town that will remind readers of Ray Bradbury at his most magical. There are monsters, murders, bastards, and ne'er-do-wells almost without number. I was sorry to see this rich and wonderful novel come to an end, and there is no higher success than that.
Stephen King
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
'Everything a reader might have expected from this gifted writer, and more' Stephen King
'Bold and beautiful' Lorrie Moore
'Pleasurably surreal' Guardian
'Will give you paper cuts from turning pages' Marie Claire
Willie Upton returns to her ancestral home of Templeton, New York after a disastrous affair with her married archaeology professor.
The same day, Willie discovers a hard truth about her long-lost father's identity and a prehistoric monster is discovered in the nearby Lake Glimmerglass, bringing frenzy to the quiet town and her life.
As Willie investigates her family tree, dark secrets come to light, past and present are blurred and old mysteries are finally put to rest. The Monsters of Templeton is an extraordinary novel by literary virtuoso Lauren Groff.
'A vivid tale of unearthing past truths, horrors and lies' Good Housekeeping