• 2005 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection • Lemuria Books First Editions Club selection • 2005 National Book Circle Critics Award and National Book Award nominee Set in the high desert badlands of New Mexico and the ravaged, war-torn landscape of the Philippine jungle, In the Shadows of the Sun (Nan A. Talese Books/Doubleday) is the story of the Stricklands, a ranching family struggling to hold on to their way of life in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. After seeing their son, Jack, leave to fight in the war, they are confronted with an eviction notice from the United States government, which is expanding a bombing and gunnery range to include their land and home. As they fight to preserve their ranch, an illicit affair and murder threaten to rip the family apart. A world away, Jack is caught in the Pacific Theater of War, where the Allies have suffered devastating loss and defeat. He endures the horrors of the Bataan Death March and Japanese prison camps, hoping to survive long enough to make it home. In the Shadows of the Sun vividly illustrates America’s journey through the war and post-war period, a passage lit by the fierce glare of the atomic bomb. At once a stunning portrait of the desolate beauty of the southwest and a harrowing and poetic lament about the very personal tragedy of war, this unforgettable novel delves into the nature of family, sacrifice, and that which binds us together in the face of unforgiving circumstances and tragedy. (from the flap copy)

“In the Shadows of the Sun is a very impressive novel—it’s vivid, it’s convincing and it’s moving.” —Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove “This is a startlingly good novel. Alexander Parsons is a hugely talented writer and unlike anyone else of his generation.” —Robert Boswell, author of Century’s Son “Alexander Parsons has struck the richest vein of the American tragedy in the Philippines—the story of its disproportionate impact on the young men of New Mexico. In this beautiful novel, with its spare but keen sense of pathos, Parsons shows us how events of history leave concentric ripples that are deeply felt across years and continents.” —Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers