Review
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An Indie Next List Pick
An Editors' Pick for Summer Fiction
One of iBooks "Summer's Most Anticipated Books"
Belletrist Book Club's June Book of the Month
A New York Times Book Review "New & Noteworthy" Selection
An O, the Oprah Magazine "Top Book of Summer"
A Town & Country "Best Book to Read This June"
A Southern Living "Best New Book of Summer"
A Bitter Southerner "Upcoming Southern Novel We Can't Wait to Read"
A Refinery29 "Quick Beach Read Practically Written For Weekend Getaways"
A Globe and Mail "Coolest Book of the Season"
A Publisher's Lunch "Highly Anticipated" Title
"Captivating...[Pittard] brings her kaleidoscopic perspective to a catastrophe on an epic scale...With her keen eye for
social markers and a deft weave of intersecting storylines, Pittard exposes social fissures and tensions over race and
class, and how power and privilege play out in the shadows of grief."--Los Angeles Times
"Pittard's novel combines a sense of personal loss and turmoil with greater societal change as the civil rights
movement arrives at its peak."--New York Times Book Review, A "New & Noteworthy" selection
"Pittard's earlier novels [...] established her as a formidable writer. The prose in Visible Empire [...] remains
assured, polished, readable, and she renders a 1962 Atlanta that is vivid and just-enough interconnected. Ultimately,
Pittard shoulders the burden of history with responsibility and resolve, and a brave imagination."--Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
"On June 3, 1962, a flight carrying more than 100 of Atlanta's wealthiest residents ced on takeoff from Paris.
Pittard's kaleidoscopic novel, a fictionalized account of that disaster and its aftermath, illuminates the personal and
communal grief (and, in some cases, wicked delight) of those left behind."--O, the Oprah Magazine, "Top Books of Summer"
"Beautiful...In Pittard's masterful hands, the intricately woven plots and personalities that make up Visible Empire
are relatable and corporeal...Pittard's command of voice is so dexterous and adroit...it takes an author of [her]
caliber, finesse and nuance to articulate such a complicated place and time as Atlanta in the 1960s."--ArtsATL
"In 1962, Air France Flight 007 ced upon takeoff and all 122 passengers--a group of prominent Atlanta citizens
taking an inaugural jaunt on a route from Paris to Georgia--died. In this, the latest novel from Listen to Me author
Hannah Pittard, that real-life c kicks off a fictional series of events that changes a city and its people
forever."--Town & Country, "The Best Books to Read This June"
"In the emotional aftermath of the June 1962 Paris plane c that killed 120 of Atlanta's leading citizens, a chorus
of grieving survivors tell tales of love and loss, even as their city -- often divided by class and race -- seeks to
cope with change and uncertainty."--Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Summer Books"
"Pittard's excellent novel fictionalizes the tragic true event that changed the lives of so many
Atlantans."--Refinery29, "15 Quick Beach Reads Practically Written For Weekend Getaways"
"With the captivating Visible Empire, [Pittard] brings her kaleidoscopic perspective to a catastrophe on an epic
scale...With her keen eye for social markers and a deft weave of intersecting storylines, Pittard exposes social
fissures and tensions over race and class, and how power and privilege play out in the shadows of grief."--National Book
Review
"Remarkable...There's a really surprising range in the characters' experiences and in what [Pittard]
explores...Well-researched and deeply considered."--BookRiot, "All the Books"
"Visible Empire has made several best-of-summer-reads lists, but it's more than a cottage companion. Its theme alone --
that staggering chaos can serve to bring clarity to life, that the least of us can find our path again -- makes it a
read to be remembered and shared."--Winnipeg Free Press
"Based on the true story of Air France flight 007 - which ced after takeoff in Paris en route to Atlanta in 1962 -
Visible Empire is a tensely wound novel that follows the shock waves of this forgotten air disaster across a hot, humid
summer. The plane was a charter, chock full of Georgia's biggest names in the arts, the manifest of the fallen a who's
who list in Atlanta society. Grief rises like a miasma over Hannah Pittard's fourth novel, but it's also a love story of
sorts, centred around newspaperman Robert and his estranged wife Lily, unexpectedly left penniless after the death of
her wealthy parents in the c."--Globe and Mail, "46 Coolest Books to Read this Summer"
"Atlanta native Pittard fills the novel with historical details, local points of reference, and distinct examinations
of race and class...making it an evocative and discussion-worthy choice for readers who appreciate vivid
settings."--Booklist
"A dizzying yet compelling, dramatic read...Pittard's literary prowess is on full display through her ability to
intermingle fact with fiction."--Shelf Awareness, Maximum Shelf
"This historical fiction novel is based on a real plane c in Paris in the 1960s that killed over 100 of Atlanta's
wealthiest patrons of the arts. It unfolds through the eyes of the people who lost loved ones in the c or were
affected by the tragedy. Most notable is the character Piedmont, a young black man whose story demonstrates racial
tensions in the south during the civil rights movement."--Hello Giggles, "Books coming out this week"
"Visible Empire starts out as an examination of a mass tragedy and slowly morphs into something more and
revelatory. Hannah Pittard's novel is a deeply resonant portrait of individuals--and a city--in the throes of grief, and
on the cusp of momentous change."--Tom Perrotta, author of Mrs. Fletcher and Little Children
"Hannah Pittard knows that Faulkner was right: the past is never dead - it isn't even past. In her stunning novel,
Visible Empire, she brings harrowing incidents from 1962 into the present with the vivid immediacy of a documentary
film. Writing of love, family, race, devastating loss, redemption, riveting mysteries revealed, Pittard composes a grand
symphony of profound incidents and passages of life--a compassionate, spellbinding novel."--Howard Norman, author of My
Darling Detective
"Visible Empire tells of a community altered by tragedy and of citizens brought together by calamity. But it is also
about the disasters we cause and the wreckage we must sift through afterward in order to understand the more mysterious
aspects of our hearts. For those who've been following Pittard since The es Will Find Their Way, it's a thrilling
book to read because it is to witness an important writer climb to new heights, and then soar."--Adam Ross, author of
Mr. Peanut
"Visible Empire is Hannah Pittard's best book to date. Compelling, shocking, strong and brave. Who should read this?
Everyone, everyone."--Helen Ellis, author of American Housewife
"While st together the threads of several lives linked to a horrifying air disaster, Hannah Pittard unravels the
fabric of their larger social world, revealing the true horror. Her prose is daring and confident, stellar and sharp.
This is highly charged writing, a gripping and satisfying story."--Bobbie Ann Mason, author of In Country and The Girl
in the Blue Beret
"Hannah Pittard is fast becoming one of the best writers of her generation, fusing the best aspects of literary and
commercial fiction. Read her now, and thank me later."--Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
"In Visible Empire Hannah Pittard has written a work that is intricate, emotionally difficult and frequently moving.
It's a view of the past that tells us much of what we need to know about the present."--Rion Amilcar Scott, author of
Insurrections
About the Author
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HANNAH PITTARD was born in Atlanta. She is the author of four novels, including Listen to Me and The es
Will Find Their Way. Her work has appeared in the Sewanee Review, the New York Times, and other publications. She is a
professor of English at the University of Kentucky, where she directs the MFA program in creative writing.
