Eleven Days: A Novel

"Lea Carpenter weaves the story of the love and respect between a mother and her grown son — despite the differences in many of their most fundamental beliefs — into a hard look at the painful realities of war in the second decade of the 21st century. Sara, a left-leaning single mother, is shocked when her son, Jason — spurred by the tragedy of Sept. 11 — becomes a Navy SEAL and is sent to Afghanistan. The 11 days of the title refer to the period between the time when Sara is notified that her beloved son is missing in action and the day that she discovers his fate. This is an uncommonly assured and graceful first novel; the characters are beautifully drawn, and the relationship between mother and son seems utterly true, recognizable, and understandable. As the voice-over for the TV show Law and Order might say, “This is a story ripped from the headlines.”"