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Starred Review. Helms's mesmerizing debut novel (after story collection American Wives) takes readers to Ankara, Turkey, in the mid-1970s, where 12-year old Canada lives with her mother, Grace, and her father, Rand, whose intelligence career is shrouded in secrecy and sends the family to far-flung locales. By the time they're posted to Ankara, Canada is grappling with the inevitable insecurities and yearnings of puberty, and Grace feels trapped in a loveless marriage. Even when Rand is home, he shows little interest in domestic affairs, leaving Grace mainly to socialize with other Western expatriates and a small circle of wealthy Turks. Partly as a consequence of having lived so long in a world of secrets and cover stories, Grace hasn't learned how to relate to people (or how to let them relate to her), while Canada is mired in her own parallel, secretive universe of cruel adolescence. Helms uses dazzling imagery to mine the cultural and economic divides between the diplomatic enclaves and Turkish Ankara, as well as the chasm between Canada and Grace, which widens as they seek validation outside their home, with unforeseen consequences. Elegant prose and exacting insight illuminate Helms's tale of intrigue and deception. (Mar.)
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Review
"Set against a backdrop of clashing cultures, Dervishes is a story of duplicity, betrayal, and the cost of keeping secrets. . . . A brilliant, moving, and utterly riveting debut. The end will leave you gasping."--Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants
"Not since Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things have I read a first novel so perfectly executed from start to finish, so evocative of place and time. Helms is a master."--Kate Walbert, author of Our Kind and The Gardens of Kyoto
"Mesmerizing . . . Elegant prose and exacting insight illuminate Helms's tale of intrigue and deception."--Publishers Weekly (starred)
"What an elegant, wrenching storm of a novel! Beth Helms writes in crystalline, luminous prose that is reminiscent of the finest of James Salter's novels. Not since The Great Gatsby have I read a tragedy quite like this one."--Rick Bass, author of The Lives of Rocks
Praise for Beth Helms's story collection American Wives, winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award
"Fantastic! . . . There's no silver lining in Helms's stories, no end of the rainbow. . . . A brave writer."--Los Angeles Times
"Beautifully polished stories . . . splendid . . . readers will do well to watch for future publications by [Beth Helms]."--The Dallas Morning News
"The subtle and surprisingly sad representation of love will leave the reader astonished."--The Virginia Quarterly Review
"American Wives is dangerous, politically perceptive, eminently skillful, and heralds a promising new voice."--Jayne Anne Phillips, author of MotherKind
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