Relief Map

RELIEF MAP

(tin house books, march 2016)

Sixteen-year-old Livy Marko is spending the summer baby-sitting and waiting tables in a tiny rust belt town called Lomath when the routines of her life are disrupted by the arrival of a horde of police and FBI agents. 

A fugitive from the Republic of Georgia, on the run from an extradition order, has taken refuge in Lomath.  The police shut down all the roads out of town and move in to the find the suspect.  As the police fail to find the wanted man and hours stretch into days, Livy’s parents begin to act strangely and her neighbors become increasingly erratic and paranoid. 

As anxiety escalates, the Georgian fugitive wanders out of the woods and into Livy’s yard, pleading for help.  With limited information and few good options, Livy must decide whether to help or betray a stranger whose past is in dispute and whose intentions she can only guess.

"Part languid thriller, part coming-of-age tale, Knecht’s atmospheric debut deftly follows the doubts of teenage self-discovery into larger uncertainties about personal safety, the specter of terrorism, and the role of authority." 

— Publishers Weekly

"A thoughtful novel that resists easy moralizing." 

— Kirkus Reviews

"In her beautifully written, fresh debut novel, Rosalie Knecht puts us in the middle of summer in a small rust-belt town in Pennsylvania. Lulling prose, vivid characters, and a sense of place make this a rich and memorable read from an exciting new talent."

— Linda McLoughlin Figel, pages: a bookstore (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)