Resistance

Praise

“Magical. . . . Sheers emerges as a gifted storyteller who can meld the literal and figurative to stunning—and tragic—effect.”
—Newsday

“An astonishing and compelling study of human nature against the backdrop of an occupied village. Sheers plumbs the depths of love, cowardice, bravery, and the devastating effects of blind patriotism, and in doing so exposes the best and worst of humanity in unexpected and haunting ways.”
—Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants

“Subtle and lyrical. . . . Emotionally complex, full of local rhythms and color, Sheers’ first novel is hard to resist.”
—USA Today

“In its most surprising moments [Resistance] demonstrates fiction’s unique power [to] remind us how complicated and compromising an actual act of resistance might be.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Sheers’s alternate reality is frighteningly convincing and dripping with heartbreak. This is an outstanding debut.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A remarkable first novel…Resistance is at once a brilliant and sometimes frightening thriller, and a mature exploration of human blur and compromise.”
—The Guardian

“Resistance [is] an impressive debut and confirms Sheers as a writer whose talent encompasses a variety of literary forms.”
—Observer

“A beautiful, vital novel, about the paths that can lead to war, and out of it.”
—Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers

“A remarkable work of speculative imagination. Sheers writes with an austere, bracing beauty perfectly attuned to the stark lives (and loves) of his characters. The result is that rare gift, a literary thriller whose pages we turn slowly, even regretfully, savoring every word.”
—Peter Ho Davies, author of The Welsh Girl

“Owen Sheers’s riveting debut novel beautifully illuminates that which is unalterable: the power of love and longing, community and courage.”
—Jennifer Vanderbes, author of Easter Island