Lazarus Rising, Joseph Caldwell
Lazarus Rising, Joseph Caldwell
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Lazarus Rising
A Novel

Author: Joseph Caldwell

Narrator: Charlie Thurston

Unabridged: 6 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/23/2021

Categories: Fiction, City Life


Synopsis

The Rome Prize–winning author of In the Shadow of the Bridge "evokes a bygone era and an earlier pandemic. . . . An affecting turn in [his] long career" (Publishers Weekly).

This dark, propulsive novel, the crowning masterwork by ninety-two-year-old Joseph Caldwell, takes place during 1992, when AIDS was still an incurable scourge and death casualties were everyday events.

One cold winter night, when the artist Dempsey Coates is on her way home to her loft, she encounters a blaze, several alarms ringing and water jetting every which way from fire hydrants. She ends up offering several firemen a place to get warm. One of them is Johnny Donegan, a passionate lad who falls madly in love with her and is determined, through prayer and sheer perseverance, to make a life with Dempsey unimpeded by the specter of her illness.

But when the couple is finally blessed with an unexpected stroke of good luck, this one twist of fate that promises an enduring future will end up coming between them in a very tragic and unforeseen way.

About Joseph Caldwell

Joseph Caldwell is an acclaimed playwright and novelist who was awarded the Rome Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the author of five novels in addition to the Pig Trilogy, a humorous mystery series featuring a crime-solving pig. His most recent memoir, In the Shadow of the Bridge, was published by Delphinium in 2019. Caldwell lives in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by M. K.

In 1992 New York City, Dempsey Coates offered firemen a place to stay as they battled a blazing fire on a cold winter night. Johnny Donegan fell in love with her and is determined to make a life together with her despite her HIV positive status. The unexpected good luck that might make it possible c......more

Goodreads review by Jena

This fine example of City Fiction, Lazarus Rising, takes us back to a time that was even more horrible and devastating than our current 2020 crisis. The year is 1992, and the scythe of incurable AIDS is mowing down its victims with 100% precision. Artist Dempsey Coates meets New York City firefighte......more

Goodreads review by Cynthia

A compelling and sad book about a heroic fireman and the woman he loves, an artist who contracted AIDS when she inherits enough money to start a serious drug addiction. When she gets pregnant, she manages to quit her habit for the sake of the baby, who dies because of her AIDS infection. After strug......more

Goodreads review by Cristie

This novel takes the reader back to the time when AIDS was incurable. The main character being a straight woman was a nice change, as most novels focus on gay men that have the disease. I like that the author reminded readers that all people were capable of getting this disease, not just gay men. By......more