The nix, paperback/nathan hill

A New York Times 2016 Notable Book Entertainment Weeklys #1 Book of the Year A Washington Post 2016 Notable Book A Slate Top Ten Book Nathan Hill is a maestro.

--John Irving Its 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasnt seen his mother, Faye, in decades--not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy.

Now shes reappeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news and inflames a politically divided country.

The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart.

Which version of his mother is true? Two facts are certain: shes facing some serious charges, and she needs Samuels help.

To save her, Samuel will have to embark on his own journey, uncovering long-buried secrets about the woman he thought he knew, secrets that stretch across generations and have their origin all the way back in Norway, home of the mysterious Nix.

As he does so, Samuel will confront not only Fayes losses but also his own lost love, and will relearn everything he thought he knew about his mother, and himself.