The Optimists

A disillusioned photojournalist finds solace close to home in this “subtle, beautifully written” novel from the award-winning author of Pure (The Boston Globe). Clem Glass was a successful photojournalist, firm in the belief that photographs could capture truth and beauty—until he went to Africa and witnessed the aftermath of a genocidal massacre. Clem returns to London with his faith in human nature shattered and his life derailed. Nothing—work, love, sex—can rouse his interest and no other outlook can restore his faith. The one person Clem is able to connect with is his sister, who has made her own sudden retreat from reality into the shadows of mental illness, and he finds some peace nursing her back to health in rural Somerset. Then news arrives that offers him the chance to confront the source of his nightmares. From the celebrated author of Ingenious Pain and Oxygen, this is a masterfully rendered novel that explores the perilously thin line between self-delusion and optimism. “Once again Miller shows himself to be an acutely sensitive observer of life at a particular moment in history . . . [His] inventive yet unobtrusive prose conveys a richly complex reality filtered through Clem’s stunned consciousness.” —The Wall Street Journal “[A] work of solemn artistry. Miller’s style is one of guarded lyricism, in which he allows just enough poetry in the language to get the job done, the mood or moment caught.” —The New York Times Book Review