Publisher details

Author: Jenny Offil
Publisher: Granta Books
Released: 05 March, 2015
ISBN: 9781847088741

The Dept. of Speculation

Buy now

Retail partners

Synopsis

They used to send each other letters. The return address was always the same: Dept. of Speculation.They used to be young, brave, and giddy with hopes for their future. They got married, had a child, and skated through all the small calamities of family life. But then, slowly, quietly something changes. As the years rush by, fears creep in and doubts accumulate until finally their life as they know it cracks apart and they find themselves forced to reassess what they have lost, what is left, and what they want now.Written with the dazzling lucidity of poetry, Dept. of Speculation navigates the jagged edges of a modern marriage to tell a story that is darkly funny, surprising and wise.

About the author

Jenny Offil

Jenny Offill was the only child of two private-school English teachers. She spent her childhood years across various US cities, including Massachusetts, California, Indiana, and North Carolina. Jenny Offill attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Offill teaches in the MFA programs at Brooklyn College, Columbia University and Queens University. Offill's first novel Last Things was published in 1999 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and in the UK by Bloomsbury. It was a New York Times Notable book and a finalist for the L.A Times First Book Award. Offill's second novel Dept. of Speculation was published in January 2014 and was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by the New York Times Book Review. Dept. of Speculation has been shortlisted for the Folio Prize in the UK, the Pen/Faulkner Award and the L.A. Times Fiction Award.