The Call : A Novel

The daily rhythm of a veterinarian's family in rural New England is shaken when a hunting accident leaves their eldest son in a coma. With the lives of his loved ones unhinged, the veterinarian struggles to maintain stability while searching for the man responsible. But in the midst of their great trial an unexpected visitor arrives, requesting a favor that will have profound consequences - testing a loving father's patience, humor, and resolve and forcing husband and wife to come to terms with what 'family' truly means. The Call is a gift from one of the most talented and extraordinary voices in contemporary fiction - a unique and heartfelt portrait of a family, poignant and rich in humor and imagination. “Yannick Murphy, while being one of our most daring and original writers, is first and foremost an exquisitely attuned observer of human behavior. . . . Murphy’s work provides pretty much unexceeded reading pleasure.” —Dave Eggers The warm, wry, and patient voice of a veterinarian father tells the heartfelt story of his young New England family enduring a moving trial of loyalty, hope, and faith after they are confronted with an unthinkable crisis. Acclaimed author Yannick Murphy’s intimate narrative style and lovely prose will enthrall readers of Rivka Galchen, Padgett Powell, and Murphy’s own Signed, Mata Hari . The Call is a “triumph of quiet humor and understated beauty” ( Publishers Weekly , starred review) from an author that the New York Times Book Review calls “an extraordinarily gifted fabulist.”

The daily rhythm of a veterinarian’s family in rural New England is shaken when a hunting accident leaves their eldest son in a coma. With the lives of his loved ones unhinged, the veterinarian struggles to maintain stability while searching for the man responsible. But in the midst of their great trial an unexpected visitor arrives, requesting a favor that will have profound consequences—testing a loving father’s patience, humor, and resolve and forcing husband and wife to come to terms with what “family” truly means.

The Call is a gift from one of the most talented and extraordinary voices in contemporary fiction—a unique and heartfelt portrait of a family, poignant and rich in humor and imagination.

A veterinarian's family in rural New England suffers after his eldest son falls into a coma as a result of a hunting accident, but while he tries to maintain stability and searches for the man responsible for his son's condition, an unexpected visitor arrives and makes a request that will test the veterinarian's patience and resolve and, ultimately, will have profound consequences When a hunting accident leaves his son in a coma, the son's veterinarian father tries to find the man responsible while maintaining normalcy for his family until an unexpected visitor asks a favor that will test his resolve and force him to come to terms with what it truly means to be a family.