AFE AIR FILTERS

The Submission: A Novel

Ten years after 9/11, a dazzling, kaleidoscopic novel reimagines its aftermath

A jury gathers in Manhattan to select a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack. Their fraught deliberations complete, the jurors open the envelope containing the anonymous winner’s name—and discover he is an American Muslim. Instantly they are cast into roiling debate about the claims of grief, the ambiguities of art, and the meaning of Islam. Their conflicted response is only a preamble to the country’s.

The memorial’s designer is an enigmatic, ambitious architect named Mohammad Khan. His fiercest defender on the jury is its sole widow, the self-possessed and mediagenic Claire Burwell. But when the news of his selection leaks to the press, she finds herself under pressure from outraged family members and in collision with hungry journalists, wary activists, opportunistic politicians, fellow jurors, and Khan himself—as unknowable as he is gifted. In the fight for both advantage and their ideals, all will bring the emotional weight of their own histories to bear on the urgent question of how to remember, and understand, a national tragedy.

In this deeply humane novel, the breadth of Amy Waldman’s cast of characters is matched by her startling ability to conjure their perspectives. A striking portrait of a fractured city striving to make itself whole, The Submission is a piercing and resonant novel by an important new talent.

Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2011: Amy Waldman has performed a rare and dangerous feat in writing an airtight, multi-viewed, highly readable post-9/11 novel. When a Muslim architect wins a blind contest to design a Ground Zero Memorial, a city of eleven million people takes notice. Waldman, a former bureau chief for the New York Times, explores a diversity of viewpoints around this fictional event, bringing in politicians, businessmen, journalists, activists, and normal people whose lives--whether by happenstance, choice, or even due to their country of origin--get caught up in the controversy. Incredibly, she manages to keep all the balls in the air without ever fumbling. The story is moving and keeps the pages turning, but there are also bigger themes at work: of individuals versus groups; about the purpose of art, commerce, government, and journalism in society; of how people respond to grief and terror. The result is honest, compelling, and breathtaking.--Chris Schluep

Looking at some of the other submissions in the hopeful beasts pool... I never stood a chance! Wow!

thanks to frank-c for taking the time to make suggestions. i have seen enough of the other submissions not to have very high hopes but the only way i can guarantee i won't get in is by not sending it at all. hows that for some after school philosophy for ya.

submission hold at the old mill in lawrence, ma

they played with antiproduct

Lady Juliet De Mar is a confirmed bachelorette and a member of the exclusive London Literary Club, a secret sex club for the more libidinous of the London ton. After taunting her childhood friend and wealthy sea captain, James Wakefield, with the club's bondage games, she finds herself once again longing for him to be something other than he is—a prude with no interest in sex. At least not with her.
Tired of his annual visits that always end in rejection, Juliet decides to kidnap him and bring him to his knees—and to the altar—or end their acquaintance forever. But her plan backfires when she’s kidnapped from her carriage and taken to the docks. Blindfolded and shackled, she becomes the property of a notorious pirate, the murderous Captain Black, purchased for his pleasure. When her deepest, erotic fantasies become a dangerous reality, will Juliet be forced into submission? Or will she learn what she needs to know to master James?

Lady Juliet De Mar is a confirmed bachelorette and a member of the exclusive London Literary Club, a secret sex club for the more libidinous of the London ton. After taunting her childhood friend and wealthy sea captain, James Wakefield, with the club's bondage games, she finds herself once again longing for him to be something other than he is—a prude with no interest in sex. At least not with her.
Tired of his annual visits that always end in rejection, Juliet decides to kidnap him and bring him to his knees—and to the altar—or end their acquaintance forever. But her plan backfires when she’s kidnapped from her carriage and taken to the docks. Blindfolded and shackled, she becomes the property of a notorious pirate, the murderous Captain Black, purchased for his pleasure. When her deepest, erotic fantasies become a dangerous reality, will Juliet be forced into submission? Or will she learn what she needs to know to master James?