The Bequest: The Enhanced Edition

by Nicolette Linden

Upon turning thirty, a woman receives a package containing two documents forbidden to her since her teens-her foretold bequest. Stunned by what she reads, she gives up her career to pursue getting this material published! She must.
Now she is tasked with devising a narrative arc to bridge these documents but, to frame them properly, she finds it necessary to create a spiral lattice of interwoven perspectives.
Emotionally riveting, The Bequest is also an intellectual feast, filled with quiet literary jokes and both veiled and overt allusions to the works of Shakespeare, James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, John Fowles, Pink Floyd, and Nicole Krauss.

392 pages, Hardcover

Published March 31, 2021

Reviews

[Chris Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is like nothing like nothing I ever read! The honesty of the main characters
–the directness and emotional intensity -- astonished me! And the author, Nicolette,
who is and who is not a main character, makes the reader feel that they are her best
friend, her intimate confidante. And, even The Professor, who, likewise, is and is not a
main character, speaks on a very high level yet accessibly, directly, and also intimately
with his class; one of whom is you, the reader! You’ll see what I mean.... Astonishing!
I’m an engineer; reading this book made me remember my classes in Fluid Dynamics
and Calc 3. To wrap my mind around this one-of-a-kind novel I had to rouse those
dozing parts of my brain. You’ll enjoy it immensely. Fun and worth the effort.

[John E · Rating 5 out of 5]

If David Gilmour had written a novel, this would be it! The author's musicality and exquisite precision of words and phrasing, and her timing and perspective shifts makes the characters leap off the page with an authenticity that is astounding. It is unique and reminiscent of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. There is no other way to put it ... this book is a masterpiece!

[Sydney Kratochvil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed the way I want to be loved and to love others. Phenomenal point of view and each sentence has its own way of knowing how to keep you reading.

[Scott Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a 31 year old male in finance who read this book leading up to my proposal with my now fiancé. This book would have helped me a lot when I was dating in my twenties, especially when it comes to forming meaningful relationships with someone instead seeking notches.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judy Blume, move over! I wish this book were available to me so much earlier in my life. And the boys I had dated had read it too! This novel redefines the possibilities of a relationship when you begin with radical honesty and understanding; it is a manual for why we should risk an honest relationship.