THE REPORT
A stunning first novel and a vivid exploration of the way tragedies are reported, remembered, and commemorated, based on a real-life WWII tragedy
On a March night in 1943, on the steps of a London tube station, 173 people die in a crowd seeking shelter from another air raid. When the devastated neighborhood demands a report, the job falls to magistrate Laurence Dunne. As Dunne investigates, he finds the truth to be precarious, even damaging. He struggles to complete his task without causing hurt. Yet when he is forced to reflect several decades later, Dunne must consider whether he chose the right course.
A stunning first novel and a vivid exploration of the way tragedies are reported, remembered, and commemorated, based on a real-life WWII tragedy
On a March night in 1943, on the steps of a London tube station, 173 people die in a crowd seeking shelter from another air raid. When the devastated neighborhood demands a report, the job falls to magistrate Laurence Dunne. As Dunne investigates, he finds the truth to be precarious, even damaging. He struggles to complete his task without causing hurt. Yet when he is forced to reflect several decades later, Dunne must consider whether he chose the right course. The Report is a compelling commentary on the way all tragedies are remembered.
- Graywolf Press
- Paperback
- August 2010
- 256 Pages
- 9781555975654
Buy the Book
$15.00
Awards
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About Jessica Francis Kane
Jessica Francis Kane is the author of the story collection Bending Heaven. Her stories have been broadcast on BBC radio and have appeared in a many publications, including Virginia Quarterly Review, McSweeney’s, The Missouri Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. Her essays and humor pieces have appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and The Morning News.org, where she is a contributing writer. She lives in New York with her husband and their daughter and son.
Praise
“A smart and troubling novel of ideas, which explores the power of crowds, collective guilt and the compromises required to balance a need for full disclosure with the desire to be kind.” —The Financial Times
“Nothing less than perfect.” —Newsday
“Unflinching even as it is generous….a pageturner.” —National Public Radio