"At once mythic and personal---a novel that possesses the ability to make us remember our own youth and all that has vanished since." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"A strong, eloquent novel...McDermott writes clean, simple prose that serves her story beautifully. This novel is as carefully constructed as a poem, giving off a lustrous glow, and is poignant in the telling." --People

"Voiced with musical economy...the author's perceptions of suburban life have a rich detail of the quality of a Cheever or an Updike." --Los Angeles Times

"McDermott is a spellbinder, adding a cachet of mystery and eloquence to common occurrences....She has taken a suburban teenage romance and pregnancy and infused it with the power, the ominousness, and the star-crossed romanticism of a contemporary Romeo and Juliet." --Chicago Tribune

"To enter the world of this incantatory novel is to palpably recall almost against one's will the rash, embattled strivings and disillusionments of first love." --The Washington Post Book World