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Keija Parssinen's first novel, The Ruins of Us, will be released on January 17, 2012.  It is published by Harper Perennial in the USA and Faber and Faber in the UK, with world-wide distribution.  Keija, a third-generation Aramcon, graduated from Princeton with a degree in English Literature and received her MFA from The Iowa Writers Workshop, where she held Truman Capote and Teaching and Writing Fellowships.  She has received a Michener-Copernicus award for The Ruins of Us.
 
Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead, writes that The Ruins of Us is "powerful storytelling, that is refreshing and entertaining."  Amazon says the book is a "stunning debut," and that readers will be "captivated" by the author's Middle Eastern insights.  Lise Saffran, author of Juno's Daughters, comments that "Parssisnen carries the reader...in the grip of a story that is both entertaining and wise.  The debut of an enormously talented writer who is unafraid to lead us on the greatest adventure of all---into the wilds of the human heart."  "Step into Parssinen's sensual prose and be transported."  (Anna Solomon, author of The Little Bride).
 
The Ruins of Us is also on the New York Times Magazine Holiday Reading List. 
nytimes link: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/bookshelf-14/?emc=eta1 
The book is available at Amazon and in bookstores such as Barnes and Noble.  For more information, including reviews, Keija's book tour, and other events and updates, please check Keija's website, keijaparssinen.com.  Keija Parssinen, The Ruins of Us can also be Googled for an even more extensive exploration of the book.