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“Lauren Belfer’s story of love in the time of penicillin is enthralling. A FIERCE RADIANCE shines with fascinating detail about a moment in American history we have mostly forgotten, when penicillin was new, miraculous, and in short supply.  Belfer’s powerful portrayal of how people are changed in pursuit of a miracle makes this book an especially compelling read.”
— Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank

A FIERCE RADIANCE is at once a thriller, a love story, a family saga, and a window into American history, evoking the pure essence of war-time New York. It portrays the tumultuous early days of World War II, when many feared that America would lose the war, when even children were caught up in the sacrifices demanded by the nation’s mobilization, and when individuals clung fiercely to their loved ones, because no one could predict what tomorrow would bring. In addition, the novel recreates the era before antibiotics, when fatal infections were so common that parents could never count on their children surviving into adulthood.  Belfer’s historical exploration of the origins of these life-saving drugs, whose efficacy has since been reduced through over-prescription and the growth of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, is a natural segue to today’s heated debate in the medical community over antibiotic use.

Lauren Belfer is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel City of Light.  It was a number one Book Sense pick, a New York Times Notable Book, a Library Journal Best Book, and it sold over 275,000 copies (hardcover and paperback combined).  It received extraordinary praise upon publication and has since been translated into six languages.  Belfer’s fiction has appeared in the Michigan Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, and Henfield Prize Stories.  She lives in New York City.