10/18/2015

Split (novel) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Split (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Split is the debut novel of Swati Avasthi, an Indian American

writer and teacher.[1] This young-adult fiction book was written
in 2008 funded by a grant from the University of Minnesota
where Avashi had studied. The manuscript underwent eight
revisions and was finally published, after an auction, by Knopf in
2010. The book has received a plethora of awards such as the
2011 International Reading Association Award, the 2011 Cybils
award, a 2010 Silver Parent's Choice Award, and the New
Mexico State Book Award.[1][2] It has received mostly positive
reviews. The book has also received eleven nominations for state
awards and it has been published in four languages.
The story was inspired by Avasthis experiences while working
at a domestic abuse law clinic. Avasthi was inspired by an
encounter with a mother and her two young children, a boy and a
girl, who went through a traumatic and abusive experience.[2]
The book is written in the present tense and narrates the
experience of a teenage boy, whose father physically abused the
boy's mother. As he grew up the boy would later abuse another

First hardcover edition (2010)

young woman.[2][3]

Plot
The main character in the novel is Jace Witherspoon, who lives with his parents in River Forest, Illinois.
He fights with his father, who causes physical harm to his mother and abuses him. When Jace protests
against his fathers brutal treatment of his mother, his father beats him up severely and throws him out of
the house. Badly injured, Jace then moves in with his brother, Christian, who had also left home five
years earlier, and had stayed at many places like Hyde Park, before settling in Albuquerque. The
brothers then work out a strategy to see that their mother is rescued from their fathers abuse. Between
the brothers, there is lack of trust and quarrels, which results in Jace telling his brother about his own
misdeed of having half-strangled his fiance.[2][3]

Reviews
The book received critical acclaim and many awards. In addition to e-mails from readers, Avasthi also
received messages from abuse victims who say the book has inspired them.[2]

References
1. "New Low-Residency MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults Faculty". hamline.edu.
2. Muhlenkamp, Katherine E. "Alumna Swati Avasthis work at a domestic violence clinic inspired her hardhitting young adult novel.". University of Chicago.
3. Lucy Schall (1 May 2013). Teen Talkback with Interactive Booktalks!. ABC-CLIO. pp.21. ISBN978-161069-290-8.
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Split (novel) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Categories: 2010 novels Indian English-language novels
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