Annal:1984 National Book Award for First Fiction
From AwardAnnals
Results of the National Book Award in the year 1984. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
- 1984 NBA–1st Novel winner
- 1985 PEN-faulkner finalist
- 1984 LATimes–Fiction finalist
- 1984 NBCC–Fiction finalist
- Score: 28.34
Richard and Sara Everton mortgage, sell and borrow, leave friends and country to settle in the Mexican village of Ibarra. They intend to spend the rest of their lives here, in a place neither of them has seen, to speak a language neither of them know. Their dream is to reopen Richard’s grandfather’s abandoned copper mine.
In a few short months work is advancing in the mine and their home is ready—then Richard learns he has six years to live.
Richard’s determination to make the mine and village prosper matches Sara’s effort to deny the diagnosis. While…
