''Doxology'' is a 2019 novel written by American author and novelist

Nell Zink Helen "Nell" Louise Zink (born 1964) is an American writer living in Germany. After being a long term penpal of Avner Shats, she came to prominence in her fifties with the help of Jonathan Franzen and her novel, ''Mislaid'', was longlisted for t ...

. The novel is set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and concerns three musicians, and the impact that

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

has on their lives. In a 2019 interview, Zink described ''Doxology'' as being "set in a specific Senior Executive Service milieu in Northwest ashington, DC New York in the book starts and ends as an unrealizable vision—the gleaming towers resting on grimy cubbyholes—plus the characters almost never leave the East Side. The tug-of-war is between two ideas of the good life."

Plot

In the 1980s three artists meet in New York City. Pam, a coder, has escaped her confining and abusive family. Joe, an undiagnosed high-functioning

Williams syndrome Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. Facial features frequently include a broad forehead, underdeveloped chin, short nose, and full cheeks. Mild to moderate intellectual disability is observed in people ...

case. Daniel, a part time proofreader dreams of becoming a music distributor. Pam learns she is pregnant by Daniel and despite being ambivalent towards motherhood she decides to keep the baby and ends up marrying Daniel. Daniel manages to produce one single for Joe. Against all odds they manage to leverage the single into a successful record contract and Joe goes on to become a rock star, though he continues to babysit Pam and Daniel's daughter Flora. On September 11, 2001, the three friends separately witness the terrorist attack on the twin towers. Daniel returns home and manages to escape the city to Washington, D.C., with Pam and Flora where they settle in with her parents. Joe and his girlfriend Gwen decide to shoot heroin which results in an overdose and death for Joe. Gwen flees the city and eventually calls Daniel to tell him that Joe is dead and though Daniel holds her responsible for Joe's death she is never charged. As a result of the terrorist attacks Pam allows Flora to grow up in Washington, D.C., and be raised by her parents even as Daniel and Pam return to work.

Reception

According to literary review aggregator

Lit Hub Literary Hub is a daily literary website that launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and Electric Literature founder Andy Hunter. Conten ...

, the novel received mostly "Positive" reviews.

References

{{2010s-novel-stub 2019 American novels Novels set in New York City Fiction set in 2001 Ecco Press books