Blood Tie

First edition cover
Author	Mary Lee Settle
Publication date	June 12, 1979
Awards	National Book Award for Fiction (1978)

Blood Tie is a 1977 novel by American novelist Mary Lee Settle, published by Houghton Mifflin.^[1] The novel, her eighth, won the 1978 National Book Award for Fiction.^[2][3] With the award, Settle became the fourth woman to win the NBA in fiction out of 32 winners.^[4]

The novel explores the going-ons of expatriates in a hotel in Ceramos on the Turkish coast.^[5] The characters in the novel are generally unlikable, and their foibles become the central focus of the novel's plot.^[5][6] Settle wrote the novel after returning to West Virginia, from time abroad, first in England then Italy.^[3]

Reception

Though initial reception of the novel was less than positive, Settle won the National Book Award and critical consensus treats the novel as a turning point in her critical reception.^[7] The New York Times was generally positive about the book, writing that Settle "has done a remarkable job of capturing the culture that is, in a sense, the most important character in her book."^[5] George Garret in the Dictionary of Literary Biography called the novel "clearly a virtuoso work."^[3]

References