{"product_id":"the-half-life-9781668069134","title":"The Half Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eFlorence Adler Swims Forever \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe House Is on Fire\u003c\/i\u003e, a novel set on a remote Italian island about a navy wife's reckoning with power, love, and the price of staying silent in the Atomic Age.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"A captivating, whip-smart novel about love, loyalty, and a woman torn between two lives. I utterly adored it.\" --Clare Leslie Hall, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eBroken Country\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen twenty-three-year-old Eileen O'Malley meets charismatic naval officer Paul Archer in a Charleston department store, she doesn't expect to fall so hard, so fast. But Paul is funny and ambitious, and soon, Eileen's got a ring on her finger and is following him to the tiny, sun-drenched Mediterranean island of La Maddalena, where Paul will be heading up Radiological Controls aboard a submarine tender. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In La Maddalena, Eileen joins a makeshift community of navy wives who are hell-bent on making the island feel a little more like home. But for Eileen, whose brother died in Vietnam, \u003ci\u003ehome\u003c\/i\u003e is a loaded word, and as she settles into life on the island--taking Italian lessons and learning to make \u003ci\u003eculurgiones\u003c\/i\u003e--she begins to love the place for all the ways it is not like where she comes from. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Still, it doesn't take long for Eileen to be confronted with the complexities of being an American abroad. The decision to send nuclear-powered subs into the La Maddalena Archipelago was a contentious one, and the U.S. government is doing whatever it can to ensure that the island--not to mention all of Italy--doesn't go communist in the next election. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e When Italian activists and scientists begin to sound the alarm about possible nuclear contamination in the water, the island erupts in a series of protests, made worse by the ongoing mishaps of the U.S. Navy. Soon, Eileen's marriage falters and her loyalties begin to shift as she is drawn into a web of secrets--and to a local journalist who forces her to imagine a life beyond the one she's been handed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Atmospheric, sexy, and quietly defiant, \u003ci\u003eThe Half Life \u003c\/i\u003eis a story of love, complicity, and awakening--of one woman forced to choose between loyalty to her husband and country and to the Italian locals who show her the high cost of American exceptionalism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Rachel Beanland\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/14\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.16h x 6.33w x 1.34d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781668069134\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2026 pg. 81\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/22\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRachel Beanland is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe House Is on Fire\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFlorence Adler Swims Forever\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and earned her MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She lives with her family in Richmond, Virginia.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Rachel Beanland \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":48685112754333,"sku":"9781668069134","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_df86fa9f-f41e-48f0-8b9f-f6420389c9bb.jpg?v=1784715038","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-half-life-9781668069134","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}