Excavations :

Select an Action

Title :

Excavations : a novel / Kate Myers.

Title:

Excavations :

Author:

Myers, Kate (Television developer)

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

275 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9780063304512

Production / Publication Information:

New York, NY : HarperVia, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2023]

Summary:

"On a remote archeological site in Greece, the mythic home of the first Olympics, four women discover an unusual artifact. It's a piece of history that definitely shouldn't exist. And for the head archaeologist in charge, a relic himself, it means something's gone horribly wrong. Elise, Kara, Z, and Patty all find themselves digging here together, but they couldn't be farther apart. Kara's a polished conservator calling off her wedding. Patty and her bowl cut are desperate for love. Millennial Z just got dumped and fired yet again. And Elise, their star excavator, is a lone wolf about to go rogue. To figure out what they're really digging for, and to topple the man who wants to hide their history, these dirt-crusted colleagues have to become what they've avoided for years--friends. If they put their own messes aside for one summer, they might just make the discovery of a lifetime"--

Language:

English

Genre:

Novels.

Subject Term:

Women archaeologists -- Fiction.

Female friendship -- Fiction.

Excavations (Archaeology) -- Fiction.

Islands -- Greece -- Fiction.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	FICTION MYERS	31330009353800	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Amesbury Public Library	FIC MYERS	32114002778679	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Burlington Public Library	F MYERS	32116003988850	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Chelmsford Public Library	FIC/MYERS	31480011685507	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Dunstable Free Public Library	MYE	32118001112707	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Haverhill Public Library	FIC/MYERS K	31479007630790	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Lowell - Pollard Memorial Library	FIC MYERS	31481005713933	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newbury Town Library	MYE	32127001369365	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Newburyport Public Library	FIC MYERS K	32128004195872	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... North Andover - Stevens Memorial Library	F MYERS	31478010236397	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Rockport Public Library	FIC MYERS	32129002597556	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tewksbury Public Library	FICTION MYERS	32132003402495	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Topsfield Town Library	FIC MYERS	32133002700053	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Tyngsborough Public Library	FIC/MYERS	32137002214007	Searching... Unknown
Book	Searching... Westford - J.V. Fletcher Library	F MYERS	31990005273375	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

USA TODAY BESTSELLER * BEST SUMMER READS OF 2023: The New York Post * Oprah Book Club * Oprah Daily * USA Today * Good Housekeeping * Brit + Co * The Good Trade * Parade * Zibby Mag * O Quaterly

"Funny, smart and deeply delicious." --Amy Poehler

"Witty and acerbic, Myers' debut is humorous and sharply written, as if Aubrey Plaza's April Ludgate from Parks and Recreation decided to write a sun-drenched novel about feminism, friendship, and archeology." --Booklist

Over a summer in sun-drenched Greece, four incompatible women digging into the past may just find the answers to their futures. An "academic satire with a feminist bent... Fresh, funny, intelligent, and deeply satisfying."--Kirkus (Starred Review)

On a remote archeological site in Greece, the mythic home of the first Olympics, four women discover an unusual artifact. It's a piece of history that definitely shouldn't exist. And for the head archaeologist in charge, a relic himself, it means something's gone horribly wrong.

Elise, Kara, Z and Patty all find themselves digging here together, but they couldn't be farther apart. Kara's a polished conservator calling off her wedding. Patty and her bowl cut are desperate for love. Millennial Z just got dumped and fired yet again. And Elise, their star excavator, is a lone wolf about to go rogue.

To figure out what they're really digging for, and to topple the man who wants to hide their history, these dirt-crusted colleagues have to become what they've avoided for years--friends. If they put their own messes aside for one summer, they might just make the discovery of a lifetime.

Reviews (3)

Kirkus Review

Myers' lively comic novel focuses on the raw passions of four women, not for men or each other--well, maybe those too--but mostly for the physical experience of archaeology, the grueling grunt work of a hot summer dig. The dig in question takes place in Greece under the auspices of autocratic Dr. Charles Barton, from an unnamed university. Zara, Kara, Elise, and Patty arrive with different skills and expectations. Patty, a clueless undergraduate intern who knows nothing about archaeology, has become Barton's spy and general whipping girl. Zara had a wonderful experience in Greece as an undergrad on the dig six years ago until she broke up with her grad student boyfriend, Gary, now a committed archaeologist. She's drifted through various botched jobs and boyfriends ever since. Aware that Gary will be there, she joins this year's dig on a desperate whim. But Gary is engaged to ambitious, high-strung perfectionist Kara, who was also on Zara's first dig and now runs the site lab; she's worried that her goal of a job at Sotheby's could be derailed if she doesn't find two missing discuses for which she's responsible. Eccentric, independent 44-year-old Elise lacks academic credentials but is highly respected as an adept professional excavator. She and Kara blame each other for a loss suffered several years earlier, a small but valuable statue Elise found and Kara restored before it was supposedly destroyed by an earthquake. Is there a connection between the discuses and the statue? Maybe. Myers gives the angst-ridden, imperfect women entertainingly distinct voices and personalities. The men are fun too, both the appealing ones and the creeps. (And then there's the voice of the buried.) Desires collide and relationships realign rapidly as the dig begins to go awry. Myers is adept at academic satire with a feminist bent and at unsentimental romance, but she really shines at bringing to life a working excavation: the smells, the grime, the exhaustion. And the exhilaration. Fresh, funny, intelligent, and deeply satisfying. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Zara (or Z, as she's sometimes called) is floundering, having just been broken up with for the umpteenth time. When she gets an email from a former flame inviting her to join him on an archaeological dig in Greece, sponsored by her alma mater, Z jumps at the chance to push off important decision making for the summer, not realizing how life changing this trip will be. While on the dig she discovers an artifact that could upend everything known about women in sports history; when Z shares this find with frenemy Kara and unofficial mentor Elise, the women must decide if they're going to take down the archaeological patriarchy together or let the discovery tear them apart. Witty and acerbic, Myers' debut is humorous and sharply written, as if Aubrey Plaza's April Ludgate from Parks and Recreation decided to write a sun-drenched novel about feminism, friendship, and archaeology.

Library Journal Review

DEBUT Myers's first novel offers a promising storyline that is marred by uneven pacing and forced witticisms. Emotions run high at a Greek archaeological site, run by the chauvinistic and self-aggrandizing Dr. Charles Barton, where Elise, Kara, and Z reluctantly find themselves working together again after six long years. Lead excavator Elise is driven to find evidence based on a rumor that women may have also participated in ancient pre-Olympic games, while Patty, a first-year undergraduate, is manipulated by Dr. Barton to spy on Elise. Elise's nemesis, Kara, is the dig's extremely ambitious preservation director who seeks to take over the project and propel her career higher. Commitment-phobic Z, invited by her ex-boyfriend Gary to join the crew, is shocked to hear that he is engaged to Kara. The disappearance of artifacts as well as other strange events around the site force the women to resolve their personal issues and work together to uncover the truth. VERDICT Myers, who studied archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, realistically portrays working on an archaeological dig and vividly describes the beautiful countryside, calling to mind Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway series.--Joy Gunn