About DoriWelcome
“Reminiscent of Mona Simpson and Elizabeth Strout in the way Ostermiller expertly explores family dynamics and mother-daughter bonds, (Outside the Ordinary World) gives a shattering portrait of ordinary people breaking asunder and helplessly trying to glue back together... There is absolutely nothing ordinary about this astonishingly moving and complex novel.”
--Caroline Leavitt, The Boston Globe
Outside the Ordinary World will
debut in the United Kingdom
on August 19, 2011
Dori's Blog
Dealing with Praise and Criticism
November 25, 2011
So, a lot of people have been asking how I feel about the dubious honor of being nominated for the Literary Review's "Bad Sex" awards...
Although not truly among my life's cheif ambitions, who wouldn't feel honored to be in such company--David Guterson, Haruki Murakam...
Writers in Progress Workshops
Dori is the founder and director of Writers in Progress, a literary arts center in Florence, MA. Writers in Progress offers a live reading series, as well as ongoing weekly writing workshops and retreats with dozens of area writers, including Jacqueline Sheehan, Suzanne Strempek-Shea, Celia Jeffries, David Lovelace and Dori herself.
Latest News
Fall Writers in Progress Schedule is available
The London Times chose Outside the Ordinary World as last week’s Recommended Read!
Outside the Ordinary World was favorably reviewed by Jonathan Barnes in the August, 2011 issue of the Literary Review.
A lovely blogger review by Debs Carr on Novelicious.com
A great review of OTOW on Reallyrelative.com
Outside the Ordinary World was long-listed for the Richard and Judy Bookclub in the UK!
Outside the Ordinary World was nominated to the “Must Read Books of 2010” list, by the American Library Association!
"Outside the Ordinary World" is an Indie Next List Notable Book by the American Bookseller's Association.
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Sylvia Sandon always swore she wouldn’t become her mother. But one August morning she finds herself walking the same path as the fervently religious yet faithless Elaine…into an affair she feels powerless to resist.
Against the backdrop of California brush fires in the ’70s, twelve year-old Sylvia had agreed to hold a secret that would devour her family’s dream of happiness. Now struggling to create a better life in small-town New England, Sylvia nonetheless feels caught in the coils of history: she confronts the embers of her dying marriage, the all-consuming needs of her two daughters and her faltering artistic career. Then Tai Rosen—the father of a student— ignites an unexpected passion and a familiar betrayal that could illuminate the past, even as it jeopardizes everything dear.
Outside the Ordinary World reveals what lies beneath the surface of infidelity. But at its heart, it is the story of the powerful, sometimes disturbing bond between mothers and daughters, and the shimmering line between self-revelation and self-destruction.
