Rebecca Donner's essays, reportage and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Bookforum, Guernica and the Believer. Born in Vancouver, Donner is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University, and has taught writing at Wesleyan University, Columbia University and Barnard College. Donner grew up hearing vague stories about her great-great-aunt's life. This inspired her to delve into Mildred's story. All the Frequent Trouble of Her Days is the product of that research. rebeccadonner.com
Literate fiction dealing with the inner lives of children presents a challenge for both writer and reader. But Donner does her young characters the service of taking them seriously, investing them with self-awareness and the capacity for complex motivations, while writing with an asperity that keeps her clear of the maudlin and the trite * * Gulf Coast Review * * A migratory mother flirts with stability in first-timer Donner's strongly realised novel of place * * Kirkus Reviews * * A family puts down roots in a hardscrabble Southern California apartment complex in this colourful, wonderfully realised first novel * * Publisher's Weekly * * Praise for Sunset Terrace: Donner's writing is nothing short of gorgeous, alive to the intricate hostilities between girls and the tangled alliances among women. The compassion she summons for the desperately sad children in this book is nearly crushing in its intensity. This is a remarkable debut * * Baltimore Sun * *