Eleven Days (novel)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Eleven Days

First edition
Author: Lea Carpenter
Language: English
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Publication date: 2013
Publication place: United States
Media type: Print
Pages: 270
ISBN: 9780307960702

Eleven Days is Lea Carpenter’s debut novel, published in 2013. It tells the story of a mother’s bond with her son, and explores life choices, military service, and war.

The narrator is Sara, whose son Jason is a Navy SEAL in the Special Operations Forces. On May 2, 2011—the night Osama bin Laden was killed—Jason goes missing during a high-stakes mission. Sara waits for news, torn between hope and fear. Through flashbacks and letters Jason writes home from training and early missions, we see him as a strong, compassionate leader who is wise beyond his years. His exceptional abilities lead him to a more dangerous and important assignment.

The novel focuses on motherhood, loyalty, and the costs of serving one’s country.