<p><strong>A <em>New York Times</em> Notable Book of 2012<p><p>From the acclaimed American novelist and memoirist Ellen Ullman, <em>By Blood</em> is a gothic noir novel that explores questions about fate, identity and genetics in the guise of a gripping psychological thriller.</strong></p><p>A professor is on leave from his post a leave that may have been forced upon him. He may or may not be of sound mind. To steady himself, he rents an office in San Francisco. It is 1974, a time when free love and psychedelic ecstasy have given way to drug violence and serial killings. Through the thin office walls, the professor overhears the sessions of a therapist and a patient, and without knowing the patient s name or face he comes to know the details of her life, her family, her lovers. He inserts himself into her search for her "mysterious origins": a deeply troubling journey through displaced-persons camps,...