05.11.2021 A THEATER FOR DREAMERS @AlgonquinBooks and @PollySamson

 

Publisher : Algonquin Books (May 11, 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages

In April of 1960, a young Leonard Cohen arrived on the beautiful Greek island of Hydra, dreaming of completing his first novel under the warmth of the island sun. Just twenty-five years old, the charismatic poet was welcomed into the community of artists and writers who also made their home on the island, including the Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, the Norwegian painter Axel Jensen, and Axel’s gentle, doting wife Marianne, who would soon become Leonard’s muse, inspiring his classic songs “So Long Marianne” and “Bird on the Wire.” Now, based on this bohemian community and their legendary exploits, Polly Samson’s A THEATER FOR DREAMERS (Publication Date: May 11, 2021; Hardcover; $26.95) transports American readers to the idyllic, sun-soaked island of Hydra in the same way that Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins took readers to the coast of Italy. Hailed as “an impressionistic, intoxicating rush of sensory experience” by The Sunday Times and as “a blissful piece of escapism… [and] a surefire summer hit” by The Guardian, A THEATER FOR DREAMERS debuted as an instant UK bestseller upon publication last May, and was named a best novel of the year by The Times and The Sunday Times, The Spectator, The Daily Mail and many more.

When eighteen-year-old Erica arrives on Hydra, the world teeters on the edge of cultural, political, sexual, and artistic revolution. Fresh off the boat from London, with nothing but a bundle of blank notebooks and a burning desire to leave home in the wake of her mother’s death, she is embraced by the troubled queen and king of bohemia, Charmian and George, and by the proto-commune of poets, painters, and musicians that revel in dreams at the feet of their unofficial leaders. Among these artists, she will find an unraveling utopia where everything is tested—the nature of art, relationships, and her own innocence.

Roiling with the heat of a Grecian summer and based on true events, A THEATER FOR DREAMERS is a spellbinding tour-de-force about the beauty between naïveté and cruelty, chaos and utopia, artist and muse—and about the wars waged between men and women on the battlegrounds of genius.

MY REVIEW:  

Polly Samson's book A THEATER FOR DREAMERS is certainly going to be a new favorite of mine for its immersive writing and beautiful prose.  A wonderful coming-of-age story that takes you back to the carefree era of the '60s and '70s and in a Greek island of Hydra no less with some of the artists and creatives of the time. Through the eyes of a young teen Erica, and the disappointing life she has led so far, accepts an invitation to paradise amongst people whose minds and life do not conform to the expectations of society. Hydra is much a character central to the story as the other artists and poets in the island. It is truly a treat to read this glittering character driven story while also getting lost in the atmospheric literary read. 

Praise for A Theater for Dreamers

"Sublime and immersive… If you wish you could disappear to a Greek island right now, I highly recommend."
—Jojo Moyes, #1 bestselling author of Me Before You


“A delectable work of escapism… Seductive time travel, with an edge.”

—Kirkus Reviews, starred review


“Samson’s achingly beautiful depictions of the sun-soaked Greek paradise contrast strongly with the dark inner lives of its inhabitants. Tantalizing summer reading.”

—Booklist


“Perceptive... Samson brings off the scenes of drunken philosophizing, arguing, and gossiping with distinct, intimate credibility. Hydra is beautiful and the company glamorous… The Cohen apocrypha will certainly interest his fans, but Samson’s greatest accomplishment is the multifaceted portrait of Charmian. The attention Samson pays to since-overlooked Charmian in this nuanced portrait may put the Australian writer back on the map.”

—Publishers Weekly


“The novel’s meandering, dreamlike writing style is delightful… A Theater for Dreamers embodies a summer vacation, capturing the essence of Hydra in vibrant, saltwater-scented impressions.”

—Foreword Reviews


“This gorgeous, glimmering summer read is itself perfect summer: irresistible and deep, Samson's lyric sentences pulling you into unforgettable sunlight and shadow.”

—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

Both a writer of fiction and a lyricist, Polly Samson has also worked as a journalist and in publishing, and her words have appeared on four number one albums, including Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell and her husband David Gilmour’s On an Island. She was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018, and her 2015 novel, The Kindness, was named a Book of the Year by The Times and The Observer. “It was Charmian Clift’s 1959 memoir Peel Me a Lotus that set me on the path to the Greek island of Hydra, and to a fascination with Charmian,” she explains. “My (extensive) research uncovered a cache of over 1500 photographs of the community she and her husband fostered on the island, which included the young Leonard Cohen, Gregory Corso, Axel Jensen, Goran Tunstrom, and Gordon Merrick. I became fascinated by identifying all the people in the photographs, and began immersing myself in this bohemian circle, dreaming my own novel set among them into being.”

05.10.2021 Hieroglyphics / Blog Tour @algonquinbooks; @jillmccorkle

Publisher : Algonquin Books (May 4, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 336 pages

Lil and Frank married young, launched into courtship when they bonded over how they both—suddenly, tragically—lost a parent when they were children. Over time, their marriage grew and strengthened, with each still wishing for so much more understanding of the parents they’d lost prematurely.
Now, after many years in Boston, they have retired in North Carolina. There, Lil, determined to leave a history for their children, sifts through letters and notes and diary entries—perhaps revealing more secrets than Frank wants their children to know. Meanwhile, Frank has become obsessed with what might have been left behind at the house he lived in as a boy on the outskirts of town, where a young single mother, Shelley, is just trying to raise her son with some sense of normalcy. Frank’s repeated visits to Shelley’s house begin to trigger memories of her own family, memories that she’d rather forget. Because, after all, not all parents are ones you wish to remember.

Hieroglyphics reveals the difficulty of ever really knowing the intentions and dreams and secrets of the people who raised you. In her deeply layered and masterful novel, Jill McCorkle deconstructs and reconstructs what it means to be a father or a mother, and what it means to be a child piecing together the world all around us, a child learning to make sense of the hieroglyphics of history and memory.


“A moving and deeply appealing novel.”
—People

“A good novel can perform the same perception-bending trick as a lockdown: slowing time, throwing light on shadowed corners, reminding us of the interdependencies among us that we once took for granted . . . Vibrant, engaging . . . McCorkle, a generous, humane writer, knows that facing death allows us, as this terrible pandemic has, to focus on what is essential: how to take care of our vulnerable, and to appreciate the connections that sustain us.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A bard of Southern fiction weaves a layered tale around a married couple who retire from Boston to North Carolina amid a beehive of secrets. A hidden journal, a childhood house, a long-ago fire: All emerge as keys and touchstones in McCorkle’s shimmering prose.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine

“Jill McCorkle has long been one of our wryest, warmest, wisest storytellers. In Hieroglyphics, she takes us on through decades, through loss, through redemption, and lands in revelation and grace. As always with McCorkle, the story feels so effortless and true that we might well miss what a high-wire act she’s performing. But make no mistake: She’s up there without a net, she never misses a step, and it’s spectacular.”
—Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Great Believers

MY REVIEW:

Jill McCorkle writes a captivating story that is powerful, emotional and deeply moving, about ordinary people trying to make sense of their life, the stories that shape them, and what they leave as legacy to their children.

The story is centered on Lil and Frank, both retirees from Boston moving to North Carolina to be closer to their daughter, and Shelley a court reporter and her troubled son Harvey. The story is told in their POVs and just like our memories and personal stories, they are remembered sporadically and non linear. I thought this was really creative way of storytelling that is immersive and sentimental.

McCorkle is a brilliant writer and storyteller. I enjoyed this fantastic read.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Five of Jill McCorkle's seven previous books have been named New York Times Notables. Winner of the New England Booksellers Award, the Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature, and the North Carolina Award for Literature, she has taught writing at the University of North Carolina, Bennington College, Tufts University, and Harvard. She lives near Boston with her husband, their two children, several dogs, and a collection of toads.

7th MAY 2021 TEARS OF AMBER (Amazon Crossing; May 1, 2021) by Sofía Segovia (Over the River Public Relations) @MSofiaSegovia, @SimonBruni, @OverTheRiverPr, @AmazonPub

 

Author’s Note regarding

TEARS OF AMBER


TEARS OF AMBER is inspired by true events. It is a Prussian story but it is also a Mexican story. The protagonists settled in my hometown, and I am a close friend of one of their daughters, born in Germany. I had never dared to ask what had been of her parents’ during the war, because I knew it had to be a difficult subject. But when she told me about her mother as a little girl in a runaway carriage, holding her brother tight, I was hooked by the images. Then by the amazing, almost-impossible-to-believe coincidences that brought her father and mother together, both alive, not only in body but also in spirit, in hope. Their story lives in them and in their children just a few blocks from my home. They created an amazing, generous, loving Mexican-German family. They are German, but they break the stereotype of the movies and novels: they were not soldiers, they were little kids with hopes and dreams in Prussia when this war, abandonment and exodus happened to them. I wanted to break with the usual way we know WWII. It was a risk I took, looking out of the eyes of German folk and not from those of the usual victims. But I realized that the truth of the despicable Holocaust and the truth of children and families like those in TEARS OF AMBER coexisted and even complement and completed each other. So, I wrote it.

I did caution Ilse, one of the main characters, that I was not a biographer or even an historian. I am a novelist, and I would take the story she gave me and transform it into the one she inspired.

Brave Ilse was the first to read it. She loved it. She said that she recognized her life and her relationships, especially with her father. Through the novel, she got to understand her mother. Many others, victims of this exodus (and/or their children) have written to me to the same effect. I got to
present this novel at the Israelite Sports Club in Mexico City. I was nervous, but shouldn’t have been: they “got it”.

The story of the Holocaust is not complete —and it can happen again! — unless one knows the other side of the story. We know the whom, the what, the where, the when, the how many of it. The why did it happen, the how was it possible, the how easy it was for it to happen, we cannot understand unless we dare to see through others’ eyes. I believe that in knowing everything, in seeing the whole picture, we can prevent it from ever happening again.

I often say that when I write I try to forget everything, except my humanity. In other words, for example, I don’t write as a woman, but as a human. In TEARS OF AMBER, I also aspired to leave my nationality, my language and even my weather behind. I wrote in Spanish, of course, but imagined my characters speaking in German. I believe that effect shines through in Simon Bruni’s translation.

After his brilliant translation of The Murmur of Bees, I wouldn’t and couldn’t imagine anybody else for TEARS OF AMBER. A master literary translator should translate more than words and has to understand the culture, the nuances, be sensitive to tone, rhythm and cadence. And this novel was especially tough. Simon is a Briton who speaks Spanish from Spain, translating Spanish from Mexico into US English. For this one he still had to keep in mind the German variable on top of everything else. I have had the privilege of being a witness and collaborator in his process. We developed a system that works for us, and we have built a partnership and a friendship. It was my lucky day when I received an e-mail by one Simon Bruni, translator, who offered to translate El murmullo de las Abejas (The Murmur of Bees).

MY REVIEW:

Tears of Amber by Sofía Segovia is a sweeping historical fiction saga that is heartbreaking, engaging and a powerful read based on true to life events. This book follows these characters' journey chronologically through alternating point of views where the writing is completely immersive into the horrors of their life experiences in the midst of the war of what is current day Poland. 

Though I have read many WWII novels, this one was so special in that the writing really pulled me into the stories. The characters came alive in these pages - as the families did all they can to survive such unfathomable circumstances, and their stories intertwined, I was left amazed by the resilience and strength to survive and push through. 

I highly recommend this book for historical fiction fans. Do not miss this one.

About Sofía Segovia

I was born in Monterrey, Mexico. The 5th child in a family of six daughters and sons. My father is an OB-GYN and my mother a business woman turned politician, now both retired. We had a tennis court at home so that and all sport was a big part of our family. But surprisingly, in a growing city with no book stores or libraries, in that family, even my nanny was an avid reader. She was also my storyteller, which is a big part of my love for writing. I went to school at The American School of Monterrey, where I learned many things, but more than anything, the love for other languages and all aspects of theater, musical or other, on stage and off. I took a sabbatical to study French in Switzerland after high school. That’s when I realized I loved to travel and go to museums, that’s when I saw-touched-felt history and became an observer. I actually have a museums-of-the-world bucket list that keeps growing.

I went to college in Monterrey for two years before getting married at 20, in 1985. With my new husband, José, I lived in San Diego, California for a couple of years. When we came back to Monterrey, I went back to college to finish my degree in Communications. That’s when my involvement in politics became professional. We had our first daughter when I was 25; we have three children in all. I always kept writing —speeches, plays, political campaigns, but nothing and nobody ever said to me: fiction is your thing. Until the end of the world was announced for the year 2000. Then I asked myself: what’s your thing, yours that has nothing to do with anybody else? Writing short stories as a girl or a young woman even in college had given me the most pleasure, I realized, and it had been a long time since I’d written one for nobody, just for me, just because. So, I decided to explore that feeling again. I joined a writing workshop, and realized I no longer had short stories in me, I had novels. I wrote Huracán. It took me a while to get published in the big leagues, but the wait and my personal evolution was worth it! The Murmur of Bees opened all possibilities for me. The came Tears of Amber. So now I write and read and travel. I check off items from my museum bucket list, but have been back many times to many of them. I’ve been married to José for 35 years and been sweethearts for 40. Sports are important in our family, but also reading, travel, our pets, history, museums, theater and cooking mostly Mexican, French, Italian and Indian food. Everyone in our family is an excellent cook.

ABOUT TRANSLATOR SIMON BRUNI

Simon Bruni translates literary works from Spanish, a language he acquired

through total immersion living in Alicante, Valencia, and Santander. He

studied Spanish and linguistics at Queen Mary University of London and

literary translation at the University of Exeter. Simon’s many published

translations include novels, short stories, video games, and nonfiction

publications, and he is the winner of three John Dryden translation awards: in

2017 and 2015 for Paul Pen’s short stories “Cinnamon” and “The Porcelain Boy”

and in 2011 for Francisco Pérez Gandul’s novel Cell 211. His translations of Paul

Pen’s The Light of the Fireflies and Sofía Segovia’s The Murmur of Bees

have both become international bestsellers. For more information visit

www.simonbruni.com.

7th May 2021 Isabelle and Alexander (Proper Romance Victorian) By Rebecca Anderson @Austenprose @Beccawilhite @shadowmountn

 

·         Title: Isabelle and Alexander (Proper Romance Victorian)

·         Author: Rebecca Anderson

·         Genre: Historical Fiction, Inspirational Fiction, Victorian Romance

·         Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing (May 4, 2021)

·         Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook (368) pages

·         Tour Dates: May 3-16. 2021

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Isabelle Rackham knows she will not marry for love. Though arranged marriages have fallen out of fashion, hers has been settled for some time to combine the upper-middle-class wealth of her father's coal mines with Alexander Osgood's prospering Northern country textile mills. Though not a man prone to romantic gestures, Alexander is well-known as an eligible bachelor. His good looks have turned more than one head, so Isabelle is content to think of herself as Alexander's wife.

However, her marriage is not what she expected. Northern England is nothing like her home farther west in the lake country. Cold, dreary, and dark, the soot from the textile mills creates a gray hue that seems to cling to everything in the city of Manchester. Alexander is distant and aloof, preferring to spend his time at the mill rather than with her at home. Their few conversations are brief, polite, and lacking any emotion, leaving Isabelle lonely and desperately homesick.

Sensing his wife's unhappiness, Alexander suggests a trip to his country estate. Isabelle hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know her new husband without the distractions of his business. But the change of scenery doesn't bring them any closer. While riding together on horses, Alexander is thrown from his and becomes paralyzed. Tragedy or destiny? The help and care that Alexander now needs is Isabelle's opportunity to forge a connection and create a deep and romantic love where nothing else could.

 

 

 MY REVIEW:

Isabelle and Alexander by Rebecca Anderson was quite the unique historical fiction read that had such a great concept and intriguing story line that I really enjoyed reading about. This was fantastic!

Isabelle Rackham's life had been planned long ago when her father decided to join upper middle class forces, and combine the wealth of their coal mines in the south, with Alexander Osgood's textile mills of the north. Through an arranged marriage, Isabelle's life in Manchester was certainly not what she had dreamed of. Alexander trying to make amends and forge a better relationship with his wife plans an escape to the country. As fate would have it, their lives takes a turn when Alexander fell of his horse and suffers a spinal cord injury leaving him disabled.

As I read the book, the story just kept getting better and better. I loved how much research went through in the medical world of the Victorian era and how injuries like this were handled then. It was amazing to read about it as a nurse myself. I followed closely what happened to our beloved Christopher Reeve, and to think with all the modern day advancement, there were still a lot to learn about spinal cord injuries. 

I have not read anything like this in the historical fiction books, and this was a great change of pace and topic, where the love developed after the marriage and after such a tragic accident. The story arc was well written and beautifully told. I highly recommend this book. 

ADVANCE PRAISE

 

·         "Anderson’s first foray into historical romance is an atypical, yet satisfying story set in Victorian Manchester’s upper middle class. Hand this to readers looking for a book that navigates the peaks and valleys of two strangers attempting to make a life together despite the hardships life throws at them."— Library Journal

 

·         "Isabelle transitions from an unaware, leisure-class woman to a more enlightened spouse and supporter of the working class. Intimacy and romance develop between Isabelle and Alexander because of simple gestures, like a long look or a thoughtful gift, and their conversations. Their slow, stately courting is reader appropriate for any age or audience. Manchester also gets its due as a place of grit and incredible production. Descriptions of bustling mills reveal their impact on the couple’s family and its fortunes. Isabelle and Alexander is an intimate and touching romance novel that focuses on women’s lives in the business class of industrial England."— Foreword Reviews

 

·         "Isabelle must use her quiet spunk, busy mind, and compassionate spirit to woo her husband in a wholly new way. Anderson's debut is a lovely northern England Victorian romance about confronting the seemingly impossible and the power of empathy. Anderson also addresses the time period’s treatment of physical and intellectual disabilities. Most of all, she beautifully depicts love in its many forms beyond romance, such as compassion, patience, and vulnerability; and her characters illustrate the ways that these expressions of love carry us through even the darkest hours. Isabelle’s loving and persevering fervor and devotion will resonate with any caregiver’s heart."— Booklist

 

 

AUTHOR BIO

Rebecca Anderson is the nom de plume of contemporary romance novelist Becca Wilhite, author of Wedding Belles: A Novel in Four Parts, Check Me Out, and My Ridiculous Romantic Obsessions. Isabelle and Alexander is her debut historical romance novel.

High school English teacher by day, writer by night (or very early morning), she loves hiking, Broadway shows, food, books, and movies. She is happily married and a mom to four above-average kids.

 

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM  | GOODREADS

 

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

 

May 03           Lu Reviews Books (Review)       

May 03           Timeless Novels (Review)           

May 03           Our Book Confessions (Review)           

May 04           Literary Time Out (Review)         

May 04           My Bookish Bliss (Review)         

May 04           The Book Diva's Reads (Excerpt)         

May 05           Heidi Reads (Review)       

May 05           Laura's Reviews (Review)           

May 05           Wishful Endings (Review)           

May 05           Gwendalyn's Reviews (Review)

May 06           Margie's Must Reads (Review)  

May 06           Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen (Excerpt)

May 06           Relz Reviewz (Review)     

May 07           Randi Loves 2 Read (Spotlight) 

May 07           The Reading Frenzy (Review)    

May 07           Nurse Bookie (Review)    

May 08           The Christian Fiction Girl (Review)      

May 08           The Bibliophile Files (Review)   

May 09           Reading with Emily (Review)     

May 09           Fire and Ice (Spotlight)     

May 10           My Jane Austen Book Club (Excerpt)  

May 10           The Caffeinated Bibliophile (Review)  

May 10           Booked Solid (Review)    

May 10           From Pemberley to Milton (Spotlight)  

May 11           Greenish Bookshelf (Review)    

May 11           Captivated Reading (Review)     

May 11           The Green Mockingbird (Review)         

May 12           For Where Your Treasure Is (Excerpt)

May 12           Bookworm Lisa (Review)

May 13           Books, Teacups & Reviews (Spotlight)

May 13           Library of Clean Reads (Review)          

May 13           Robin Loves Reading (Review)

May 13           So Little Time (Excerpt)   

May 14           Eli's Novel Reviews (Review)     

May 14           The Lit Bitch (Review)      

May 14           The Bluestocking (Review)         

May 15           Reading Is My Superpower (Review)   

May 15           Christian Chick's Thoughts (Review)  

May 15           A Darn Good Read (Review)      

May 16           The Silver Petticoat Review (Excerpt)  

May 16           CozyNookBooks (Review)          

 

 

PURCHASE LINKS

 

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| DESERET BOOK | GOODREADS

 

May 7, 2021 The Borrow-A-Bookshop Holiday By Kiley Dunbar @rararesources @kileydunbar

 

The Borrow-A-Bookshop Holiday

Publisher : Hera 
Publication date : May 5, 2021

 
The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday: A gorgeously uplifting read - booklovers will love this heart-warming romcom!
The Fully Booked Bookshop Café invites literature lovers to run their very own bookshop … for a fortnight.

Spend your days talking books with customers in your own charming bookshop and serving up delicious cream teas in the cosy café.

Bookworms, what are you waiting for? Your holiday is going to be LIT(erary).

Apply to: The Fully Booked Bookshop, Down-a-long, Clove Lore, Devon.

Jude Crawley should be on top of the world. She’s just graduated as a mature student, so can finally go public about her relationship with Philosophy professor, Mack.

Until she sees Mack kissing another girl, and her dreams crumble. And worse, their dream holiday – running a tiny bookshop in the harbour village of Clove Lore for two weeks – is non-refundable.

Throwing caution to the winds, Jude heads down to Devon, eager to immerse herself in literature and heal her broken heart.

But there’s one problem – six foot tall, brooding (but gorgeous) Elliot, who’s also reserved the bookshop holiday for two weeks…

As Jude and Elliot put their differences aside to run the bookshop, it seems that Jude might be falling in love with more than just words. Until she discovers what Elliot is running from – and why he’s hiding out in Clove Lore.

Can Jude find her own happy ending in a tiny, tumbledown bookshop? Or is she about to find out that her bookish holiday might have an unexpected twist in the tale…

MY REVIEW

Any reader and book lover must have had a dream of owning their own bookstore and serving up desserts with a cup of espresso or specialty teas. Oh, you have too? We I think we all have, and I am googling places to spend a couple of weeks in such a place that would offer up a dream come true. Well, not in this pandemic unfortunately. The amazing thing is, books do take you to adventures and vacations without leaving your cozy nook. Thank you to author Kiley Dunbar for this wonderful reading experience I absolutely adored and definitely needed.

The Borrow-A-Bookshop Holiday By Kiley Dunbar is a heartwarming story about Jude Crawley who is on top of the world ready for a holiday with her beau Mack in a dream location in Devon by the seaside running a bookshop. Of course everything came tumbling down when Mack turned out to be a creep. She ends up going alone and bumping into Elliot who is also doing the holiday in the bookshop and despite the rocky start, there certainly is chemistry there. I love reading about the friendships, the small seaside town, the bookshop and of course the chemistry between them was just marvelous.

This is a wonderful book I loved and enjoyed for the beautiful writing, the characters, the enjoyable storyline, the gorgeous setting, all in a heartwarming and swoon worthy read. Love Love Love! 

Purchase Links

AMZ: https://amzn.to/30a8F8w

Kobo: http://bit.ly/308giMP

Apple: http://apple.co/3q8A4Ch

Author Bio

Kiley Dunbar writes heart-warming, escapist, romantic fiction set in beautiful places.

Kiley also works as a senior lecturer, teaching creative writing at the Manchester Writing School. One Winter's Night is shortlisted for the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel Award 2021.

Social Media Links –

'Kiley Dunbar Author Book Page' on Facebook
website and newsletter: http://www.kileydunbar.co.uk/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI8wM4Fmkbyg4S_XGSnfUCA

https://twitter.com/kileydunbar

https://www.facebook.com/KileyDunbarAuthor/

05.04.2021 LONG WALK HOME by Ellyn Oaksmith @EllynOaksmith @BOOKOUTURE

Publisher : Bookouture (April 30, 2021)
Publication date : April 30, 2021
Language : English

Synopsis:

Lola was struck by just how quickly she recognized him. It had been ten long years since she’d seen him; ten years of thinking that maybe she hadn't really loved him. But there he was. And he still took her breath away.

Lola has turned her life around since her wild teenage years, but one thing hasn’t changed: how her sister sees her. Her sister Carmen only remembers the mistakes she’s made and can’t see the potential of Lola’s plans to expand the family vineyard business at Blue Hills. But Lola is determined to win Carmen round—and gain her respect once and for all.

Then Lola’s high school sweetheart Gus arrives back in town, and everything changes. He was her first love, the bad boy she used to climb out of windows to see. But he’d broken her heart when he left town suddenly, without so much as a goodbye. And after that, she’d never seen him again. Until now.

Gus isn’t that same rebel anymore. It’s taken everything he has to come back to this town full of bittersweet memories, but he owes it to himself, and to Lola, to make amends. But she’s not that lovesick girl anymore and she knows she can’t let him turn her head again. So why can’t she stop thinking about how his strong arms would feel wrapped around her?

Then fate intervenes, and they’re forced to work together on Lola’s biggest project—and the sparks begin to fly once more…

As the sun sets over the mountains and meadows of Blue Hills, can two people who’d thought they could never be together find their way home to each other?

An utterly romantic feel-good read about being true to yourself and becoming the person you were always meant to be, Long Walk Home will make you laugh, make you cry and show you that true love always finds a way. For fans of Robyn Carr, Carolyn Brown and Mary Ellen Taylor.

 

MY REVIEW:

I am so excited to report how much I loved and enjoyed reading LONG WALK HOME by Ellyn Oaksmith, a new author to me. When I read the synopsis, I knew I would enjoy the storyline, as I do enjoy a great second chance at love typ of stories. I also do enjoy stories about sisterhood and the how characters' arc change throughout the story. 

I found the book easy to read and with the chapters leaving me wanting for more. So as usual, having started this book much too late in the evening, I found myself staying up through the night swooning and sniffling in this heart-wrenchingly amazing romance. 

Ellyn Oaksmith deftly writes a great story in a lovely location with characters that are realistic and relatable. Everyone deserves a second chance, and this book certainly checked off all the boxes for me. Such a satisfying story that I was hooked from the very first page. 

Author bio:

Ellyn Oaksmith is the USA Today and Kindle bestselling author of addictively fun love stories. She has never run a winery, been attacked by drones or nearly drowned someone but she loves putting her characters in challenging situations. Ellyn also enjoys chatting with readers on social media. Especially when she should be writing.

Ellyn began her writing life as a screenwriter in Los Angeles which, outside of writing hours, is exactly as crazy as it seems in the movies. After hightailing it back to her native Seattle, Ellyn began writing comedic romances and never looked back.

Ellyn lives in Seattle with her husband. She's part of a competitive rowing team. You can often find her on Lake Sammamish rowing in the dark.

Author website: www.EllynOaksmith.com
Facebook: @EllynOaksmith
Instagram: @EllynOaksmith

05.03.2021 JACOBO's RAINBOW by David Hirshberg BLOG TOUR #jacobosrainbow

 

JACOBO’S RAINBOW is set primarily in the nineteen sixties during the convulsive period of the student protest movements and the Vietnam War. It focuses on the issue of being an outsider, an altogether common circumstance that resonates with readers in today’s America. Written from a Jewish perspective, it speaks to universal truths that affect us all.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of a transformative event in Jacobo’s life – the day he is sent to jail – he writes about what happened behind the scenes of the Free Speech Movement, which provides the backdrop for a riveting story centered on his emergence into a world he never could have imagined. His recording of those earlier events is the proximate cause of his being arrested. Jacobo is allowed to leave jail under the condition of being drafted, engages in gruesome fighting in Vietnam, and returns to continue his work of chronicling America in the throes of significant societal changes. Nothing is what it seems to be at first glance, as we watch Jacobo navigate through the agonies of divisive transformations that are altering the character of the country. Coming to grips with his own imperfections as well as revelations about the people around him, he begins to understand more about himself and how he can have an impact on the world around him … and how it, in turn, will have an effect on him.  The novel can be read on three levels: 1) as a coming of age story; 2) as a metaphor for what is happening on college campuses today, in terms of the shutting down of speech and the rise of anti-Semitism; 3) as a novel about Jewish identity and what life is like for the outsider.

My Review:

Jacobo’s Rainbow is a book set in the 60’s surrounding Vietnam War and the Free Speech Movement which provides the backdrop of this immersive and thought provoking story.

Though set in the past, the universal themes of this book is relevant to today’s issues.

I found the writing to be insightful and observations deeply moving.

This book is written from the American Jewish perspective and evokes a captivating narrative inclusive of our universal voice that address races, genders, ethnicity and really embracing humanity.

What a poignant and powerful read I enjoyed!

Advanced Praise:

A beautiful novel set in the past but perfectly, scarily, relevant to our current moment.— Gary Shteyngart, author of Lake Success

Jacobo’s Rainbow is a sweeping examination of the unique buckle in time that was the ‘Sixties,’ told from the perspective of the ultimate outsider—a young man who was born and raised in the tiny New Mexico town of Arroyo Grande, a town so isolated, it didn’t even legally exist. Jacobo’s journey takes him from that remote enclave to a college campus, where he becomes immersed in the Free Speech movement, and to the battlefields of Vietnam. His insights and observations about society, his peers, bigotry and anti-Semitism are both trenchant and currently relevant to the culture wars and threats to free speech we see on our college campuses and society at large today. Jacobo’s Rainbow is a deeply moving, sensitive, and profound novel—a definite must-read.— Marcia Clark, author of Blood Defense and Final Judgment.

Blending together historical events and wonderfully imaginative settings, David Hirshberg explores the American Jewish experience in this evocative novel of self-discovery, belonging, and the complexities of identity.— Shulem Deen, author of All Who Go Do Not Return

Although set in the nineteen sixties, David Hirshberg’s Jacobo’s Rainbow is infused with prescient relevance today. This hero’s journey shines a light on activism and protest on a college campus as well as the idea of patriotism and serving in the army. Most profoundly, it depicts a search for identity as young Jacobo Toledano struggles with the blurry distinction between who people are and how they present themselves in public. I loved this novel for its timeless message: that building a home of one’s own means leaving the safety of childhood and being resilient to the knocks the world hands you, true for an individual as well as a tribe.— Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg, author of The Nine and Eden

David Hirshberg propels the reader into the mix of the turbulent nineteen sixties, as if this novel was constructed from personal conversations between the characters and the author. They are all agents and witnesses of their times with intersecting ethnicities, religions, races, genders, languages, and ages. Characters in this captivating narrative hide, discover, and reveal their true inner selves as they interact with events and each other. This is a saga that drops bread crumbs for the discerning eye and gratifies the reader who recognizes them and revels in the aha moments when the pieces come together. Hirshberg is immensely skilled at conjuring plausible events that serve the narrative. He captures the essence of anti-Semitism experienced by Jews of different hues and origins. The author represents with imagined accuracy the experiences of young men and women caught up in the Free Speech movement and in the jungles of Vietnam.— Debbie Wohl-Isard, Editor, La Granada

In Jacobo’s Rainbow, as he did in My Mother’s Son, David Hirshberg explores that stunning moment when youth gives way to maturity—and uncovers the lasting effects of that profound transformation. The year is 1963, and Jacobo, who was born and raised in a sheltered, idyllic New Mexico village, enrolls in a university and quickly becomes embroiled in the turmoil and passion of that one-of-a-kind decade. As he begins to find his voice and take stock of his individuality, he also sees, in surprising fashion, how truly connected we all are. A highly original novel by an inspired chronicler of fact and fiction that reveals our darkest instincts while celebrating our innate humanity.— Barbara Josselsohn , author of The Lilac House and The Bluebell Girls

Jacobo’s Rainbow is a powerful, electrifying glimpse into the life of a young student advocating for the Free Speech Movement and protesting the Vietnam War. It’s a story about truth, loyalty, tradition, and the shortcomings of human perception, an all-too-often occurrence for those who haven’t yet experienced much of life. Hirshberg’s keenly nuanced characters will remain with the reader long after the last page.—Crystal King, author of The Chef’s Secret and Feast of Sorrow

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Hirshberg is the pseudonym for an entrepreneur who prefers to keep his business activities separate from his writing endeavors. As an author, he adopted the first name of his father-in-law and the last name of his maternal grandfather, as a tribute to their impact on his life. His first novel, My Mother’s Son was published in 2018 and won nine awards. Reviewers have compared Hirshberg’s writing to Michael Chabon’s and Saul Bellow’s, among others. Learn more at David Hirshberg’s website, https://davidhirshberg.com/.

BUYING LINKS: Amazon IndieBound Fig Tree Books  

About Fig Tree Books: Fig Tree Books LLC, established in 2013, publishes literature that enlightens the unique American Jewish experience. It published the award-winning memoir by Abigail Pogrebin—My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew—in 2017 and its other titles include novels from debut and previously-published authors, as well as important works that had gone out of print, including Compulsion by Meyer Levin and The Pawnbroker by Edward Lewis Wallant. Forewords for the Company’s books have been written by Bret Stephens, Dara Horn, Marcia Clark, Tova Mirvis, Shulem Deen, and AJ Jacobs. Books are published in hard copy, e-book, and audio formats and distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, a Division of Ingram Publishing. More information can be found on its website. Twitter: @FigTreeBks Facebook: @FigTreeBks Publisher website: https://figtreebooks.net/ Author website: www.DavidHirshberg.com