Guest Author Post and Spotlight on Tempest In The Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend

Monday 22 August, 2011 By 2 Comments

Sunshine Meadows aka Sunny’s Library List

The Power of Being Different by John Paul Carinci (I’ve finally embraced who and what I am. Hopefully the town of Divinity will as well.)

Country Towns of NY: Charming small towns and villages by Mike Tougrias (I just love the small, quaint town of Divinity in upstate NY)

America’s Painted Ladies: the Ultimate Celebration of our Victorians by Elizabeth Pomada, Michael Larson, Douglas Keister (The ancient Victorian I bought is simply adorable. I named her Vicky.)

Haunted Houses by Corinne May Botz (People say Vicky is haunted, but I think it’s the cat I found living within who is doing the haunting.)

Don’t tell the Cat…how to take care of your cat without turning him into a tiger! by Grazia Valci (Morty, short for immortal, is quite the character. A big white mysterious cat with more attitude than should be legal. What am I going to do with him?)

Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for Writers by Lee Lofland (I’ve got to learn how to investigate somehow, because Detective Grumpy Pants sure isn’t showing me how.)

Alpha Male Syndrome by Kate Ludeman & Eddie Erlandson (Maybe if I understood Mitch a bit more, I’d be able to work with him better. Yeah, I know. I’m not holding my breath.)

Love Smart: Find the one you want–fix the one you got by Dr. Phil McGraw (If only it were that easy, Dr. Phil. You’d understand if you’d ever met Mitch.)

How to Deal with Parents Who are Angry, Troubled, Afraid, or Just Plain Crazy by Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins (Trust me, people, I’ve tried. There is NO dealing with Vivian and Donald Meadows.)

As far as fiction….I’ll read pretty much anything by Kari Lee Townsend. I hear she’s fabulous.

Kari Lee Townsend’s Library List

Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for Writers by Lee Lofland (Like Sunny, I too have to know how to investigate. And no one does it better than Lee.)

Tea Leaf Reading for Beginners by Caroline Dow (This was a great source of research for me, as well as sites online for learning how to read someone’s tea leaves.)

How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James F. Frey (Frey does a great job on teaching authors how to plot and write a mystery that works.)

Elements of Style by Strunk & White (I have a masters in English and yet I couldn’t live without this handy dandy resource.)

Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series (She is the person who first turned me on to mysteries. She is so funny and her characters are a hoot. I want to be her when I grow up.)

Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow Series (She is another funny cozy mystery author. Love her wacky characters.)

Annette Blair’s Vintage Magic Mysteries (Love anything written by Annette. Great characters, hilarious humor, and light paranormal….it doesn’t get any better than that!)

Peggy Webb’s Southern Cousin’s Mysteries featuring Elvis the dog (Peggy is a hoot and anything she writes is just as funny as she is. Love her books!)

Tamar Myers Den of Antiquity Mysteries (Her books are funny and interesting. Real page turners.)

Liz Lipperman’s Clueless Cook Mysteries (Liz is hilarious and her characters are ones you won’t want to leave. There are so many others I love as well, but atlas, my own books are calling for me to finish them. Enjoy and happy reading.)
Title: Tempest in the Tea Leaves
Author: Kari Lee Townsend
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN: 978-0425242759
Genre: Fiction, Mystery

Book synopsis from the author:

TEMPEST IN THE TEA LEAVES: A Fortune Teller Mystery

In the fortune telling business there are a lot of pretenders, but Sunshine Meadows is the real deal–and her predictions can be lethally accurate…
Sunny is a big city psychic who moves to the quaint town of Divinity, NY to open her fortune-telling business in an ancient Victorian house, inheriting the strange cat residing within. Sunny gives her first reading to the frazzled librarian and discovers the woman is going to die. When the woman flees in terror, Sunny calls the police, only she’s too late. The ruggedly handsome, hard-nosed detective is a ”non-believer.” He finds the librarian dead, and Sunny becomes his number one suspect, forcing her to prove her innocence before the real killer can put an end to the psychic’s future.

Kari Lee Townsend lives in Central New York with her very understanding husband, her three busy boys, and her oh-so-dramatic daughter, who keep her grounded and make everything she does worthwhile…not to mention provide her with loads of material for her books. Kari is a longtime lover of reading and writing, with a masters in English education, who spends her days trying to figure out whodunit. Funny how no one at home will confess any more than the characters in her mysteries!

Kari writes fun and exciting stories for any age, set in small towns, with mystical elements and quirky characters. You can find out more about her on her website: www.karileetownsend.com and also on the group mystery blog she cohosts, called Mysteries and Margaritas, at www.mysteriesandmargaritasblogspot.com

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Book Review: The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson

Saturday 20 August, 2011 By 4 Comments

Title: The Year We Left Home
Author: Jean Thompson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: May 3, 2011
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 978-1439175880
Genre: Fiction


From the Publisher:

Now, in The Year We Left Home, Thompson brings together all of her talents to deliver the career-defining novel her admirers have been waiting for: a sweeping and emotionally powerful story of a single American family during the tumultuous final decades of the twentieth century. It begins in 1973 when the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, gathers for the wedding of their eldest daughter, Anita. Even as they celebrate, the fault lines in the family emerge. The bride wants nothing more than to raise a family in her hometown, while her brother Ryan watches restlessly from the sidelines, planning his escape. He is joined by their cousin Chip, an unpredictable, war-damaged loner who will show Ryan both the appeal and the perils of freedom. Torrie, the Ericksons’ youngest daughter, is another rebel intent on escape, but the choices she makes will bring about a tragedy that leaves the entire family changed forever.

Stretching from the early 1970s in the Iowa farmlands to suburban Chicago to the coast of contemporary Italy—and moving through the Vietnam War’s aftermath, the farm crisis, the numerous economic boomsand busts—The Year We Left Home follows the Erickson siblings as they confront prosperity and heartbreak, setbacks and triumphs, and seek their place in a country whose only constant seems to be breathtaking change. Ambitious, richly told, and fiercely American, this is a vivid and moving meditation on our continual pursuit of happiness and an incisive exploration of the national character.

My Review:

The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson is a vibrant and, at times, humorous tale of one family’s experiences through the remaining three decades of the twentieth century.  Told from multiple viewpoints, Thompson introduces the Erickson family, originating in Iowa, with each member possessing unique flaws.  Engaging and heartfelt, the author creates a sense of renewal or rebirth as the Erickson siblings seek their own paths through early adulthood, but as in life, things do not always transpire in the manner in which we intend, and occasionally we are brought back to our origins.  A story about family, values, success and failure, Thompson has expertly captured in her characters many common experiences seen by families maturing in this time period.  Readers will delight in the way the family members ultimately reconnect, strengthening their bonds as they lend assistance in times of need, and smile while experiencing a taste of Thompson’s witty humor.  While focused on a single family’s struggles, separations, revelations and redemptions, the lessons and triumphs of the Erickson’s are universal.  I recommend The Year We Left Home to all readers seeking a candid look at family dynamics and the changes that families undergo across several decades.

To learn more about author Jean Thompson and her books, please visit her website: www.jeanthompsononline.com

I received a complimentary copy of The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson from Simon & Schuster. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson

Friday 19 August, 2011 By 8 Comments

Title: Two for Sorrow
Author: Nicola Upson
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Paperback: 496 pages
ISBN: 978-0061451584
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery

From the Publisher:

They were the most horrific crimes of a new century: the murders of newborn innocents for which two British women were hanged at Holloway Prison in 1903. Decades later, mystery writer Josephine Tey has decided to write a novel based on Amelia Sach and Annie Walters, the notorious “Finchley baby farmers,” unaware that her research will entangle her in the desperate hunt for a modern-day killer.

A young seamstress—an ex-convict determined to reform—has been found brutally slain in the studio of Tey’s friends, the Motley sisters, amid preparations for a star-studded charity gala. Despite initial appearances, Inspector Archie Penrose is not convinced this murder is the result of a long-standing domestic feud—and a horrific accident involving a second young woman soon after supports his convictions. Now he and his friend Josephine must unmask a sadistic killer before more blood flows—as the repercussions of unthinkable crimes of the past reach out to destroy those left behind long after justice has been served.

My Review:

Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson is a compelling, yet disturbing story of two women who are hanged for the murders of newborns in 1903 and a writer who years later is writing a book about it. Call it a “book within a book”, Upson has created a rather intriguing storytelling method for this third novel in her Josephine Tey series. In parallel with Tey’s research into these horrific events, readers are exposed to another shocking homicide in present day, one that is not disconnected from the hangings at Holloway Prison. Upson crafts a tantalizing mystery that leads readers to question why someone is carrying out vengeful acts so many years after the execution of those believed to be involved in the Finchley baby farming. Upson has assembled an interesting premise for her story and presents her characters in masterful fashion, characters with real and flawed characteristics. I have not read her two previous Josephine Tey novels and felt a little uncomfortable with the characters with whom I felt ill at ease in learning for the first time about their interrelationships. I would recommend that readers plan to read Upson’s first two Tey novels before Two for Sorrow. In all, I felt Two for Sorrow still paid off for its intriguing premise, well crafted prose and just the right amount of mystery and I would recommend this book to all mystery fans.

About the Author:

Nicola Upson has written for a variety of publications, including the New Statesman, where she was a crime fiction critic. She also regularly contributes to BBC radio and has worked in the theater for ten years. She divides her time between Cambridge and Cornwall.

For more about the author and her books, please visit her website: nicolaupson.com

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received a complimentary ARC of Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Spotlight & A Bonus: Agoraphobics in Love by Lisa Tucker

Tuesday 16 August, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When I was approached to share the news of Lisa Tucker’s short story, Agoraphobics in Love, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to share this spectacular novella and special with my readers.

About Agoraphobics in Love:

After the accidental death of her parents, Emily retreated to their home, where she freelances for an online greeting card company and tries to come up with words for feelings she can no longer feel. Jules climbed his way up to creative director of an advertising agency; he had power, a girlfriend, and a great apartment in New York, when he started having the panic attacks that would leave him in a tiny sublet, unemployed and alone. But when Emily and Jules both join an online board for agoraphobics, what begins as friendship quickly develops into something much more. Now if only they can find the courage to leave their “safety zones” and actually meet for the first time…

Witty, wistful, and deeply moving, “Agoraphobics in Love” is an O. Henry story for the twenty-first century. In sparkling prose, Lisa Tucker perfectly captures the miracle of two lonely people finding each other—and finding their way back to life.

Buy the short story for just .99 starting today, Tuesday, August 16th at: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/partner?partner_id=7511&cgi=search/search&searchtype=isbn&searchfor=1451666861

The short story also has the first four chapters of Tucker’s amazing new full length novel – THE WINTERS IN BLOOM – coming September 13th.

My review of The Winters in Bloom will be up on Tuesday, September 13, 2011.  In the meantime to learn about the book, Lisa Tucker, or her other works, please visit her website: www.lisatucker.com

I would like to thank BookSparksPR  for making this spotlight possible.

 

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Book Review: Long Gone by Alafair Burke

Saturday 13 August, 2011 By 4 Comments

Title: Long Gone
Author: Alafair Burke
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: June 21, 2011
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0061999185
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

From the Publisher:

What if everything you thought you knew turned out to be a lie? 
…more may be read by clicking the click above, I want to avoid potential spoilers…

My Review:

Long Gone by Alafair Burke is a tantalizing and taught suspense thriller that will take readers on an exciting journey with Alice Humphrey whose new job, working as the curator of a Manhattan art gallery, has just become a nightmare. I have read other works from Burke, so by saying Burke has kept up with the pattern of her previous novels, I imply that Long Gone is another excellent and suspenseful mystery that is sure to please mystery fans. Burke, in Long Gone, has yet again crafted in masterful fashion a plot with more twists and turns than a small intestine, keeping readers on the end of their seats as this story is hard to read in anything but one sitting. When the man who hired Alice is found dead in the art gallery, and all of the art has disappeared, the story takes on a life of its own as Alice finds herself the prime suspect in the murder. Told from various perspectives, readers will delight in following Alice along of path of deception, littered with secrets that will disturb the very foundations of Alice’s upbringing. The plot twists are well placed and Burke has crafted exceptional characters with realistic flaws. Lone Gone is an all around great suspense mystery that drew me into the plot early and kept me engaged through to the unexpected conclusion. I recommend Long Gone to all fans of suspense mysteries, but must caution the profanity at times may be too harsh for some readers.

To learn more about author Alafair Burke or her books, please visit her website: alafairburke.com

I received a complimentary ARC of Long Gone by Alafair Burke from Harper Collins. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam

Saturday 13 August, 2011 By 10 Comments

Title: The Good Muslim
Author: Tahmima Anam
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN: 978-0061478765
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

From prizewinning Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam comes her deeply moving second novel about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh, seen through the intimate lens of a family.

Pankaj Mishra praised A Golden Age, Tahmima Anam’s debut novel, as a “startlingly accomplished and gripping novel that describes not only the tumult of a great historical event . . . but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals living in the shadow of revolution and war.” In her new novel, The Good Muslim, Anam again deftly weaves the personal and the political, evoking with great skill and urgency the lasting ravages of war and the competing loyalties of love and belief.

In the dying days of a brutal civil war, Sohail Haque stumbles upon an abandoned building. Inside he finds a young woman whose story will haunt him for a lifetime to come. . . . Almost a decade later, Sohail’s sister, Maya, returns home after a long absence to find her beloved brother transformed. While Maya has stuck to her revolutionary ideals, Sohail has shunned his old life to become a charismatic religious leader. And when Sohail decides to send his son to a madrasa, the conflict between brother and sister comes to a devastating climax. Set in Bangladesh at a time when religious fundamentalism is on the rise, The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, family, and the long shadow of war.

My Review:

The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam is a poignant and compelling story about family, love and commitment amidst the turmoils in Bangladesh brought on by religious extremism. Exploring how a developing nation struggles to survive following war and tenuous peace, there is tension in this story as readers see the toll the countrywide issues have taken on Sohail Haque and his sister Maya, who after being separated from her brother for several years, finds him transformed by the toils of a country that is also undergoing transformation. Through masterfully-crafted prose, Anam examines the long reach of war and how one family is forever impacted by violence from a war that is now passed. The main characters are well-developed, to the extent that one feels immersed in their experiences, knowing and witnessing primarily through the eyes of Maya in whose perspective Anam principally writes. This complex and emotional drama is both moving and devastating, providing numerous avenues to explore through book discussion groups. While this novel flows from Anam’s debut book A Golden Age, which I have not yet read, I did not feel as though I missed anything by first picking up The Good Muslim which I recommend to all fans of dramatic fiction.

About the Author:

Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in Paris, Bangkok, and New York. She holds a PhD in social anthropology from Harvard University. Her writing has been published in Granta, the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Financial Times. A Golden Age, her first novel, was the winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book. She lives in London and Dhaka.

I received a complimentary ARC of The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam from Harper Collins.  Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund

Thursday 11 August, 2011 By 7 Comments

Title: Adam & Eve
Author: Sena Jeter Naslund
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0061579288
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

By decoding light from space, Lucy Bergmann’s astrophysicist husband discovers the existence of extraterrestrial life; their friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, unearths from the sands of Egypt an ancient alternative version of the Book of Genesis. To religious fanatics, these discoveries have the power to rock the foundations of their faith. Entrusted to deliver this revolutionary news to both the scientific and religious communities, Lucy becomes the target of Perpetuity, a secret society. When her small plane crashes, Lucy finds herself in a place called Eden with an American soldier named Adam, whose quest for both spiritual and carnal knowledge has driven him to madness.

Set against the searing debate between evolutionists and creationists, Adam & Eve is a thriller, a romance, an adventure, an idyll—a tour de force from Sena Jeter Naslund, one of the most imaginative and inspired writers of our time.

My Review:

Adam and Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund is a very interesting novel that explores the neverending battle between evolutionary scientific evidence and creationist beliefs through the experiences of Lucy and Thom Bergmann.  Set in the period about the year 2020, when Thom collects evidence for extraterrestrial life, he entrusts the information only to Lucy as Thom calculates that the world would not be prepared to receive such knowledge.  Naslund writes an interesting plot that takes readers alongside Lucy as she works to keep her now late husband’s information from becoming public knowledge.  In what is slightly too coincidental, Lucy is contacted by her late husband’s colleague who has discovered an alternate form of the book of Genesis and now Lucy must keep that information from leaking out as well.  The book’s title is an allusion to the place where Lucy finds herself after her small aircraft crashes in a place called Eden where she meets Adam, an American soldier who is not sane.  While I am not a fan of futuristic tales such as Adam and Eve, the basic theme of the divide between science and religion is truly engaging.  Naslund crafts a compelling tale in which she chose to pull out all stops to develop the plot, but unfortunately in doing so, the book’s overall coherence and direction appear blurred and misguided.  For me, it felt as if too many low probability events happen for Lucy when Naslund’s theme could have been more compellingly developed without making so many pieces fall into place.  While the novel was not in my favorite genres, Adam and Eve gives readers a lot to think about and I think fantasy/futuristic reading fans will enjoy Naslund’s Adam and Eve.

To learn more about author Sena Jeter Naslund, please visit her blog at: senajeternaslund.wordpress.com

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received a copy of Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review: The Glitter Scene by Monika Fagerholm

Wednesday 10 August, 2011 By 3 Comments

Title: The Glitter Scene
Author: Monika Fagerholm
Publisher: Other Press; Reprint edition
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Paperback: 528 pages
ISBN: 978-1590513057
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

From the Publisher:

Teenage Johanna lives with her aunt Solveig in a small house bordering the forest on the outskirts of a remote coastal town in Finland. She leads a lonely existence that is punctuated by visits to her privileged classmate, Ulla Bäckström, who lives in the nearby luxury gated community. It isn’t until Ulla tells her the local lore about the American girl and the tragedy that took place more than thirty years before that Johanna begins to question how her parents fit into the story. She sets out to unravel her family history, the identity of her mother, and the dark secrets long buried with her father. In the process of opening closed doors, others in the community reflect back on the town’s history, on their youth, and on the dreams that play in their minds. Soon a new story emerges, that stirs up Johanna’s greatest fears, but ultimately leads to the answers she is searching for. The Glitter Scene is a riveting mystery that explores the roles of truth and myth, reality and fiction, and the repercussions of family secrets.

My Review:

The Glitter Scene by Monika Fagerholm is a tantalizing mystery about disloyalty, resentment, and vengeance set amidst a backdrop of coastal Finland where Johanna, a teenager living with her aunt, becomes far more than simply curious to learn more about a past unexplained tragedy in the coastal village region about First Cape.  As Johanna uncovers more and more secrets kept well hidden throughout the three decades since the happenings described in The American Girl, the prelude to The Glitter Scene, readers can almost feel the pain, guilt and suspense as though they were immersed in the scene with Johanna.  With each piece of the puzzle, the intensity of Johanna’s quest strengthens as the trail of secrets begins to bring her full circle.  The Glitter Scene is such a compelling tale that readers will want to get prepared with a good stretch of time to take it all in from a single sitting or perhaps over a weekend.  Fagerholm’s follow on to The American Girl is a brilliantly engaging mystery for all fans of gripping suspense novels and while I have not read The American Girl, I felt at home with jumping into The Glitter Scene.

About the Author:

Monika Fagerholm’s much-praised first novel, Wonderful Women by the Sea, became one of the most widely translated Scandinavian literary novels of the mid-nineties and was nominated for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 1998 it was followed by the cult novel Diva, which won the Swedish Literature Society Award. Her third novel, The American Girl, became a number-one best seller and won the premier literary award in Sweden, the August Prize, as well as the Aniara Prize and the Gothenburg Post Award.

I received a complimentary ARC of The Glitter Scene by Monika Fagerholm from Other Press. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Tuesday 9 August, 2011 By 10 Comments

Title: Domestic Violets
Author: Matthew Norman
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0062065117
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day.

The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious archnemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety.

Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.

My Review:

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman is an excitingly funny, yet tragically realistic debut about Tom Violet, a married man in his thirties who is encountering what is probably best described as the onset of mid-life blues.  Norman captures many of the sentiments felt by men and women alike who are at points in their lives where they ask questions such as: How did I end up with this kind of life?  Perhaps it is troubles with marriage, or an identity crisis stemming from aspirations to be as successful as one’s parents, or a job that is unrewarding, or co-workers who just make going to work dreadful at times.  Though these are fairly common feelings to encounter, Norman has christened Tom with each of these afflictions.  Readers will delight in Norman’s humor as Tom navigates his various predicaments with a not-so-nimble step that is rarely fully morally grounded.  Told through Tom’s eyes, it is easy to laugh along with some of his actions and cry in other circumstances, and with characters in Tom’s life so well developed, there is a lot of experience for everyone to relate to.  This is a story where most everyone should feel as though they know what Tom is experiencing as his trials are those that most experience at some point in life in one form or another.  I recommend Domestic Violets to all readers.

About the Author:

Matthew Norman is an advertising copywriter. He lives with his wife and daughter in Baltimore. Domestic Violets is his first novel.

To learn more about Matthew Norman, please visit his blog at: www.thenormannation.com

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received an arc of Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review: Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz

Friday 5 August, 2011 By 5 Comments

Title: Northwest Corner
Author: John Burnham Schwartz
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN: 978-1400068456
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

The New York Times Book Review called Reservation Road “a triumph,” and the novel was universally acclaimed. Now, in a brilliant literary performance by one of our most compelling and compassionate writers, John Burnham Schwartz reintroduces us to Reservation Road’s unforgettable characters in a superb new work of fiction that stands magnificently on its own. Northwest Corner is a riveting story about the complex, fierce, ultimately inspiring resilience of families in the face of life’s most difficult and unexpected challenges.

Twelve years after a tragic accident and a cover-up that led to prison time, Dwight Arno, now fifty, is a man who has started over without exactly moving on. Living alone in California, haunted yet keeping his head down, Dwight manages a sporting goods store and dates a woman to whom he hasn’t revealed the truth about his past. Then an unexpected arrival throws his carefully neutralized life into turmoil and exposes all that he’s hidden.

Sam, Dwight’s estranged college-age son, has shown up without warning, fleeing a devastating incident in his own life. In its way, Sam’s sense of guilt is as crushing as his father’s. As the two men are forced to confront their similar natures and their half-buried hopes for connection, they must also search for redemption and love. In turn, they dramatically transform the lives of the women around them: the ex-wives, mothers, and lovers they have turned to in their desperate attempts to somehow rewrite, outrun, or eradicate the past.

Told in the resonant voices of everyday people gripped in the emotional riptide of lived life, Northwest Corner is at once tough and heart-lifting, an urgent, powerful story about family bonds that can never be broken and the wayward roads that lead us back to those we love.

My Review:

Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz is a brilliantly crafted novel about families and their ability to survive in spite of adversity and challenges.  The characters are developed in masterful fashion as Schwartz employs multiple, alternating points of view to learn how Dwight Arno, a fifty-year-old man who just finished prison time after forever altering the lives of the Lerner family, and is beginning life anew with a girlfriend and new job.  A tale about secrets, truth, love, and redemption, Dwight, after facing his own mistakes now must deal with his estranged son’s own transgressions.  Readers are brought through the heartaches that still plague the Lerners, the sense of emptiness from their own loss, while also bearing witness to the psychological turmoil that the Arno family is striving to endure.  Schwartz, in a deliberate and beautiful style, captivates the reader’s attention with suspense and empathy for each of these flawed and damaged characters and while Northwest Corner follows on from Schwartz’s novel Reservation Road where his characters first come to life, his latest work is perfect as a stand alone novel.  With so many familial emotions and experiences in the Arno and Lerner families, there exists an abundance of topics for book discussion groups and I highly recommend Northwest Corner to all readers.

For more information about author John Burnham Schwartz or his books please visit his website at www.johnburnhamschwartz.com

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received an arc of Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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