All posts tagged: friendship

Debut author Julie Carrick dalton talks about WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG, the environment, how THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS RISE–even the parts we don’t want to remember, the magic of childhood, her spry late grandmother

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By Leslie Lindsay  Sweeping novel of epic portions about friendship, the environment, migrant workers, and secrets. ~WEEKEND READING|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS Cadie Kessler has spent years–decades–keeping secrets. A moment, really, from her past. That’s what I think the title, WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG (Forge, January 12 2021) seems to convey in this coming-of-age story set in New England about a two estranged adult friends, ‘that summer,’ and the truth they tried to keep hidden.Daniela Garcia calls her friend, Cadie Kessler– now a forestry researcher/entomologist in an urgent plea to return home.Told in an alternating style, between the ‘now’ and ‘that summer,’ we get a sense of the friendship forged between Cadie and Daniela, the secret, and those nostalgic summer days, a warm balm in the middle of winter. The language is lush and thoughtful, with many details of the natural world: blueberries on the vine, creeks, books and boats and piers, too. WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG is a complex tale of friendship, ecology, hidden truths, climate change, racism, immigration, and so much more. WAITING FOR NIGHT SONG …

THE LOVELY & TALENTED ESTELI MEZA on natural disasters, homelessness, rebuilding; how children need to process feelings & be supported by loving, caring friends/adults + her artisic process

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By Leslie Lindsay  Kind words, good cheer, and yet…Conejo is sad, restless, and just wants to find ‘home’ in this illustrated children’s picture book. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ CHILDREN’S LITERATURE  Kind words, good cheer, and yet…Conejo is sad, restless, and just wants to find ‘home’ in this illustrated children’s picture book. Children’s author-illustrators are my heart. I think it’s because as a child reader, this is what shaped me, made me want to write. Here, in FINDING HOME (forthcoming from Scholastic, Jan 5 2021), Esteli Meza poetically and lyrically tells the story of Conejo, a little rabbit whose home blows away in fall storms. Off he goes seeking a new home. At each turn, he is met with a group of kind, caring friends–all forest animals–who offer insight and distraction…maybe they have a picnic or reminisce, play music, have a cup of tea. All of this is lovely and wonderful, but Conejo is not satisfied. Still, no home. Eventually, the story ends with Conejo in a new home, one which he has filled with recent memories of kindness and …

Colette Sartor talks about her sublime collection of linked stories in ONCE REMOVED, but also how she never intended to write a collection; the grittier side to L.A., a study in storymapping and so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Stunning collection of interlinked stories featuring strong, yet vulnerable women, exploring fears, desires, earned raw emotion, and so much more. ~FICTION FRIDAY|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ FLANNERY O’CONNOR AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION I am literally swooning over this collection of interlinked stories by Colette Sartor. ONCE REMOVED: Stories (University of Georgia Press, September 2019) and winner of the Flannery O’Conner Award for Short Fiction, shimmers with radiant, but unsettling characters in authentic situations. It’s mostly about intimacy–and I’m not talking about sex here–it’s the voids and turns of life brimming with emotional complexity. It’s about babies and meals, traditions, and customs. It’s about houses and homes; leaving and going; about love and grief, fierce natures and grudge-holders. It’s about disillusionment and estrangement. The prose is pounding with pulse, and yet, there’s a lyrical restraint here, too. Sartor strips away the facade we fallible humans hide behind, revealing the (sometimes) crumbling foundation. She excavates the fears, desires, secrets in ways that are surprising and while troublesome, are also delightful. The emotion here is raw, but it’s …

Warmth, friendship, quilting, & a darling manor home in Pennsylvania lend to a heartwarming tale by Jennifer Chiaverini this holiday season

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By Leslie Lindsay  SPOTLIGHT! Such a nostalgic, warm, and endearing story about women bound by one another, the craft of quilting, and shared stories, Jennifer Chiaverini is back with the next installment of the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series, THE CHRISTMAS BOUTIQUE (William Morrow, October 1, 2019). Just weeks before Christmas, severe wintry weather damages the church hall hosting the Christmas Boutique—an annual sale of handcrafted gifts and baked goods that supports the county food pantry. Determined to save the fundraiser, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson offers to hold the event at Elm Creek Manor, her ancestral family estate and summertime home to Elm Creek Quilt Camp. Devotees of the [Elm Creek] Quilts series will relish these new episodes, and new fans will delight to discover such a well-stocked back catalog. A warm portrait of women bound by craft—perfect for fireside reading.” —Kirkus In the spirit of the season, Sylvia and the Elm Creek Quilters begin setting up market booths in the ballroom and decking the halls with beautiful hand-made holiday quilts. Each of the quilters chooses …

Julie Kibler talks about her new historical fiction, HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS set in the early 1900s, how family–humans in general–will always disappoint, why second books are challenging, and a fabulous reading list

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By Leslie Lindsay  Resonate story of love, loss, and friendship, inspired by historical events and connected by the Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls. In the early 1900s, on a dusky speck of land just outside Arlington, Texas, a home is built and curated by Reverend J.T. Upchurch and his wife, Maggie May for the protection and redemption of ‘erring girls,’ whether by life circumstance, prostitution, rape, birth, poverty, addiction, widowhood, or more. At the time, the home is progressive, and perhaps shunned by townspeople. Who would want to do what the Upchurches are doing? Who would take that on? That’s the premise of Julie Kibler’s second book, HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS (Crown, July 20 2019). The main difference with the Berachah Home is that it offers faith/religion, a safe haven for these women (and their infants/children), training/work, and they don’t force women to give their children up for adoption. Told by three vibrant narrators, spanning decades, we ‘meet’ present-day Cate, a university librarian working in the archive section, along with her mentee/work-study student, Laurel. …

Historian-turned internationally bestselling author Jennifer Robson talks about the lovely behind-the-scenes women who created the Queen’s wedding gown in her novel THE GOWN

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By Leslie Lindsay Warm, glimmering tale of friendship, legacy, loss, and love featuring the women who helped sew the royal wedding gown, THE GOWN will immerse and capture your heart.  I fell into the folds of THE GOWN (William Morrow, December 31 2018) immediately. The writing is wholly immersive, the attention to detail superb, and the overall execution came across as meticulously researched with compassion; I loved every minute.  Royalty has become an obsession in our culture and around the world. Every event is anticipated (and critiqued)…but what of the people who act behind-the-scenes? For example, who designed the Queen’s wedding gown? Who sewed it? Who were the embroiderers? That’s what THE GOWN sets out to discover and I fell in love with these characters–they became like my own friends. It’s 1947 in post-war London and times are a little bleak. Folks are adjusting. And rationing. Ann Hughes works at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell and everything there is pretty ho-hum until they get the commission to create the famed wedding dress for the then-Princess Elizabeth. The women are overjoyed, …

Wednesdays with Writers: Master of suspense and eerie ghost tales, Simone St. James tackles her most suspenseful tale to date about friendship, secrets, cold cases, the Holocaust, decaying boarding schools, and so much more in THE BROKEN GIRLS

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By Leslie Lindsay  A chilling and disturbing tale of secrets, friendship, justice and…a ghost at an abandoned boarding school for girls… I tore through THE BROKEN GIRLS. It has all the elements I absolutely adore in a book: great, atmospheric writing, a gutsy protagonist, an old decaying building, secrets, mysteries and a ghostly haunt. Told in alternating POVs–and time periods–(1950s and 2014), THE BROKEN GIRLS is a break-out suspense novel from the award-winning author of THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE. If you’ve read that one, you’ll see how the style is similar, yet different. This  one is more suspenseful, more action-driven, but the writing is just as good . I love how St. James resurrects the history of the land where the old boarding house sits. The story is definitely eerie and unsettling, but handled in such a realistic and believable way. What if ghosts were really just manifestations of things that haunt you and not something beyond your control? THE BROKEN GIRLS touches on just that. Throw in a cold murder case from 1994, …

Wednesdays with Writers: ER doc Kimmery Martin talks about her debut, THE QUEEN OF HEARTS, a medical-based tale of friends, foes, and follies. Or Foley’s (as in catheters); adding plot lines, changing the ending, and so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay ER doc Kimmery Martin breaks out with her debut, THE QUEEN OF HEARTS, domestic fiction amidst the backdrop of the fast-paced medical world.  When the publishing house reached out with THE QUEEN OF HEARTS (Berkley Hardcover, Feb 13, 2018), I was immediately intrigued. Medical drama–totally. Doctor-turned-novelist–check. A secret lurking in someone’s past–bring it on. Oh, and that cover…swoon! Plus, it just happens to be Valentine’s Day *and* American Heart Health month, so how could I possibly pass this up? THE QUEEN OF HEARTS reads a bit like Emily Giffin meets Jennifer Weiner meets Liane Moriarty meets an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” or “ER” or maybe “The Good Doctor.” I found it difficult to put down because this is ultimately a light, fun read. Meet cardiologist Zadie and trauma surgeon Emma. Best friends since summer camp, the pair has journeyed through medical school and residencies together, ultimately ending up in a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina with their husbands and five children between the two of them. But when a face from the past …

Wednesdays with Writers: Marcia Willett takes us on a sun-drenched stroll through the moorlands of the UK, how characters beckon their stories, never wanting to be a writer, and so much more in INDIAN SUMMER

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By Leslie Lindsay  A gentle, cozy, tender read about ‘autumn’ friendships in the English countryside.  INDIAN SUMMER is Willet’s sixteenth book to be published in the U.S. and it’s almost exactly what I needed as I settled into a busy new school year with two active kiddos. Grab a spot of tea, this is a story you’ll want to settle in for; and it’s a fast read so you might need only one ‘warm up.’ Sir Mungo is a retired actor living in his family’s cottage in rural Devon. It’s summer and friends and family flock to the parcel of land to join in camaraderie, seek advice and solace. James is a self-published author working on something new, Kit an interior decorator who is tired of being the ‘expert’ in the room, but there are others, too and all bring a colorful array of antics, needs and loyalties to the gathering. INDIAN SUMMER is a subtle, relaxing read with the undercurrent of secrets and old memories chipping at the surface.  Willett’s strength lies in the setting: …

WeekEND Reading: Lynne Branard talks about her addiction to Mike & Ike candy, how she’d love to write all day, doing what’s right while still being pleasing, & so much more in this graceful story of being open and TRAVELING LIGHT

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By Leslie Lindsay From the bestselling author and masterful storyteller of THE ART OF ARRANGING FLOWERS, comes a new novel about the search for what really matters in life, discovering oneself, all while doing the ‘right’ thing. Inspired by real life events, Lynne Branard was working at a hospice agency when an unclaimed box of cremains—with her agency’s business card attached—was discovered in a storage facility. Branard was intrigued. How could remains of someone get lost—and how could no one seem to ‘care?’ It became a catalyst for change—and the perfect inception for a work of fiction. Branard’s writing flows effortlessly, a jaunty rhythm much like the road trip that becomes the narrative. TRAVELING LIGHT (Berkley, January 10 2017) is quirky fun, but the smooth and polished writing makes it so easy to settle in with the characters, Al (short for Alissa) and her seventeen year old traveling companion, Blossom as they attempt to return the unclaimed ‘found’ ashes of Mr. Roger Hart to his proper home. Our protagonist is a reporter, so we get …