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CONTACT:
Jill Hendrix
Fiction Addiction
864-675-0540
info@fiction-addiction.com
http://www.fiction-addiction.com
Book Your Lunch with Bestselling Southern Author Mary Alice Monroe
 Greenville, SC, March 20, 2012 - Book Your Lunch with bestselling Southern author Mary Alice Monroe on Tuesday, May 8th, from 12-2 pm at The Lazy Goat in downtown Greenville. Tickets are $55 each* and must be purchased in advance at http://www.bookyourlunch.com or by calling Fiction Addiction at 864-675-0540.
New York Times bestselling Southern author Mary Alice Monroe returns to Primrose Cottage on Isle of Palms with Beach House Memories (Gallery Books, hardcover, $26.00, on sale 5/8/12), the prequel to her beloved novel The Beach House, which tells the story of Lovie and her choices during the summer of 1974, choices that made her who she is when you met her in Mary Alice's first Southern novel.
*Please note that the ticket price for this event includes one hardcover copy of Beach House Memories which will be brought to the event for you since it releases the same day.
Mary Alice Monroe skillfully weaves together issues of class, women's rights, and domestic abuse set in the tumultuous South during the 1970s as she tells the story of Olivia "Lovie" Rutledge, the mother from The Beach House. As Lovie sits on the porch of her charming beach house and looks out over the ocean, the old woman reflects on the difficult choices she made many years earlier-during the summer that changed her life.
In 1974, at 39 years old, Lovie hosts a formal dinner party for her unappreciative husband in their lovely home in a neighborhood of privilege in Charleston. The following morning, she takes her two children to a nearby barrier island where her family has a modest beach cottage. Behind closed doors, and exhausted from keeping up appearances - her husband's infidelity and his withering, disdainful looks - she can only find solace and happiness at the beach. But when a handsome biologist arrives to research the status of nesting turtles - a project that is Lovie's passion - she finds herself falling in love over the course of the summer, with devastating consequences.
Beautifully wrought and rich with keen insight, this is an unforgettable tale of marriage, resilience, and one woman's private strength.
 Mary Alice Monroe claims much of her creative spark came from her large and very close family. Growing up, she and her nine brothers and sisters wrote and performed in their own plays and musicals. Her teachers recognized her talent and encouraged her to write. She first pursued nonfiction and studied journalism. Later, she was the assistant to the General Editor for Encyclopedia Britannica and worked with world famous artists, authors, composers, and scientists as EB III was developed.
After an extended trip to Japan with her husband, Mary Alice studied Asian culture in earnest. She was awarded a fellowship and earned her master's degree in Asian Studies and became bilingual in Japanese. Later, she helped establish a government-funded English as a Second Language program for Southeast Asian refugees. Working with immigrants and helping them integrate into American society, Mary Alice co-authored and English-language survival text.
Not until years later did fate intervene. When her doctor confined her to bed for the final months of her pregnancy, Mary Alice's husband handed her a yellow notepad and pencil and urged her to write the novel she had always dreamed about. Knowing she might never again have that gift of time, she wrote and wrote. "I gave birth to a baby and a book," says the author.
More than a dozen books later, Mary Alice has found her voice in fiction. Although known for her intimate portrayals of women's lives, her writing has gained added purpose and depth with her move to the Lowcountry. An active environmentalist, she draws themes for her novels from nature and the parallels with human nature, thus drawing attention to various endangered species and the human connection to the natural world.
Mary Alice is involved with several environmental groups and is on the board of the South Carolina Aquarium. Her work with these groups provided the inspiration for her novels The Beach House, Skyward, Sweetgrass, Swimming Lessons, her children's book Turtle Summer, Time Is a River, Last Light Over Carolina, The Butterfly's Daughter, and now Beach House Memories.
If you cannot make the event, you can reserve a personalized copy of any of Ms. Monroe's books by contacting Fiction Addiction in advance at 864-675-0540 or at info@fiction-addiction.com.
ABOUT FICTION ADDICTION Fiction Addiction is a local, woman-owned, independent bookstore established in 2001. The store carries a mixture of new and used fiction and nonfiction, including children's books, as well as gift items. For more information, visit our website at http://www.fiction-addiction.com or call us at 864-675-0540.
 ABOUT BOOK YOUR LUNCH The Book Your Lunch author event program was launched in September 2009, and is a new way to bring authors and readers together -- right here in Greenville. This luncheon series provides the ultimate food for thought with a wide range of authors -- from mystery writers, to award-winning regional novelists to nonfiction and cookbook authors. Jill Hendrix, the owner of Fiction Addiction, founded the event program and is responsible for booking the authors. Book Your Lunch is co-sponsored by Greenville's independent restaurant group, Table 301. For more information about Book Your Lunch, please visit our website at http://www.bookyourlunch.com.
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