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January 17, 2012
Greetings:
We're thrilled to bring you another issue of Buzzing About Books, featuring four terrific titles -- mysteries, historical fiction, and memoir -- for the curious reader.
In this issue:
- Elly Griffiths brings back forensic archaeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway to investigate a World War II war crime in The House at Sea's End
- Rashad Harrison tells the story of a civil rights worker who becomes an FBI informant in his work of historical fiction, Our Man in the Dark
- Bo Caldwell writes about two young missionaries in early 20th century China in City of Tranquil Light
- Julia Fulford-Kirby chronicles her broken family's past to find answers about her future in her memoir, Echoes of Eve
We hope you enjoy Buzzing About Books. Please let us know what you think!
Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp
info@bookclubcookbook.com
bookclubcookbook.com |
 The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths
Fiction / 384 pages / Hardcover
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt /
January, 2012
Dear Reader,
The day my husband gave up work turned out to be a good one for our family. Five years ago Andy gave up a city job to become an archaeologist. Money was tight so, instead of exotic holidays, we took the children to Norfolk, England, where I had holidayed as a child. And it was there that Andy's new career gave me the idea for my first crime novel.
We were walking a marsh on the North Norfolk coast when Andy mentioned that prehistoric man had seen marshland as sacred. Because it's neither land nor sea, but something in-between, they had seen it as a kind of bridge to the afterlife. The entire plot for The Crossing Places came to me in that instant.
His work on a Roman villa gave me the idea for The Janus  Stone and his excavation of a beach threatened by erosion gave me the location for my new book, The House at Sea's End.
The books mix archaeology and crime and feature forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway. I do hope you enjoy them!
Very best wishes,
Elly
ELLY GRIFFITHS IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About The House at Sea's End:
Forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is back, called in to investigate bones that surface on a remote Norfolk beach and a gruesome World War II war crime.
Just back from maternity leave, Ruth is finding it hard to juggle motherhood and work. The presence of Detective Inspector Harry Nelson -- the married father of her daughter, Kate -- does not help. The bones turn out to be about seventy years old, which leads Nelson and Ruth to the war years, a desperate time on this stretch of coastland. Home Guard veteran Archie Whitcliffe reveals the existence of a secret that the old soldiers have vowed to protect with their lives. But then Archie is killed and a German journalist arrives, asking questions about Operation Lucifer, a plan to stop a German invasion, and a possible British war crime. What was Operation Lucifer? And who is prepared to kill to keep its secret?
Reviews for The House at Sea's End:
"Galloway is an everywoman, smart, successful and a little bit unsure of herself. Readers will look forward to learning more about her."
-USA Today
"Expect to be swept away by Griffith's third compelling forensic anthropology entry (after The Crossing Places and The Janus Stone). The author is a past Mary Higgins Clark Award winner, and her gothic, romantic-suspense workmanship is superb."
-Library Journal (starred review)
For more information about Elly Griffiths, visit her website.
Elly Griffiths is available to speak with your book club by phone or Skype. Please contact her publicist to schedule a meeting.
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 Our Man in the Dark by Rashad Harrison Fiction / 320 pages / Hardcover Atria/Simon & Schuster/
November, 2011
Dear Reader,
Our Man in the Dark began as a search for answers: Why would an accountant working for Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) embezzle $10,000 from the organization, and become an informant for the FBI? Ultimately, this search challenged my preconceptions about race and loyalty. What echoed in the spaces left by my abandoned presumptions was the voice of John Estem.
There I discovered a marginalized individual desperate to define himself within the larger American narrative, a lonely man longing to matter.
Desperation. Longing. Disillusionment. These are essential ingredients of Noir storytelling. This also mirrors the experience of not only John Estem, but of so many African-Americans at  that time. By participating in Hoover's sinister campaign against Martin Luther King, Estem leads himself down a very dark path. His story is one of greed, lust and power; it's America's story -- told from the shadows. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy.
Best regards,
Rashad HarrisonRASHAD HARRISON IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF OUR MAN IN THE DARK. ENTER TO WIN A COPY. About Our Man in the Dark:
A stunning debut historical noir novel about a worker in the civil rights movement who became an informant for the FBI during the months leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Feeling unappreciated and overlooked, John Estem, a bookkeeper for Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), steals ten thousand dollars from the organization.
To the bookkeeper's dismay, the FBI has been keeping close tabs on Dr. King and his fellow activists -- including Estem -- for years. FBI agents tell Estem that it is his duty, as an American and as a civil rights supporter, to protect the SCLC from communist infiltration.
Playing informant empowers Estem, but he soon learns that his job is not simply to relay information on the organization. The FBI discovers evidence of King's sexual infidelities, and sets out to undermine King's credibility as a moral leader.
This timely novel comes in light of recent revelations that government informants had infiltrated numerous black movement organizations. With historical facts at the core of Our Man in the Dark, Harrison uses real life as a great inspiration for his drama-filled art.
Reviews for Our Man in the Dark:
"...taking artistic license with the memory of the civil rights icon is risky business. But Rashad Harrison deftly negotiates this challenge in his first novel, Our Man in the Dark. ...what sets the novel apart is Harrison's clear-eyed treatment of Martin Luther King Jr. Rather than an exercise in hero-making, Harrison's MLK is thoroughly human."
-Washington Post
"Our Man in the Dark is an amazing story, amazingly told. Intrigue and sadness, race and Government, Dr. King and the FBI, foibles and loyalties -- this is an ambitious novel that wraps its powerful arms around what it means to be an American. Bold, rhapsodic, and daring, Rashad Harrison has written a morally-engaged masterpiece."
-Author Darin Strauss
For more information about Rashad Harrison, visit his website or his Facebook or Twitter page.
Rashad Harrison is available to speak with your book club. Please contact him by email.
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 City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell Fiction / 287 pages/ Paperback
St. Martin's Griffin / October, 2011
Dear Reader,
City of Tranquil Light is a love story. It's the story of Will and Katherine, who fall in love on their way to China in 1906, and it's the story of their marriage. It's also the story of their faith, and of their love for the people they served.
I didn't want to write this book. It's based on my grandparents, and although my mom suggested for years that their lives would make a wonderful book, I resisted; I thought missionaries' lives would be too dull for good fiction. How wrong I was, as I quickly learned when I began my research! I was also nervous about  writing about faith. But as I became aware of the book that was in my heart -- the book I truly wanted to write -- my reluctance diminished, and the novel took shape. I hope you enjoy it.
Warmly,
Bo
BO CALDWELL IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF CITY OF TRANQUIL LIGHT. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About City of Tranquil Light:
Will Kiehn is seemingly destined for life as a farmer in the Midwest when, having felt a call from God, he travels to the north China Plain in 1906 to serve as a missionary. En route he meets Katherine Friesen, another missionary, whom he falls in love with and marries. They settle in City of Tranquil Light, a place they come to love, and they give their lives to their work there, through drought and famine, bandits and civil war, and finding a passion for their work they never foresaw, and an enduring love for those they serve.
Reviews for City of Tranquil Light:
"A deceptively straightforward tale told in powerful, profound prose. . . In melding fiction and truth, we learn about remarkable lives, but also sense that we are discovering what Caldwell herself has learned of life and love and faith."
-Marilyn Dahl, Shelf Awareness
"A wonderful novel set in China in the early years of the 20th century. . .The novel is a love story and a gripping adventure tale of two young missionaries. . .Funny, exciting, and heartbreakingly sad."
-World
For more information about Bo Caldwell, visit her Facebook page or her publisher's website.
Bo Caldwell is available to speak with your book club by phone or in person. Email Bo or call her at 408-390-1406 to schedule a meeting.
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 Echoes of Eve by Julia Fulford-Kirby Nonfiction / 208 pages / Paperback Schiel & Denver / November, 2011
Dear Reader,
In our teenage years life is before us, full of potential, anything and everything seems possible. In our twenties, we are full of confidence and bravado. In our thirties we start to wonder what happened to all our plans, where did our spark go? And in our forties we start to ask ourselves questions: How did I get here? Why do I do the things I do?
In writing Echoes of Eve I was looking at my past to find the answers to my future.
Echoes of Eve is the invisible binding link connecting us to our past, to our origin. Through our blood or religion, Eve is the universal mother of all and her mythology echoes through time touching us, guiding us, letting us know we are not alone.
I share my memoir with you, knowing you will relate to one or more aspects of my story, as we are all connected though shared experiences.
Enjoy reading.
Warm regards,
Julia Fulford-Kirby
JULIA FULFORD-KIRBY IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF ECHOES OF EVE. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About Echoes of Eve:
A mother abandons her young family in favor of a scandalous love affair. The public humiliation, ridicule and shame that follow lead to her lover's tragic suicide and loss of custody of her three daughters.
Five years later when the courts grant her increased child access, her ex-husband enacts a secret plan to leave Australia with their children. Like fugitives on the run, the family disappears overnight and starts another life in England.
This broken family legacy has unforseen consequences for daughter Julia as she tries to navigate through adulthood. Echoes of Eve is one woman's story but will resonate with those who struggle with relationships, bad choices and the quest to understand themselves.
Reviews for Echoes of Eve:
"Toggling between the examination of her life from the psychiatrist's chair after her father's death, two failed marriages and an extra-marital affair, and the chronological tale of her life from childhood to making a move to Cairns in 2002, [Echoes of Eve] makes for a fascinating read."-Weekender
For more information about Julia Fulford-Kirby, visit her website.
Julia Fulford-Kirby is available to speak with your book club on the phone or in person. Please contact her by email.
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