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June 15, 2012
Greetings:
In this edition, we introduce two exciting new fiction titles and their authors:
-Emily Jeanne Miller explores marriage, family, and the road from childhood to parenthood, in Brand New Human Being
-Deborah Henry chronicles an interfaith couple's attempt to save their son from corrupt institutions in The Whipping Club
Enjoy and happy reading!
Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp
info@bookclubcookbook.com
bookclubcookbook.com
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 Brand New Human Being by Emily Jeanne Miller
Fiction / 272 pages / Hardcover
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / June, 2012
Dear Reader,
This book was conceived in a hot tub.
It's not as creepy as it sounds. Years ago, when I was living in western Montana, I visited a natural hot-springs resort. Among the other visitors was a young man, swimming late at night with a small boy, presumably his son. There was something sad and a little mysterious about the man, I remember thinking, and I wondered what set of circumstances had led him here, to a steaming pool in the middle of Montana, in the middle of the night. That was back in 1999, before I was writing fiction, but the image of the pair stayed with me, and a few years later, in graduate school, I wrote a 16-page story about a man, Logan Pyle, feeling so displaced in his life, and particularly his marriage, that he decides his only option is to take his son away. The story didn't work, but Logan and his son, now Owen, had put down roots in my imagination. Over the next several years, the short story grew into a long one, and longer still, until it had become Brand New Human Being, my first novel. I hope you enjoy discovering who Logan and Owen are as much as I did. Best, Emily EMILY JEANNE MILLER IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF BRAND NEW HUMAN BEING. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About Brand New Human Being:Meet Logan Pyle, a lapsed grad student and stay-at-home dad who's holding it together by a thread. His father has died; his wife, Julie, has grown distant; his four-year-old son has gone back to drinking from a bottle. When he finds Julie kissing another man at a party, the thread snaps. Logan packs a bag, buckles his son into his car seat, and heads north. He lands at his father's old cabin, where his father's young widow now lives. She has every reason to turn Logan away, but when she doesn't, she opens the door to unexpected redemption -- for both of them.
Reviews of Brand New Human Being: "A whip-smart first novel that gripped me with its wry humor and wonderfully real characters and kept me captivated through the last page. This is a fast-paced, first-rate book by an immensely talented new writer." -Curtis Sittenfeld To learn more, visit Emily's website or the publisher's website, and follow Emily on Facebook. Emily Jeanne Miller is available to speak to your book club by phone, Skype, or in person. Contact Emily to arrange a discussion. |
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 The Whipping Club
by Deborah Henry Fiction / 312 pages / Paperback T.S. Poetry Press / March, 2012 Dear Reader, I hope you find The Whipping Club compelling.
My father was Jewish. My mother is first generation Irish Catholic from Queens. A friend invited her to a party on Long Island. But her friend got sick and sent my father to pick up my mother at the train. They fell in love and got married . . . No one came to their wedding.
I know what it feels like to be Jewish-Irish here in America.
Once I had children of my own, I began to wonder . . .
What would a mixed marriage and an interfaith family be like in Ireland? Was it the picture of rosy farm life my Irish grandmother painted?
My journey led me to the Irish Jewish Museum and the streets of  Little Jerusalem in Dublin. I have interviewed the late Mary Raftery and Mike Milotte, award-winning Irish journalists, and received firsthand the personal testimonies of survivors of Mother Baby Homes, Orphanages and Industrial Schools. The more I researched, the more I uncovered a hidden Ireland, an island in which thousands of adults and children were forcibly separated, many of the "orphans" adopted by American families, and many still live with a vague sense of identity and a yearning for connection to their roots.
I kept wondering: What is the one thing you could not withstand? For me, the answer is - Not to be able to protect your children.
I'd be thrilled to talk with you further about The Whipping Club. There is a book club guide in the back of the book.:)
Cheers,
Deborah Henry
DEBORAH HENRY IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF THE WHIPPING CLUB. ENTER TO WIN A COPY. See Deborah Henry's Recipes: My Irish Grandmother's Turkey Gravy Jewish Chopped Chicken Liver Paté About The Whipping Club:
The Whipping Club is about Ben Ellis (Irish Jew) and Marian McKeever (Irish Catholic), who feel forced to give away their out-of-wedlock child in 1950s Dublin and the impact of that decision on their lives. They eventually marry, have another child and make a new life, only to find that the nuns at Castleboro Mother Baby Home have sent their son Adrian to the notorious Silverbridge Orphanage and then to the Surtane Industrial School rather than to America, as the parents spent years believing.
The story is a microcosm of the broad suffering wrought by the intimate liaison between the Catholic Church and the Irish State, particularly on young women and their offspring. Throughout, it is a reflection on the emotional impact of class, social and religious intolerance on human lives, both in the not-so-distant past and in the present.
Reviews of The Whipping Club:
An O Magazine July Summer Reading Pick
"Henry weaves multi-layered themes of prejudice, corruption and redemption with an authentic voice and swift, seamless dialogue. Her prose is engaging, and light poetic touches add immediacy . . . Henry's tale reveals what happens when good people remain silent. A powerful saga of love and survival."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Set in 1960s Ireland, Henry's deeply disturbing but riveting debut novel explores the far-reaching effects of a single decision."
-Publisher's Weekly
"The prose of The Whipping Club is gripping, and almost poetic in its emotional depth, while the research is concise and accurate, and the story haunting . . .The Whipping Club holds the promise of a long and meaningful career for Deborah Henry as a serious writer. Bravo!"
-Seattle Post-Intelligencer
To learn more, visit Deborah's website, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Deborah Henry is available to speak to your book club by phone, Skype, or in person. Contact Deborah to arrange a discussion. |
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