Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.
Today’s featured book is All the Best People, by Sonja Yoerg, an intricately crafted story of madness, magic and misfortune across three generations from the author of The Middle of Somewhere and House Broken…
Intro: (Carole – August 1972)
Carole was ten when her mother was committed to Underhill State Hospital. For a rest, her father had said. By the time Carole was old enough to understand that the truth lay elsewhere, beyond her grasp, her mother had received insulin coma treatment for hysteria, colonics for depression and electroshock just because, and Carole gave up wondering how her mother had lost control of her mind and simply coped with the fact that she had. Recently, Carole overheard the nurses say Solange Gifford was haunted, and although Carole did not, strictly speaking, believe in ghosts, it was as fitting a diagnosis as any.
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Teaser: Carole lay listening to the rain, weary but not sleepy. Her thoughts were glass shards. She pulled the coverlet to her neck despite the heat and tried to link up her thinking with Walt’s snoring, steady as the rain. Perhaps she dozed (p. 56).
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Synopsis: Vermont, 1972. Carole LaPorte has a satisfying, ordinary life. She cares for her children, balances the books for the family’s auto shop and laughs when her husband slow dances her across the kitchen floor. Her tragic childhood might have happened to someone else.
But now her mind is playing tricks on her. The accounts won’t reconcile and the murmuring she hears isn’t the television. She ought to seek help, but she’s terrified of being locked away in a mental hospital like her mother, Solange. So Carole hides her symptoms, withdraws from her family and unwittingly sets her eleven-year-old daughter Alison on a desperate search for meaning and power: in Tarot cards, in omens from a nearby river and in a mysterious blue glass box belonging to her grandmother.
An exploration of the power of courage and love to overcome a damning legacy, All the Best People celebrates the search for identity and grace in the most ordinary lives.
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What do you think? I am fascinated with books about mental illness. Would you keep reading?
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I’m always a little spooked by books dealing with mental illness. But this one does sound intriguing, and I’m really interested in that blue glass box. Think I’d go on reading. Hope you love it!
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Thanks, Joy, I hope to love it, too. The 70s were an interesting era for me as well. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your reading.
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Sounds challenging and perfect for a summer weekend. That cover is such a nice representation of the blurb.
My TT from Passport To Murder
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Thanks, Laura, I love the cover, too. Enjoy your pick!
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I really like the sound of this one – I’m particularly drawn by the inter-generational nature of the narrative. I hope you enjoy it Laurel and thank you for swinging by to my site:)
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Thanks, Sarah, I do love family stories that go beyond the young people and include other generations.
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Yes, so do I!
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I don’t think this one is for me, but I hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks, Vicki, I hope so, too.
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This one has me intrigued. I don’t know if I’d read it though, because it sounds like it’d be sad. I need to be in a certain mood to deal with sad. .. that’s not often. lol Thank you for sharing!!
My teaser is from: King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard
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Yes, I do have to be in the right frame of mind, too, Gabby…but as long as I mix these kinds of books with other genres, it works out for me. Thanks for stopping by.
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I love the cover. I like the imagery of the thoughts being like glass shards. I’d keep reading. Definitely curious about this book now. Thanks for coming by!
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Thanks for stopping by, Laura, and I like that imagery, too. And the cover!
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I would keep reading. I like novels about families in crisis.
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So do I, Nise. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your reading.
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Ooh, I need to add this one to my list!
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It was a good one. Thanks for visiting, Valentina.
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