Thank you so much to Flatiron Books for this advance copy – all opinions are my own.
Summary (from Amazon):
These words are spoken to a rapturous audience by Joan Ashby, a brilliant and intense literary sensation acclaimed for her explosively dark and singular stories. When Joan finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, she is stunned by Martin’s delight, his instant betrayal of their pact. She makes a fateful, selfless decision then, to embrace her unintentional family. Challenged by raising two precocious sons, it is decades before she finally completes her masterpiece novel. Poised to reclaim the spotlight, to resume the intended life she gave up for love, a betrayal of Shakespearean proportion forces her to question every choice she has made.
This is a story about sacrifice and motherhood, the burdens of expectation and genius. Joan Ashby is an indelible heroine candid about her struggles and unapologetic in her ambition.
“There are so many lost souls in the world, and I had to stop for a while, to write about another lost boy who is about to be found, saved by a woman who never imagined herself a mother.”
My Review:
This book… THIS BOOK. I can’t even describe how amazing this debut novel is, YES DEBUT. This is how literary fiction should be done. It’s stunning and gorgeous and lyrical and beautiful – the writing is exquisite! I love Joan Ashby’s short stories – I wish there were more of them. They provide a glimpse of how the outside world perceives her. Even though this is a long, dense novel, the writing is so beautiful that I flew through the pages and devoured the story. I savored EACH and EVERY word.
Joan Ashby is an author who never wanted to get married or have children – deciding to devote her entire life to her craft, writing. However, she falls in love, gets married, and finds herself pregnant, and as a consequence, reluctantly decides to start a family. The story covers the decades she raises her children while trying to keep her identity. The character depictions and descriptions of the settings are incredibly vivid. Joan feels so real you think you know her. You think you’re going to walk into a bookstore and see her books. This is one of my top ten FAVORITE books of all time! I highly highly recommend to anyone who loves SUPERB literary fiction or generally just loves to read!
“There are so many lost souls in the world, and I had to stop for a while, to write about another lost boy who is about to be found, saved by a woman who never imagined herself a mother.”
I rated this GORGEOUS book 5 / 5 stars!
Release date is August 29, 2017
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