Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
You know there's not much about the book or blogging world that I don't find satisfying, but it's certainly smile inducing when once upon a time you hosted an author and flash forward to today, they seek you out again. Why was I sought? Oh, that's easy...because they have a FAB NEW TITLE OUT TODAY! Once I read about it, I knew I had to be in on the SHOUT FOR JOY festivities because honestly, it sounds REALLY good! But, you know...I never make you take my word solely for it. Let's take a peek at what you're in store for...
by
Cynthia Swanson
9781501172090
Touchstone
About the book...
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller comes a gripping literary suspense novel set in the 1960s about a deeply troubled family and three women who will reveal its dark truths.
In the autumn of 1960, Angie Glass is living an idyllic life in her Wisconsin hometown. At twenty-one, she’s married to charming, handsome Paul, and has just given birth to a baby boy. But one phone call changes her life forever.
When Paul’s niece, Ruby, reports that her father, Henry, has committed suicide, and that her mother, Silja, is missing, Angie and Paul drop everything and fly to the small upstate town of Stonekill, New York to be by Ruby’s side.
Angie thinks they’re coming to the rescue of Paul’s grief-stricken young niece, but Ruby is a composed and enigmatic seventeen-year-old who resists Angie’s attempts to nurture her. As Angie learns more about the complicated Glass family, staying in Henry and Silja’s eerie and ultra-modern house on the edge of the woods, she begins to question the very fabric of her own marriage.
Through Silja’s flashbacks, Angie’s discovery of astonishing truths, and Ruby’s strategic dissection of her parents’ state of affairs, a story of love, secrets, and ultimate betrayal is revealed.
In the autumn of 1960, Angie Glass is living an idyllic life in her Wisconsin hometown. At twenty-one, she’s married to charming, handsome Paul, and has just given birth to a baby boy. But one phone call changes her life forever.
When Paul’s niece, Ruby, reports that her father, Henry, has committed suicide, and that her mother, Silja, is missing, Angie and Paul drop everything and fly to the small upstate town of Stonekill, New York to be by Ruby’s side.
Angie thinks they’re coming to the rescue of Paul’s grief-stricken young niece, but Ruby is a composed and enigmatic seventeen-year-old who resists Angie’s attempts to nurture her. As Angie learns more about the complicated Glass family, staying in Henry and Silja’s eerie and ultra-modern house on the edge of the woods, she begins to question the very fabric of her own marriage.
Through Silja’s flashbacks, Angie’s discovery of astonishing truths, and Ruby’s strategic dissection of her parents’ state of affairs, a story of love, secrets, and ultimate betrayal is revealed.
Want a copy to call your own?
CHECK YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR...
click here for a plethora of options from the author's site!
I grew up in northern Westchester County, New York, about an hour outside of New York City. This is also where my second novel, The Glass Forest, is primarily set. I live in Denver now, so I wrote mostly from memory – but in later editing stages, I took a research trip to New York to verify my work. What did I discover on this journey? Read on…
Special thanks to author Cynthia Swanson for speaking with us today about the behind the scenes work that went into creating this new title and congratulations on another BOOK BIRTHDAY! For more information on this title, the author, or her other works, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is IN STORES NOW, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
Sound good?
I thought so too...but, my reading schedule is a bit swamped right now, so you're gonna have to be the one to check it out and get back to me. That's your mission...but before you get started, I've got ANOTHER TREAT for you! What's one of the best things next to reading a review of a new title? Easy peasy...learning something about how it came together...and to that end, may I present, a special GUEST POST from the author herself on that very topic!
Take it away, Cynthia Swanson...
Tracing My Roots: A Visit Home for Research
By Cynthia Swanson
I grew up in northern Westchester County, New York, about an hour outside of New York City. This is also where my second novel, The Glass Forest, is primarily set. I live in Denver now, so I wrote mostly from memory – but in later editing stages, I took a research trip to New York to verify my work. What did I discover on this journey? Read on…
Memories are powerful. My family moved to Westchester when I was seven. I left at eighteen for college; my parents stayed for another fifteen years before our house was sold. When I started writing The Glass Forest, I hadn’t spent more than a few hours in Westchester in almost a decade. Working on the manuscript remotely, I relied on recollection. In doing so, I learned that the memories of youth are potent. I could see, in my mind’s eye, the angle of sunlight through the trees in the forest behind my childhood home. The winding country roads, when I traveled them again, were exactly as I recalled.
Details are essential. The Glass Forest includes a scene where characters drive over the Bear Mountain Bridge, crossing the Hudson River. In earlier drafts, once they’ve crossed the bridge, my characters turn north out of a roundabout, then pull onto the shoulder of the road to converse. I wanted to make sure I had that right, so I traced my characters’ route. The roundabout was exactly as I remembered, but when I turned north, the road had no shoulder. I drove until I found a spot where I could turn around, then I went back through roundabout and turned out on the south side, where there’s a pull-off. I took notes and when I got home, I revised the scene.
Things change…but not that much. The Glass Forest is set in 1960. My family moved to Westchester in 1972. I knew that some characteristics of the landscape would have changed in those dozen years – but in a part of the country so rich with history, those changes were generally small. Stone-sided train stations, narrow two-lane parkways, grassy riverfront parks – most of these features were exactly as I’d remembered them.
It’s not just how it looks. Writing comes alive when all our senses are engaged. Taking my research trip in the fall was key, because The Glass Forest is set during that time of year. Smelling soggy fallen leaves after a rainstorm invoked the smell of my childhood forest. Hearing the lonely whistle of trains along the Hudson brought me back to the years when I’d fall asleep to that sound every night.
Upon returning to Denver, as I put the finishing touches on my manuscript, I thought about how fortunate I was to be able to take this research trip. The Glass Forest is stronger for it – and I hope my memories do Westchester justice.
----------------------------------------
 |
| Photo courtesy glenda cebrian photography. |
Cynthia Swanson is the New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller: A Novel, which is soon to be a movie starring Julia Roberts. Her second novel, a literary thriller titled The Glass Forest, releases on February 6, 2018. Cynthia lives in Denver, CO with her family. Find her at cynthiaswansonauthor.com.
Special thanks to author Cynthia Swanson for speaking with us today about the behind the scenes work that went into creating this new title and congratulations on another BOOK BIRTHDAY! For more information on this title, the author, or her other works, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is IN STORES NOW, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
No comments:
Post a Comment