Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
I don't know about you, but it's been a busy week in reading and life for me. Some ups, some downs, many in-betweens, but hey...we survived and considering we had a local visit from one of the two majors running for Pres of our U.S. of A., that's no small feat. But enough about all of THAT jazz, let's get to the GOOD STUFF!
Today, I have the pleasure of playing host to a stop along the blog tour from The Overlook Press starring a "...thrilling and heartfelt story of friendship and its challenges"...sounds like my cup of tea! Truth be told, I was totally gaga for the cover from the moment I opened the invite email, and then drawn into the story. What can I say? Give me a beautiful home with striking scenery, some pretty flowers growing along the edge, and a good font...I'm there like a well placed bookmark. Speaking of which, you'll want to get your bookmark ready for this little beauty, but in order for me to convince you of that, I must get on with the show...and quite the show it is! First up, the title in question. The spotlight is ready and shining on...
by
Rosie Thomas
About the book...
Miranda Meadowe upends her quiet way of life when she invites a group of her closest college friends to move in to her sprawling English cottage. Decades since their undergraduate days they reunite, bringing what they own and what they’ve made of their lives to the estate. As they reminisce, drink, and dance together, forgotten grudges are unearthed and forbidden attractions reignite. When an unexpected discovery brings the trip to near disaster, their eyes are opened to the possibilities around them, and they realize that they just might be able to recapture the freedom, energy, and promise of days past.
In her trademark, vivid prose, Thomas draws readers into the inner circle of six longtime friends, a group whose complicated history reveals rifts and passions that may never fully disappear. LOVERS AND NEWCOMERS marks a reunion not only for its characters, but also for aficionados everywhere—Thomas’ irrepressible charm and masterful storytelling abilities will have readers in thrall once again.
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See what I mean?
Charming, right?
Both the cover AND the story...
Well, until we've BOTH a chance to pick up a copy, I thought wouldn't it be nice to share a moment with the author behind the work? What do you know...turns out my wish was easier to grant than I thought (thanks Lauren!). Ladies and gents, may I present the mindful wanderings of author Rosie Thomas...
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Traveling and Writing
by Author Rosie Thomas
When I began writing Lovers and Newcomers, I’d just completed a research cycle for novels with exotic settings – The Kashmir Shawl in India, Iris and Ruby in Egypt, and several others – and doing the background work had meant a lot of hard travel to somewhat uncomfortable places. I’m not nearly imaginative enough to write about scenery I haven’t seen with my own eyes. No complaints about the journeys, but when they were over I found myself needing to be at home for a while. This novel’s themes of history and circularity were restful, and I loved delving into the principles of archaeology and conservation to fill in my ignorance about the Bronze Age warrior queen whose artefacts turn up slap in the middle of a modern romance.
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| Machu Picchu, courtesy of Rosie Thomas |
But the writer’s thoughts keep on working, and after a spell at home or in the library my feet start itching again. It was in pursuit of a new idea that I found myself at the end of last year in China, and then poking about amongst the wrecked statues on Easter Island. I usually travel alone because there’s no running commentary to deal with, but I have to admit it can also get lonely – another dinner with just a guidebook for company doesn’t generate much in the way of festive spirit. China was overwhelming, so huge and so hard to comprehend, and Easter Island is a sad place anyway. Last week I was in Peru. Again I arrived alone, but this time by one of travel’s lucky turns I fell in with a cheerful group of Australians and New Zealanders. So instead of arriving at Mach Picchu and mooching through the site in solitude, silently trying to decode the ruins of Inca temples, I stepped through the entrance gates in a group. So I was part of the collective gasp of awe – aaaaaaahhh! – when the famous view spread out below us. There was a clicking of cameras and then an excited babble of talk. The wonder was increased, this time, because it was shared. As we walked I loved hearing what my friends knew about the Inca civilisation and the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.
The hours we had to spend raced by and I could hardly believe it was time to leave. We climbed into a shuttle bus and reversed an alarming journey down hairpin bends to leave Machu Picchu behind. And I thought back, as I always do, trying to fix the day’s impressions in my mind. To my surprise, the most vivid were of my companions and their happiness, and the way we all saw the stones and the mountains differently, through our own prisms. The Inca history seemed to lie beneath a veil of our own immediate making.
It didn’t matter, not at all. The day had been better than good – it had been memorable. In a different way from my usual experience – but that was good, too. I don’t yet know if I will write about it, but the experience is there, solid in the bank. Better than gold, any day.
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About the author...
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| Borrowed from FB ^-^ |
Rosie Thomas was born and grew up in a small village in north Wales.
After winning a scholarship, she became a boarder at Howell’s School. The school had a strong tradition of music and games, but unfortunately Rosie had no aptitude for hockey and no enthusiasm for Gilbert and Sullivan choruses. She found the library instead … and read, and read. To feel an outsider and to be immersed in books was the ideal apprenticeship for a writer.
Rosie read English at St Hilda’s College Oxford, and for the first time in her life felt that she was in the right place at the right time. She still feels a debt to the remarkable women who taught her, and who encouraged her to think for herself.
After a few years of working in women’s magazines and for a publisher, and by now married to a literary agent, Rosie found herself at home with a new baby son and no job. To write a novel seemed the more promising of the options open to her...
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Special thanks to Lauren at The Overlook Press for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as to the author for sharing a bit about herself and her travels with all of us. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. Be on the lookout for this title on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
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