BLOOM IN YOUR READING

I won this adorable sign from the Facebook group listed below.

Stop by and join in the fun if you like.

The site is all about BOOKS and AUTHORS. 

http://www.areyouinbloom.com

Giveaway and Spotlight of Up From Freedom by Wayne Grady

Photo Source

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All information in this post is courtesy of Jen Musico.

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Celebrating the paperback release of

UP FROM FREEDOM 

by Wayne Grady

with a SPOTLIGHT and GIVEAWAY

August 14, 2018

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Up From Freedom is a powerful and emotional novel about the dangers that arise when we stay silent in the face of prejudice or are complicit in its development.

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Advance Praise:

“Wayne Grady’s Up From Freedom pulls history from fiction and fiction from history in a way we very much need in these troubled, ever-evolving times. Focusing on the issues of race and self-identity on a continent built by whites on the backs of blacks forcibly removed from their continent, it examines not only the clash of two colors but the inevitable blending of them and its far-reaching and profound implications. The subject matter of the book comes to life on the printed page in this inter-generational, inter-racial book by way of a riveting narrative and a cast of complex, appealing characters. Up From Freedom is an important and engaging book.” —Wayne Johnston, author of the nationally bestselling Son of a Certain Woman

“In Up From Freedom, Wayne Grady has written an arresting novel about the United States bustling into the age of steam as it also drifts helplessly towards a catastrophic civil war. It is a novel that wisely, compassionately, and movingly brings to vivid life a cast of characters, black and white, struggling in the snares of slavery and racism. It is a rare achievement, a novel that is both timely and timeless, a book that locates conscience and hope at the very centre of human existence.” –Guy Vanderhaeghe, author of The Englishman's Boy, The Last Crossing and A Good Man 

“Wayne Grady writes with such careful devotion to history and human character that the private conflicts in this story perfectly expose the racial tumult of the 1830's in America. His language is forthright; his point of view unsparing; and he guides us through the landscape of slavery by walking just ahead of it and holding up a mirror.”–Linda Spalding, author of The Purchase and A Reckoning

“From its powerful opening scene, to its poignant finale, Up From Freedom captures both the heart and the intellect of the reader. Grady’s creation is a bright star in the literary universe. A wonderful and important achievement.”–Jane Urquhart

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About The Book:

As a young man, Virgil Moody vowed he would never be like his father, he would never own slaves. When he moves from his father's plantation in Savannah to New Orleans, he takes with him Annie, a tiny woman with sharp eyes and a sharper tongue, who he is sure would not survive life on the plantation. She'll be much safer with him, away from his father's cruelty. And when he discovers Annie's pregnancy, already a few months along, he is all the more certain that he made the right decision. 

As the years pass, the divide between Moody's assumptions and Annie's reality widens ever further. Moody even comes to think of Annie as his wife and Lucas as their son. Of course, they are not. As Annie reminds him, in moments of anger, she and Moody will never be equal. She and her son are enslaved. When their "family" breaks apart in the most brutal and tragic way, and Lucas flees the only life he's ever known, Moody must ask himself whether he has become the man he never wanted to be--but is he willing to hear the answer?

Stretching from the war-torn banks of the Rio Brazos in Texas to the muddy waters of Freedom, Indiana, Moody travels through a country on the brink of civil war, relentlessly searching for Lucas and slowly reconciling his past sins with his hopes for the future. When he meets Tamsey, a former slave, and her family trying to escape the reach of the Fugitive Slave Act, Moody sees an opportunity for redemption. But the world is on the cusp of momentous change, and though some things may be forgotten, nothing is ever really forgiven.

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About the Author:

WAYNE GRADY has written more than a dozen books for adult and young readers, and is also one of Canada's top literary translators. His novel, Emancipation Day, won the 2013 Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Grady lives in Kingston, Ontario, with his wife, novelist and creative nonfiction writer Merilyn Simonds.

Wayne Grady’s Awards and Honors

Longlisted for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize

A Globe and Mail “Globe 100” Best Book 2013

Winner:  Amazon.ca First Novel Award

Longlisted for the CBA Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year

A Chatelaine Book Club pick

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GIVEAWAY:

I am partnering with Jen Musico for this giveaway:

USA ONLY

August 15 -August 22

ENTER HERE

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Blue Ribbon Winner Again

First Place for Banana Bread
Third Place for Wedding Cookies

I was visiting my sisters in Maryland last week. We had such a LOVELY visit.  I drove back today.

While I visit, I also help at the County Fair, and I enter baked goods.

I help with the 4H dinner on Wednesday and help at the registration table for the fair entrants both Thursday and Friday nights.  

I have been doing this for three years, and I always look forward to helping with the dinner and registration. 

You can see my winning baked goods in the photos as well as me.

And...YES...I will share my recipes.

Thanks for stopping. 

The Daisy Children by Sofia Grant

 

Heading back to Texas after her grandmother died since she was named in the will was the last thing Katie expected to be doing, but it might have been something good since she and Liam were having some problems.

On her way to the airport, she and Liam were mugged and the only thing Katie had was a maxed-out credit card, sixteen dollars, and her driver's license that she managed to keep from the mugger.  He took her phone, her computer, and all of her clothes.

Other obstacles were waiting for Katie when she arrived in Texas. Her mother as usual wasn't there to help, but her cousin Scarlett picked her up in a monster truck, took her to grandmother Margaret's home, and left her to the memories in the house until Scarlett could come back the next day.

THE DAISY CHILDREN takes us back and forth from the time of the explosion in 1937 of a school in New London that killed at least three hundred children and subsequently caused the birth nine months later of siblings of the children killed in the explosion to present day family members and situations. 

Sofia Grant has written a captivating tale that takes us to Texas as we follow Margaret's granddaughters, Katie and Scarlett, as they find family secrets while cleaning out her home.  As Katie and Scarlett search through things in their grandmother's house, secrets come out about many things that were unknown.
 
THE DAISY CHILDREN has an interesting story line based on this true event accompanied by Ms. Grant's beautiful writing and marvelous descriptions that take you inside the story with the characters and allow the reader to perfectly visualize everything.  

Ms. Grant's beautiful writing style quickly pulls you into the book's story line and historical telling of the 1937 event.

The characters are genuine and true to their era and add a wonderful dimension to the book.  Most of the characters are likable.

THE DAISY CHILDREN is a lovely, heartwarming saga revealing family secrets through letters and photographs with the story being wrapped around this little known historical event. 

Women's fiction fans will adore this book and will want to recommend it to everyone who loves family drama, family history, and family secrets.

The ending was terrific, and I didn't want the book to end.  5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC.  All opinions are my own. 

It's Monday!! What Are YOU Reading? - 8/13/2018

 

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I hope you had a great reading week.  

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This is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at BOOK DATE!

Post the books completed, the books you are currently reading, and the books you hope to finish at some point.

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HEADING HOME TOMORROW MORNING!!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!

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Books Completed:

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT by Mary Kubica - review will be on September 3 - finished on August 4.

 

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SOLD ON A MONDAY by Kristina McMorris - review will be on August 28 - finished on July 28.

A beautiful book - terrific story line.

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THE OTHER WOMAN by Sandie Jones - review will be on August 21 - finished on July 25.

If you haven't met Pammie and the Banks Family, you will want to.

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THE DAISY CHILDREN by Sofia Grant - review will be tomorrow. 

A lovely read.

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THE MASTERPIECE by Fiona Davis - review is in the book's title.
 
LOVE her books....it is a "masterpiece."

ENJOY if you read it.

 

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Book Currently Reading:

THE GLASS OCEAN by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White - review will be on September 4.

 

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Books Up Next:

THE SUMMER SAIL by Wendy Francis - review will be on September 5, 2018.

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HOW TO MURDER YOUR WEALTHY LOVERS AND GET AWAY WITH IT by Jane Simon Ammeson - review will be on September 18.

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THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain - review will be on October 2, 2018

 

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THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton - review will be on October 9, 2018.

 

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THE FALLEN ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure - review will be on October 10.

   
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THE LIES WE TOLD by Camilla Way - review will be on October 11.

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BEDSIDE MANNERS by Heather Frimmer - review will be on October 16.

 

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THE LAST CAROUSEL OF PROVENCE by Juliet Blackwell - review will be on October 18, 2018.

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HOUSE OF GOLD by Natasha Solomons - review will be on October 22.

 

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THE RAIN WATCHER by Tatiana Da Rosnay - review will be on October 23.

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IMPOSTOR'S LURE by Carla Neggers - review will be on November 1.

 

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ANNELIES by David R. Gillham - review will be on January 19, 2019.

The premise involves Anne Frank.  :) Sounds VERY good.

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THE WARTIME SISTERS by Lynda Cohen Logiman - review will be on January 22, 2019.

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WOMAN 99 by Greer MacAllister - review will be in March 2019.

No data base photo yet, but the publisher is Sourcebooks.

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