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Monday, November 27, 2017

Spotlight of A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hay

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All information in this spotlight is courtesy Mirtha Pena of Simon and Schuster.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:

This November 28th, 2017, ATRIA BOOKS is proud to publish Ashley Hay’s A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS, a profoundly relatable tale  of two mothers from two different generations attempting parenthood and life and general. Their two stories interweave through the house that bears witness to their lives, a building which becomes a sort of character itself, sharing its secrets and memories. In this luminous and deeply affecting novel,  Hay puts into words exactly the small things, feelings we experience daily and the beauty and impact of small accumulating moments across years. Prepare to learn a few lessons….and maybe even cry a little.

When Elsie Gormley leaves the Brisbane house in which she has lived for more than sixty years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to establish their new life. As they settle in, Lucy and her husband Ben struggle to navigate their transformation from adventurous lovers to new parents, taking comfort in memories of their vibrant past as they begin to unearth who their future selves might be. But the house has secrets of its own, and the rooms seem to share recollections of Elsie’s life with Lucy.

In her nearby nursing home, Elsie traces the span of her life—the moments she can’t bear to let go and the places to which she dreams of returning. Her beloved former house is at the heart of her memories of marriage, motherhood, love, and death, and the boundary between present and past becomes increasingly porous for both her and Lucy.

Over the course of one hot Brisbane summer, two families’ stories intersect in sudden and unexpected ways. Through the richly intertwined narratives of two ordinary, extraordinary women, Ashley Hay uses her “poetic dialogue, and stunning imagery” (RT magazine) to weave an intricate, bighearted story of what it is to be human.
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PRAISE FOR A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS:

“A book that overflows with gratitude for the hard, beautiful things of this world, and for the saving worlds of our imagination.”
— Helen Garner, award-winning author of Everywhere I Look
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“A Hundred Small Lessons explores notions of home, family, identity, creativity, aging and our relationship with cities and the natural world.…Hay explores the ways in which we inhabit spaces: building homes and filling them with our possessions, dreams, regrets, fears and secrets. This graceful novel, with its unflinching approach to reality and its gentle undercurrents of sadness, nostalgia and hope, is a highly recommended read for fans of literary fiction.”
— Books + Publishing (Australia), five stars
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“Hay renders the small details of an undramatic, decent life with tenderness that is touching and compelling…a measured piece of writing that works carefully to create pensive and evocative images of time and place and people.”— The Australian
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“Hay’s intelligent scrutiny of the human psyche gives depth to this neatly constructed story.”
— Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ashley Hay is the internationally acclaimed author of the novels The Body in the Clouds and The Railwayman’s Wife, which was honored with the Colin Roderick Award by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the most prestigious literary prize in Australia, among numerous other accolades. She has also written four nonfiction books. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.
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PRAISE FOR THE RAILWAYMAN’S WIFE - MS. HAY'S FIRST NOVEL:

“Author Ashley Hay has succeeded on several levels. Her prose style is simple yet vivid, and her insights on bereavement and moving forward are wise. Perhaps most impressive is her portrayal of the human predicament, the notion that one's heartfelt hopes are sometimes crushed against the rocks of reality.” – Star Tribune
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“Ashley Hay weaves a moving tale of love, loss and hope.” – US Weekly
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"After wow-ing European audiences, this book is coming stateside to dazzle you.  Beautifully written, and featuring some excellent passages about writing and reading itself, this book will have you feeling every emotion at once." –Bustle
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“No matter how much heartbreak her words described, there was no way I would stop reading. This is a literary and literate gem of a book that leaves you with a set of emotions that I suspect last for a long long time” – Psychology Today
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“Hay is both cerebral and emotional in portraying life’s catastrophes and the way people cope. Multilayered, graceful, couched in poetry, supremely honest, gentle yet jarring, Hay’s thought-provoking novel pulls you along slowly, like a deep river that is deceptively calm but full of hidden rapids.” – Kirkus Reviews
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“Hay has lovingly crafted a poignant, character-driven novel filled with heartache and hope.” – RT Book Review
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“Poetic story of love, loss and moving on.” – Star- Telegram
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“This poignant, elegant novel delves into the depth of tragedy, the shaky ground of recovery, and the bittersweet memories of lost love.” - Booklist
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