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All information in this post is courtesy of Loren Jaggers of Penguin Random House.
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Celebrating The Release Of
SWIMMING BETWEEN WORLDS
On Sale April 3, 2018
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About The Book:
Sounds quite good, doesn't it?
When you leave home, can you ever really come back again?
That’s what Elaine Neil Orr explores in her new novel SWIMMING BETWEEN WORLDS, set in 1960’s Winston-Salem, NC.
The daughter of missionaries, Orr spent parts of her childhood in both Winston-Salem and Nigeria, her memories serving as inspiration for the events of the novel.
Local golden boy and high school football star Tacker Hart left his home in North Carolina a hero, having gone on to NC State to study architecture. After graduation and despite his parents’ concerns he accepts a prestigious assignment in West Africa to help build a university. However, after he is fired and returns to Winston-Salem in disgrace, he has no choice but to make ends meet by managing one of his father’s local grocery stores. He has a changed view of his seemingly idyllic hometown after his time abroad; the culture and people he grew to admire have left their mark on him.
At the same time down the street, recent college graduate Kate Monroe is back at her parents’ home, still grieving over the recent deaths of both of her parents. While cleaning, a trove of disturbing letters sends her searching for the truth behind the comfortable life she's been bequeathed.
Soon both Tacker and Kate encounter a young African-American, Gaines Townson, and their stories converge with his. As Winston-Salem is pulled into the tumultuous 1960s, each find themselves at the center of the civil rights struggle, coming to terms with the legacies of their pasts as they search for an ennobling future.
A perfect read for fans of The Help and The Secret Life of Bees, SWIMMING BETWEEN WORLDS is a Southern coming-of-age novel that explores how changing viewpoints can alter people’s lives and their communities.
Sounds quite good, doesn't it?
When you leave home, can you ever really come back again?
That’s what Elaine Neil Orr explores in her new novel SWIMMING BETWEEN WORLDS, set in 1960’s Winston-Salem, NC.
The daughter of missionaries, Orr spent parts of her childhood in both Winston-Salem and Nigeria, her memories serving as inspiration for the events of the novel.
Local golden boy and high school football star Tacker Hart left his home in North Carolina a hero, having gone on to NC State to study architecture. After graduation and despite his parents’ concerns he accepts a prestigious assignment in West Africa to help build a university. However, after he is fired and returns to Winston-Salem in disgrace, he has no choice but to make ends meet by managing one of his father’s local grocery stores. He has a changed view of his seemingly idyllic hometown after his time abroad; the culture and people he grew to admire have left their mark on him.
At the same time down the street, recent college graduate Kate Monroe is back at her parents’ home, still grieving over the recent deaths of both of her parents. While cleaning, a trove of disturbing letters sends her searching for the truth behind the comfortable life she's been bequeathed.
Soon both Tacker and Kate encounter a young African-American, Gaines Townson, and their stories converge with his. As Winston-Salem is pulled into the tumultuous 1960s, each find themselves at the center of the civil rights struggle, coming to terms with the legacies of their pasts as they search for an ennobling future.
A perfect read for fans of The Help and The Secret Life of Bees, SWIMMING BETWEEN WORLDS is a Southern coming-of-age novel that explores how changing viewpoints can alter people’s lives and their communities.
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About the Author:
Elaine Neil Orr is professor of English at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where she teaches world literature and creative writing.
She also serves on the faculty of the low-residency MFA in Writing program at Spalding University in Louisville.
Author of A Different Sun, two scholarly books, and the memoir Gods of Noonday: A White Girl's African Life, she has been a featured speaker and writer-in-residence at numerous universities and conferences and is a frequent fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She grew up in Nigeria.
Elaine Neil Orr is professor of English at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where she teaches world literature and creative writing.
She also serves on the faculty of the low-residency MFA in Writing program at Spalding University in Louisville.
Author of A Different Sun, two scholarly books, and the memoir Gods of Noonday: A White Girl's African Life, she has been a featured speaker and writer-in-residence at numerous universities and conferences and is a frequent fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She grew up in Nigeria.
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This one is on my list! I hope I find time to read it this summer.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear.
DeleteIt does sound really good.
Thanks for commenting, Kim.