THE SWEETEST THING by Elizabeth Musser

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Sweetest Thing • Bethany House (June 1, 2011) by Elizabeth Musser

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Musser, an Atlanta native, studied English and French literature at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. While at Vanderbilt, I had the opportunity to spend a semester in Aix-en-Provence,

France. During her Senior year at Vanderbilt, she attended a five-day missions conference for students and discovered an amazing thing: God had missionaries in France, and she felt God calling her there. After graduation, she spent eight months training for the mission field in Chicago, Illinois and then two years serving in a tiny Protestant church in Eastern France where she met her future husband.

Elizabeth lives in southern France with her husband and their two sons. She find her work as a mother, wife, author and missionary filled with challenges and chances to see God’s hand at work daily in her life. Inspiration for her novels come both from her experiences growing up in Atlanta as well as through the people she meets in her work in France. Many conversations within her novels are inspired from real-life conversations with skeptics and seekers alike.

Her acclaimed novel, The Swan House, was a Book Sense bestseller list in the Southeast and was selected as one of the top Christian books for 2001 by Amazon's editors. Searching for Eternity is her sixth novel.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Compelling Southern Novel Explores Atlanta Society in the 1930s.

The Singleton family’s fortunes seem unaffected by the Great Depression, and Perri—along with the other girls at Atlanta’s elite Washington Seminary—lives a life of tea dances with college boys and matinees at the cinema. When tragedy strikes, Perri is confronted with a world far different from the one she has always known.

At the insistence of her parents, Mary ‘Dobbs’ Dillard, the daughter of an itinerant preacher, is sent from inner-city Chicago to live with her aunt and attend Washington Seminary. Dobbs, passionate, fiercely individualistic and deeply religious, enters Washington Seminary as a bull in a china shop and shocks the girls with her frank talk about poverty and her stories of revival on the road. Her arrival intersects at the point of Perri’s ultimate crisis, and the tragedy forges an unlikely friendship.

The Sweetest Thing tells the story of two remarkable young women—opposites in every way—fighting for the same goal: surviving tumultuous change. Just as the Great Depression collides disastrously with Perri's well-ordered life, friendship blossoms--a friendship that will be tested by jealousy, betrayal, and family secrets...

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Sweetest Thing, go HERE.

MY REVIEW: 
This was my first book by this author, and what a sweet read it was. It's a book about friendship, the kind that you need to read slowly so you can savor each word. It starts off with a bang, but then unfolds gently and kept me enthralled with these characters from Depression Era Atlanta. I loved the ebb and flow of friendship developing and moving through the crises of Dobbs and Perri until the final surprising, but satisfying conclusion. Well done, Elizabeth!

Lagniappe

I'm borrowing the title of this post from Jason Ashley Wright, the quirky Mississippi boy who's one of my favorite columnists in our local paper. The first of the month he channels his Southern roots and throws in some lagniappe - a little somethin', somethin' extra, as he says. Last weekend I went to the Celebration of Books and attended the humor session where Jason was a panelist. He's just as cute and funny in person as he is in his column, so I thought I'd "totally name drop" and steal his lagniappe theme to fill you in on several happenings in my world.

Confession time: My suitcase from the ACFW conference is finally unpacked, but the glow of the ACFW conference still lives! For all of you who want to see what all the conference buzz is about Mike Ehret, editor of the ACFW Afictionado Ezine, has just released the Conference Edition. Every year this is a more monumental undertaking as the conference grows. I'm honored to be one of the "reporters", and who wouldn't be? Mike is a great encourager. Clap. Clap. Great job, Mike! And clap, clap for me for getting the suitcase emptied and back in the closet.

New Interview: Fellow writer, Delia Latham featured me on The Bookshelf Newsletter where she asked some fun off-the cuff questions that certainly qualify for this lagniappe kind of day. Thanks, Delia! While you're there, check out Delia's new upcoming Solomon's Gate series from White Rose Publishing.

Since lagniappe is a southern thing, this is a good time to bring up that spot in East Texas where the Deep South begins. Check this out: THE AUTHORS  who will be attending the Pulpwood Queen's Girlfriend Weekend in Jefferson, Texas. January 13 - 16, 2011. A great gathering of some of today's most fabulous authors, including Pat Conroy, Cassandra King, Fannie Flagg, Charles Martin, Jamie Ford, AND a host of others. Complete details on the tiara wearing, book loving queen, Kathy Patrick's website: Beauty and the Book. Did you know the Pulpwood Queens Book Club is the largest book club in the world? Did you know Kathy is the founder and owner of the ONLY Hair Salon/Book Store in the WORLD? Kathy's heart is as big as the hair she does, and I'm not only looking forward to attending the Girlfriend Weekend, but also being one of the featured authors November 12-14 for the Books Alive! charity fundraiser that Kathy sponsors. And yep, it's in Jefferson too.

Looks like I'll be pulling out my suitcase to start packing again soon. I'm thinking I should just leave it out. And all this talk reminds me of one of Jason Ashley Wright's favorite "Clairee" quotes from Steel Magnolias: You know I love ya more than my luggage! Yes, readers, I love having you here. And to wind this up, what's your favorite southern saying?

Review and Giveaway of A SLOW BURN by Mary E. DeMuth

A SLOW BURN by Mary E. DeMuth

My Review:

This second course in the Defiance Texas Trilogy was a bit of a surprise to me. Instead of continuing with Jed Pepper’s story, Mary takes us deep into the lives of Daisy Chance’s fragile, drug-addicted mother, Emory, and Jed’s warm-hearted friend, Hixon, whose own life is marked by uncertainty and grief. From the story’s opening with the discovery of Daisy’s body until the very last page, Mary paints a heart-wrenching picture of the colors of grief, the depths of regret and guilt, and the stranglehold that drugs have on Emory. There are breathlessly touching moments of grace in Emory’s life as the reader is shown her inner struggle and the desperation she lives with each day. Doubts plague Hixon as he ministers faithfully to Emory even when nothing makes sense and his efforts seem futile.

Mary endears her characters to the reader by making them real even with the quirks that set them apart from the other residents of Defiance, Texas. Redemption shines through the pages as we realize that every life is precious, that God has a plan even when we can’t see it, and our job is to trust Him. I look forward to the final installment of this trilogy to find out what happens to these characters who’ve become like friends.

It’s probably helpful if you’ve read Daisy Chain, the first book in this series to understand the background and be more invested in the characters, but no matter how you do it, this is a series of powerful, redemptive books from a very gifted author.

Visit Mary’s Website.

Visit Mary's Blog.

See what other reviewers are saying.

Watch the book trailer.

Buy the book.

AND THE BEST NEWS OF ALL – A GIVEAWAY OF A SLOW BURN: Win a copy of the book right here! Leave a comment with your contact information to be entered in a drawing to be held at noon on Friday, October 9. US Residents only. Your chance of winning depends on the number of entrants.

Blessings to you all!

REVIEW OF WHAT THE BAYOU SAW by Patti Lacy

I met Patti Lacy on the run at the Minneapolis ACFW conference. In our five minute encounter, I knew I’d met a writer who sizzled with life, embracing it with joy and wonder. Soon after I read her debut novel, An Irishwoman’s Tale, and saw that same quality in her writing. She writes with abandon—exuberant prose with a magnetism aimed straight at the reader.

Patti’s second novel, What The Bayou Saw, is another compelling, page-turning read that recalls a tumultuous past, this time for Sally Stevens, a college professor. When one of her students, a gifted African-American girl, is brutally beaten, old memories that Sally has kept hidden for thirty years are stirred. As the layers are peeled back, Sally discovers not only the misdeeds of others, but also a blackness in her own soul that stemmed from an incident with her childhood friend, Ella.

Deeply honest, the prose sometimes stings with gritty reality about the prejudices of the South—from the swamps of Sally’s childhood to Katrina-ravaged New Orleans. Ultimately, it’s a story of faith, the sometimes twisty road to forgiveness, and God’s grace. The cost is great, but it is the sacrifice Sally must make if she is to preserve her marriage and her own integrity. I think you’ll be delighted with the detours in the scenery, as Sally and Ella wrap themselves around your heart.

Patti Lacy is a gifted storyteller, with a knack for drawing rich settings that linger long after the last page.

You can find out more about Patti here or order What The Bayou Saw here. Highly recommended!!