Failure

I saw this on Dana's Daily Dose Blog and liked it so much I decided to post it. If you haven't seen it, give a watch. I think you'll like it too.
If you're in Dana's neighborhood drop by. There's always something of interest.
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Belated Happy Birthday to bud, Julia Barrett. And Happy Anniversary.

BBT: The Angry Woman Suite

BLURB:  

Raised in a crumbling New England mansion by four women with personalities as split as a cracked mirror, young Francis Grayson has an obsessive need to fix them all. There’s his mother, distant and beautiful Magdalene; his disfigured, suffocating Aunt Stella; his odious grandmother; and the bane of his existence, his abusive and delusional Aunt Lothian.

For years, Francis plays a tricky game of duck and cover with the women, turning to music to stay sane. He finds a friend and mentor in Aidan Madsen, schoolmaster, local Revolutionary War historian, musician and keeper of the Grayson women’s darkest secrets. In a skillful move by Fullbright, those secrets are revealed through the viewpoints of three different people–Aidan, Francis and Francis’stepdaughter, Elyse–adding layers of eloquent complexity to a story as powerful as it is troubling.

While Francis realizes his dream of forming his own big band in the 1940s, his success is tempered by the inner monster of his childhood, one that roars to life when he marries Elyse’s mother. Elyse becomes her stepfather’s favorite target, and her bitterness becomes entwined with a desire to know the real Francis Grayson.

For Aidan’s part, his involvement with the Grayson family only deepens, and secrets carried for a lifetime begin to coalesce as he seeks to enlighten Francis–and subsequently Elyse–of why the events of so many years ago matter now. The ugliness of deceit, betrayal and resentment permeates the narrative, yet there are shining moments of hope, especially in the relationship between Elyse and her grandfather.

Ultimately, as more of the past filters into the present, the question becomes: What is the truth, and whose version of the truth is correct? Fullbright never untangles this conundrum, and it only adds to the richness of this exemplary novel.—Kirkus Reviews

EXCERPT:

ELYSE

1955

It is said that love is comfort, and that comfort comes from recognition of the beloved. Papa was the first to tell me this, and if it’s even a little bit true, then I took my comfort for granted, not realizing that one can’t truly appreciate the beloved until one yearns for the comfort to be returned. Even now, when I can’t sleep at night, when I can’t slow the speeding of my heart, when I can’t stop the replaying of what-if’s in my head, I take myself back to that place where cabbage roses dance on walls and my beloved reigns supreme; where I am queen of his heart and he is my comfort, and then and only then do I feel safe.

You’d think it would be enough, being able to conjure up at least a measure of my old, first love. Yet for a long while it wasn’t. Because I was incapable of stanching the nagging questions about my second, almost greater love. Questioning why Francis hadn’t seen the truth of it like Papa had; that the streak I’d struggled with hadn’t been born of badness; that badness wasn’t an intrinsic part of me like my eyes being blue.

But Francis, unfortunately, hadn’t been able to see through things the way Papa had, and that was because Francis had rarely felt safe. You could see it in the way Francis’s eyes got doubtful taking in a room, and the way he was always biting down on his lower lip. The way it looked as if he was always trying to keep himself from crying.

REVIEW SOUND BYTES

From Kirkus Reviews

"Secrets and lies suffuse generations of one Pennsylvania family . . . in a skillful move by Fullbright, those secrets are revealed through the viewpoints of three very different people . . . a superb debut that exposes the consequences of the choices we make and legacy's sometimes excruciating embrace."

2012 DISCOVERY AWARD

GLOBAL E-BOOK AWARD NOMINEE

From Midwest Book Review
"A very human story . . . a fine read focusing on the long lasting dysfunction of family."

"There is something fascinating in labyrinthine plot twists, which is what we have here, and I must applaud Fullbright for her keen and magical ability to pull it off with such aplomb."-Norm Goldman, Montreal Books Examiner and Bookpleasures.com

5 Stars ***** Reviewed by Joana James for Readers Favorite: "The Angry Woman Suite is quite a ride . . . very cleverly written . . . an outstanding novel."

Rating: 5.0 stars Reviewed by Anne B. for Readers Favorite:" Lee Fullbright is master of characterization."

Rating: 5.0 stars Reviewed by Alice D. for Readers Favorite:"The Angry Woman Suite is a brilliant, complex, complicated story about talented, complicated people . . . this is a story to remember!"

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Lee Fullbright, a medical practice consultant in her non-writing life, lives on San Diego’s beautiful peninsula with her writing partner, Baby Rae, a 12-year-old rescued Australian cattle dog with attitude.        

The Angry Woman Suite, a Kirkus Critics’ pick, 5-starred Readers Favorite, and a Discovery Aware winner, is her first published novel.

LINKS:

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13555924-the-angry-woman-suite

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/fullbrightlee

Blog/website: http://www.leefullbright.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Angry-Woman-Suite-Fullbright/dp/193769853X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352916923&sr=8-1&keywords=the+angry+woman+suite

Lee will be giving away a $50 Amazon gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter at the end of the tour.) The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/02/blurb-blitz-tour-angry-woman-suite-by.html

~*~

Have a great weekend, everyone. Hope to see you Monday.

It's That Time of Year

Flowers have begun to bloom. Trees are budding. Birds are looking for prospective partners to build nests and share parenting duties. And like the bears, it's the time of year legs and toenails come out of hibernation. Those of us, who fudge on shaving our legs in the winter now daily pick up the razor. 
Toenails go from au naturale to pretty in pink.
So what color or colors are you planning to wear?
It looks like the colors are ranging from neutral's to white's, yellow's blue's, green's, gray's and dark and vampy. Me, I'll probably just stay with pink.

Reunited

It's warm enough that my porch and I have reunited. It is so peaceful here.  I listen to the birds chirp back and forth, especially the song birds,doves and owls. The wind is gentle. The cat is curled up in the sun coming through the screen. I can almost feel tensions melt away.
Views from the porch

Too Funny

Have you seen this one? It's pretty funny:)

Ouch, Knocked-Out

Okay, my new game plan on the weekends is to work outside the first thing when I get up. Good plan, but maybe I should have revised it to: do stretching exercises and then work outside as soon as I get up. By Saturday afternoon, I'd lost a couple of inches...no not from my waist from my height as I hobbled around holding my back. It was pathetic. Yes, muscle relaxants were in my future.

But on the upside I got my Knockout Roses planted. They are my new flower of choice. They meet my prerequisites: they must be hardy, perennials and flower occasionally. I'd like to claim the one's in the picture, but unfortunately, they aren't mine.

 Have you heard of knock outs? They are designed to seduce the most indifferent of gardeners. These beauties are disease resistant. The dead heads don't need to be trimmed because new flowers take their place automatically. They are tolerant of extreme heat, draught--sounds like North Carolina to me--and cold. And they can grow in partial shade. My kind of rose bush. It's survival of the fittest in the Cox Garden.

It's The Weekend

Enjoy it my friends. Hope to see you here Monday.