Books and Brunch with Sarah Winman and Eden Robinson

Author photos courtesy of publisher.  All other photos by Girl Well Read—do not use without written permission.

Blue Heron Books hosted "Books & Brunch" which featured Sarah Winman and Eden Robinson.

Sarah and Eden engaged the audience with readings from their books.  They were joined by moderator Wendy O'Brien to discuss their writing processes, inspirations, and themes of their newest works.  A question and answer period as well as a book signing followed.

Sarah spoke of how Ellis is coming out of grief and trying to find meaning.  Interestingly, the main character has the least amount of story.  Annie is the most important character and it was a conscious decision to not give her a story other than through Ellis and Michael—she is an enigma.

Tin Man is a character-driven novel about ordinary life the turns into an exquisite tale.  It is a quiet and beautiful book that works on a different level.  This deeply moving story starts in 1950 with the shadow of a marriage hanging over the book that spans until the late 90s.

Winman's book is a story of care—young men looking after young men when they have been abandoned by state, church, and family.  This lexicon of love is framed by death but formed by love.  The themes of compassion, empathy, dignity, and care are explored through the lens of van Gogh's Sunflowers.  Ellis' mother owned a reproduction of the print and she sees acceptance when she looks at it.

Tin Man

“This is an astoundingly beautiful book. It drips with tenderness. It breaks your heart and warms it all at once.”–Matt Haig, author of How to Stop Time.

From internationally bestselling author Sarah Winman comes an unforgettable and heartbreaking novel celebrating love in all its forms, and the little moments that make up the life of one man.

This is almost a love story. But it’s not as simple as that.

Ellis and Michael are twelve-year-old boys when they first become friends, and for a long time it is just the two of them, cycling the streets of Oxford, teaching themselves how to swim, discovering poetry, and dodging the fists of overbearing fathers. And then one day this closest of friendships grows into something more.

But then we fast-forward a decade or so, to find that Ellis is married to Annie, and Michael is nowhere in sight. Which leads to the question: What happened in the years between?

With beautiful prose and characters that are so real they jump off the page, Tin Man is a love letter to human kindness and friendship, and to loss and living.

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SARAH WINMAN is the author of two novels, When God Was a Rabbit and A Year of Marvelous Ways.

She grew up in Essex and now lives in London. She attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and went on to act in theatre, film, and television.

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Eden Robinson is a method writer who inserts herself into the process with lots of laughing and crying.  She is absolutely delightful.

I'm not familiar with Robinson's Trickster series but after the discussion, I'm intrigued.  She just published the second installment (that she actually wrote first) which takes place  primarily in Vancouver—Jared has moved in with an eccentric aunt who is a writer.  He is challenged by his sobriety and is doubting his intelligence.  He is trying to convince himself that he is not insane, or a drunk however he can't escape his father, the Trickster.  Filled with Robinson's own blend of wit and dysfunction, fans of Son of a Trickster won't be disappointed with Trickster Drift.

EDEN ROBINSON Haisla/Heiltsuk novelist is the author of a collection of short stories written when she was a Goth called Traplines, which won the Winifred Holtby Prize in the UK. Her two previous novels, Monkey Beach and Blood Sports, were written before she discovered she was gluten-intolerant and tend to be quite grim, the latter being especially gruesome because half-way through writing the manuscript, Robinson gave up a two-pack a day cigarette habit and the more she suffered, the more her characters suffered.

Monkey Beach won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and was a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for Fiction.

Son of a Trickster, the first instalment of her Trickster trilogy, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 2017, she won the Writers' Trust of Canada Fellowship.

She lives in Kitimat, BC.

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

A special thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Josephine "Joey" Mullen, newly married, has returned from a four year stint working abroad. She has brought her husband, Alfie, home with her. The couple has taken up residence in Joey's brother's spare room. Jack and his pregnant wife Rebecca live in the stunning Melville Heights—a community of posh character homes.

When Joey meets the man two doors down, she is smitten. Tom Fitzwilliam, a dashing older man, is the headmaster of a local school. Joey's innocent crush soon turns to a dangerous obsession. And now instead of Joey watching Tom, someone is watching her, and then things turn deadly.

I have reviewed Then She Was Gone and The Girls in the Garden and was thrilled to receive an ARC of Watching You. This book was absolutely captivating right out of the gate and I couldn't read it fast enough.

The story opens with a murder scene which completely grabs the reader and doesn't let go until the final twist. The reader is left guessing who the dead body is, who the killer is, and what is their motivation. Executed through multiple points of view and police reports, Jewell gives just enough away and paces the novel perfectly.    

Jewell's character development is incredible. She deftly handles a large cast and this is where she excels—all of the characters are key to the story. They are rich in detail, motivation, and flawed. Her writing is clever, tense, and riveting. Chock-full of family secrets, passion, obsessions, and misconceptions, this is Jewell at her finest and I highly recommend this book.

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LISA JEWELL is the internationally bestselling author of sixteen novels, including the New York Times bestseller Then She Was Gone, as well as I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In.

In total, her novels have sold more than two million copies across the English-speaking world and her work has also been translated into sixteen languages so far.

Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.

Drawing Home by Jamie Brenner

A special thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Book Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely devoured The Husband Hour and was thrilled to review Brenner's latest work.  Set in Sag Harbor, Drawing Home is a story about an unexpected inheritance, broken promises, and how family can made up of those we choose.

Emma Mapson is a single mother who works at The American Hotel.  Emma's teenage daughter, Penny, inherits the town's biggest and most beautiful waterfront home from famed artist Henry Wyatt.  The property is incredible an is an extension of Henry's art.

Back in Manhattan, legendary art patron Bea Winstead is grieving the loss of her lifelong friend and former business partner.  Her sadness soon turns to outrage when she learns that she was not the recipient of Henry's estate and artworks.  Bea, along with her devoted assistant Kyle, descend on Sag Harbor determined to reclaim what's hers and preserve Henry's legacy.

Bea discovers that Henry left a collection of sketches that are scattered around the town. With Penny's reluctant help, Bea begins to piece together their meaning and discovers and unexpected twist that will change all of their lives.

In a battle over the house, Emma and Bea are forced to confront the past while they are challenged in matters of the heart.

One of Brenner's favourite themes is of the families we choose, and although this is a mother-daughter story, it is also about those we pick to be our family.  I found this work a bit vanilla and by that I mean that everybody likes vanilla, but it is just...fine.  Drawing Home was a nice light read but I knew where it was headed pretty quickly after starting it.

JAMIE BRENNER studied literature at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Jamie moved to New York City where she started her career at HarperCollins Publishers, then later Barnes&Noble.com and Vogue.com before returning to books and becoming an author.

Her novel The Forever Summer is a national bestseller. She is also the author of The Husband Hour.

Jamie  lives in New York City with her husband and teenage daughters. 

Kate Morton's The Clockmaker's Daughter Book Tour

Author promotional photos credit: Simon & Schuster.  All other photos belong to Girl Well Read — do not use without written permission.

Blue Heron Books celebrated the release of Kate Morton's newest novel, The Clockmaker's Daughter. Kate engaged the audience with a reading and then spoke with Suzanne Kearsley to talk about her writing process, inspiration, and themes of her newest work.  A question and answer period as well as a book signing followed.

Morton's writing process is unique in that she keeps a series of notebooks where she jots down random thoughts and questions to herself.  This is where the ideas start to take shape—she loves this early stage stating that "it's all possibility".  Normally she writes in the order that the reader would experience, however this novel was different because she actually wrote what would become Chapter 1 two books prior, and then the vignettes which are the threads that tie the storylines together.

In The Clockmaker's Daughter, there is a past storyline as well as a present one, and the vignettes—which are stories from the people that lived in the house—scattered throughout.

The underlying themes of the novel are adversity, love, loss, and resilience.  The work resembles a clock itself because there are a lot of working and moving pieces—some are fast, some are slow.  She also wanted to feature the River Thames.  The river has been there through so much; it is "thick, swampy, and muddy with secrets".  I love the imagery this conjures up, as well as the tie in with the book.

Morton doesn't like to be labelled as a historical fiction writer because she tethers her stories to the present and she also pushes them to the brink of the future.  When asked if she would consider writing something more futuristic, Morton said that it is definitely something she may explore further.

What's next?  While visiting the British Museum, she saw a map and described the feeling as being in a dark room and someone lights a match.  I'm so intrigued and can't wait to read what she writes next, whether it be something sparked from this map, or something entirely different.

Morton's books are gorgeous and lyrical and she is one of my favourite authors.  I also recommend following Kate on Instagram.  Her feed is made up of stunning images and you can see why architecture is so prevalent in her novels.    

The Clockmaker's Daughter

A rich, spellbinding new novel from the author of The Lake House—the story of a love affair and a mysterious murder that cast their shadow across generations, set in England from the 1860s until the present day.

My real name, no one remembers.
The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a story of murder, mystery, and thievery, of art, love, and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.

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KATE MORTON a native Australian, holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature. She lives with her family in London and Australia.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

A special thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 she is enlisted to transcribe the conversations that take place in a bugged flat between Godfrey Toby, an MI5 agent, and a group of suspected fascist sympathizers.  At first the work seems dull, but then it becomes terrifying as Juliet is thrust into a world of secrets and code.  After the war ends, she thinks that her service is over that the event she transcribed are left in the past.

Fast forward ten years and Juliet is now a radio producer with the BBC.  Even though her past seems like a lifetime ago and Juliet has resigned herself to her more mundane life and work, she is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past.  Haunted by these relationships and her actions, Juliet cannot escape from the repercussions of her work.  Left with no choice, she is pulled back into a life of espionage.

Atkinson is such a gifted writer.  I had the privilege of attending an event where she spoke at length about her research and writing process for Transcription.  Her writing is rare in that she brings humour to her narrative in such a subtle way.  Much of this is accomplished through Juliet trying to make sense of what she is listening to as well as through her naiveté.  Juliet is Atkinson's vehicle to make the events fictional.  She is "the girl".  Atkinson has described her as being "a smart character, but with an incredibly active imagination".

In typical Atkinson fashion, the reader is treated to shifts in time and plot (things don't unfold sequentially).  You can certainly tell that she has done her research, the story that emerges is nothing short of original and extraordinary, and I encourage you to also read the author's notes.  Transcription is a layered work of deception and consequences and a thrilling literary read.

KATE ATKINSON won the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year prize with her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum.

Her four bestselling novels featuring former detective Jackson Brodie became the BBC television series Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs.

The international sensation Life After Life was one of The New York Times's 10 Best Books of 2013, won the Costa Novel Award and the South Bank Sky Arts Literature Prize, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize. Her companion novel, A God in Ruins, also won the Costa Novel Award and was an international bestseller.

Atkinson was appointed MBE in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours List, and was voted Waterstones UK Author of the Year at the 2013 Specsavers National Book Awards.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears—imperfection, failure, loneliness—she spirals downward into depression and anorexia until she weighs a shocking eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Together, the women fight their diseases through six meals a day.  With every bite causing anxiety and guilt, the women struggle to gain control.

Through the support of the other girls, sheer strength, and resilience, Anna begins her long journey of recovery.  

Heartbreaking, haunting, and poignant, this intimate look into eating disorders is a solid debut effort for Yara Zgheib. Her writing is quite good, but the characters were underdeveloped.  I wanted more of Anna's and the other residents' backstories.  Some of the staff are referred to as "Direct Care" and it is never explained who they are whereas all of the other Swann Street staff have names.  I wasn't sure if this was an attempt at Zgheib to make Anna seem as though she didn't care enough to learn their names.  For these reasons, the book feels unfinished.

Zgheib juxtaposes Anna's unhealthy relationships with men against her eating disorder.  She is a woman that is reliant on a man to save her when she needs to save herself.  Her relationships with men are unhealthy as is her relationship with food.

My main criticism is that the both the dialogue and past events are set in italics.  I'm uncertain as to why some authors choose not to use quotation marks for speech—it is confusing and hopefully this will be corrected in the final version.  I also found it trite that the main character was named Anna and she has anorexia, I think a name change is in order.

YARA ZGHEIB is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a PhD in International Affairs in Diplomacy from Centre D'études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris. She is fluent in English, Arabic, French, and Spanish.

Yara is a writer for several US and European magazines, including The Huffington Post, The Four Seasons Magazine, A Woman’s Paris, The Idea List, and Holiday Magazine. Besides being the author of The Girls at 17 Swann Street. she also writes on culture, art, travel, and philosophy on her blog, "Aristotle at Afternoon Tea"