Maggie Dana
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Posts posted by Maggie Dana
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Blurb from back of book:
It is 1917 in the South Dakota Badlands and the summer has been hard. Fourteen years have passed since Rachel and Isaac DuPree left Chicago to stake a claim in this unforgiving land. Isaac, a former Buffalo Soldier, is fiercely proud; black families are rare in the West, and black ranchers even rarer.
But it hasn't rained in months, the cattle are bellowing with thirst, and supplies have dwindled. Pregnant, and struggling to feed her family, Rachel is determined to give her surviving children the life they deserve, but she knows that her husband will never leave his ranch. Somehow she must find the strength to do what is right--for her children, for her husband, and for herself.
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I'm an author and I'm ashamed to say I'm utterly hopeless at writing reviews, and I admire those who can, so please bear with me while I stumble around, trying to find the right words to describe how very much I enjoyed this book. First of all, I knew I'd enjoy the novel; I just didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and now that it's over, I find myself thinking about it more than many novels I read and promptly forget about.
Short-listed for the Orange Award for New Writers, this novel is literary without being pretentious. It's a subtle, gently-told story with enormous power, and filled with finely-drawn characters, especially the pragmatic, flawed, yet eminently likable Rachel DuPree. You'll find yourself rooting for her one minute and despairing the next, cheering her on and then hoping she'll change her mind, and you won't know till the very last page what her final decision will be.
This novel also packs quite a punch as a history lesson that takes you from the smells of Chicago's meat packing district to the Badlands of South Dakota where prairie grass stretches to the horizon and the nearest neighbours are ten miles down the road.
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Francine Pascal came up with the concept and probably wrote the first handful of SVH books, but the rest were written by a team of writers-for-hire and the whole series was packaged by an outfit called Cloverdale Press.
In the 1980s when I was writing for children, I worked with Jane Stine of Parachute Press, a book packager in New York. The only input she gave me was that she wanted the series to be called "Best Friends," and that it should appeal to mid-grade (ages 8-12) girls, but after that, it was to be my concept and I would write the first 4 books. Then, if the series took off, she would hire other writers to pitch in, and I was free to write more books if I wanted, or sit back and enjoy a nice little royalty income from the work of others.
Well, I got the series written and Jane sold it to a US publisher, and while it did OK and was translated into several languages, they never came back for more books. Jane then turned her attention to packaging and promoting her husband's new series ... R.L. Stine's GOOSEBUMPS!!
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Kate, thanks for an interesting and in-depth review. I've not read any of Macomber's books before, but your description of this one has me intrigued. I'll be on the lookout for it when I hit the book shop armed with my birthday gift certificate from my grandson.
On a side note: Debbie Macomber periodically sends out a newsletter to her fans (maybe quarterly, I'm not exactly sure), and a good friend of mine who's a fantastic illustrator (and a published author herself) does the banner artwork for Debbie.
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... and I do strongly agree that it is wise for any author to make every effort to engage their readers within the first 40 pages of their book
Forty pages? Hell, these days, a new author, when querying an agent (or editor), has to engage that agent by the end of page one; even better, the author should grab that agent in the FIRST paragraph, and not let go until the very last.
Most readers have no idea how insanely competitive the writing game really is, and how frustrating and hurtful. One of the prerequisites for a wannabe author is to have hide like a hippo.
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To those of you who pre-order books (and on behalf of authors everywhere), my humble thanks. Pre-ordering a book helps to improve its sales ranking, which in turn could prompt the publisher to consider another printing. It also helps reinvigorate a book's sales and marketing team.
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Here are some of mine, also some PB and some new. All the dates I know are US release dates, and I haven't yet been able to determine when the Meyer and Chevalier books are coming out yet here. I may grow impatient though and have to order from Amazon UK
.Stone's Fall: A Novel - Iain Pears (5 May)
The Glassblower of Murano - Marina Fiorato (26 May)
The Actor and the Housewife - Shannon Hale (9 June)
The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown (15 September)
The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova (6 October)
The Host - Stephenie Meyer
Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier
If you order the UK titles from The Book Depository, you won't have to pay shipping from the UK.
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Macmillan printed a gazillion bookmarks of my novel, Beachcombing, for their reps to leave at bookshops. The book comes out in early June, so if any of you happen to see my bookmark, please let me know. I live in the US and my book's being published in the UK, so it'd be great to hear where it's being distributed.
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I just finished Handle With Care and am only sorry it's over. Despite earlier misgivings, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Jodi Picoult's ability to see both sides of an impossible situation continues to amaze and impress me. I remember thinking, after reading my first Picoult book, that she had to be a lawyer (she's not). Her grasp of legal issues is impressive, as is her research.
My only real complaint was the ending. Then again, I don't know how I'd have done it any differently. For authors, it's far easier to create problems for your characters to deal with than it is to solve those problems to the satisfaction of your reader, and the temptation to fall back on deus ex machina is always a factor.
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Most over-rated? The Memory Keeper's Daughter and The Da Vinci Code.
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I have The Memory Keeper's Daughter on my TBR pile.... should I not have bothered??
Roxi, don't take my word for it! Lots of people have raved about this book, and my opinion is probably worthless, but it's how I felt about this particular book. And when I feel this way about a book that's been a bestseller, I stop and remind myself that it's a jolly good thing we have different tastes and different opinions. If we all loved the same books, the world would be a dull place.
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I used to persevere with books I didn't really enjoy as I used to think that the author had put so much time into writing it so I really should, but that all changed when I read The Memory Keepers Daughter. It was dreadful and I was just holding on, waiting for the grand finale which didn't happen.....a whole week wasted!
I was just putting out the rubbish (in my garage) and noticed, yet again, that box of books I've been meaning to lug to the used bookshop, and on top is The Memory Keeper's Daughter, one of the worst books I've ever struggled to finish. So I came inside to try and find the thread on 'Most over-hyped books' so I could add TMKD to the list, but got sidetracked by this thread and found your comment.
After all the rave reviews this book got, I was eager to read it, and I actually did finish it, but only because I wanted to see if somehow the book redeemed itself. Sady, it didn't.
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BookJumper
Loved your response. Let's hope that idiot learns a thing or two about making assumptions. And I know we're supposed to ignore the negatives in places such as Amazon, but you wouldn't be human if you didn't react and want to hit back.
My first novel will be out in early June and already I'm dreading the review process, not that I expect to garner many. But, so I'm told by other authors, even a negative review can create buzz, and negative publicity is better than no publicity at all.
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Ceinwenn:
I had the same problem with Humpback. Tried, but couldn't finish it. Didn't like what I read. It was, I think, one of Picoult's earlier books. She's one of those authors who's grown and matured as an author with each book, except (IMHO) when it comes to Tenth Circle. I didn't much care for 19 Minutes, either, but I've loved all her others with the exception of Humpback and the one about the Abnecki Native American tribe (can't remember the title).
Not all authors get better with each book. There are several whose first novels I've really enjoyed, but have been sorely disappointed in subsequent books.
Maggie
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Prologue? What's a prologue?
It's part of a set of bookends. The other half is called an Epilogue. They're usually shaped like elephants with their trunks raised.
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I rarely read non-fiction. I have quite a few fiction books with prefaces and forewards written by the author for a later printing or by the translator or publisher or by another author talking about the book/author. I've never found them very useful, but that's just me.
I'm with you on this one, Kala, and thanks for the heads up. I'd forgotten that prologues and forewords sometimes appear in fiction, especially as you describe.
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In my experience, prefaces and forewords occur in non-fiction and, as such, it's always a good idea to read them. They generally impart information that will aid in more fully understanding what the book is about.
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I've often wondered how to pronounce Proust. PROWst or PROOst, but only when eating napoleons.
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This may not be the right place for this thread (Michelle?) but seeing all the new members introducing themselves has made me wonder how people have found the site.
I Googled something like "UK Online Book Clubs" (can't remember the exact wording), because I wanted to connect with readers in the UK. I'm English, but have lived in the US for many years, yet most of my favourite authors are English (big surprise there!), and I'm always interested in learning of UK writers I know nothing about.
Since joining, I've recommended the site to several friends, both readers and writers.
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Freewheeling has made some very good points, pro and con prologues. I suppose it all boils down to ... 'sometimes they serve a purpose, sometimes not.' My main objection to prologues is that book designers often feel the need to set them all in italics which is hard to read, especially over several pages.
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This online UK bookseller, The Book Depository, has free shipping anywhere in the world. I'm English, but live in the States and have always had to either wait for my favourite English authors to be published over here, or buy the English edition and pay shipping via Amazon UK which usually doubles the price of the book.
So I'm really thrilled to have discovered this site:
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Hello Natty:
I'm another newcomer ... you'll love it here. People are super friendly and nice and their book reviews are the best ever. (Now who was it who paid me to say this? I can't remember, but thanks for the cash. The good news is that it showed up today in unmarked bank notes; the bad news is they're Albanian.)
Maggie
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I sometimes wonder whether publishers and editors should spend time on forums like this, listening to what readers have to say?
Good idea, Michelle. I wonder if any would respond to an invitation from you. Might be worth a try.
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Natty, you've hit a big nail on its head, here. Books with the sort of prologue you describe are, to my way of thinking, a lazy approach to telling the story.
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I really must give this girl a go, been meaning to for ages, and I am in possession of a most perfect hardback copy of Tenth Circle courtesy of the lovely Ceinwenn, so I have no reason not to!!
I hate to say this, but Tenth Circle isn't her best by a long shot. It's one of the few Picoult books I didn't like.
That said, I'm finally starting to really enjoy this one, Change of Heart, after being dubious for the first 50 or so pages. The story's getting to me, and I'm especially liking Marin, the attorney. Clearly, it'll be a wrenching ending because this is a lose-lose situation.
What's the first thing you do?
in General Book Discussions
Posted
I read the imprint page (copyright page in U.S. terminology) first, but that's probably because I design and typeset books for a living, plus I always want to know who published the book and how many printings it's had.
Then I open the book somewhere near the middle and read a few paragraphs, but not the first page, because it's pretty easy for an author to produce a fabulous first page or two; the question is, can they sustain that level of fabulous writing all the way into the middle of a book.