e
Check out the Tour HERE
Synopsis
You can purchase The Vineyard at the following Retailers:
CHAPTER 2:
Charlotte plopped down on the patchwork
quilt that covered the high, four-poster bed. Carefully embroidered ringlets of
berries and flowers rambled across the fabric. Made by prim ladies at Edgartown
tea parties, she imagined, wheedling away the long winter hours behind frosted
windowpanes in serene comfort. The whole ethos of a bygone era was still
present in the Delano house like the scent of perfume. It was all so exquisite.
Quite so. It seemed to Charlotte as if nothing uncouth, no ill wind, could ever
penetrate such a fortress of gentility.
Except she had penetrated it, . . .
. . . .
Dory was a free spirit, a granola girl, a
bon vivant. Charlotte was not. Charlotte, even in the throes of a
suicidal depression, remained a Pop-Tart kind of girl, a wear-jammies-to-bed
girl, and a woman firmly tethered to the moral and social conventions of the
middle class, which certainly did not include gallivanting about naked in one’s
backyard.
. . . .
The road to hell may be paved with good
intentions, but the path to purgatory was not paved at all. Ruts and potholes
pushed and bullied Charlotte as she ran that gauntlet. What a fitting
anticlimax it would be, she thought, to break an axle and become stranded along
the way to one’s own suicide—a live woman and a dead car stuck together on a
murderous road. It would be untoward to wash a dead body out to sea while
leaving a dead car in the middle of the road. A minute passed while she
concocted a story for the ensuing road assistance. I had an urge to go
skinny-dipping, was all that came to her. Dory would accept this
unquestioningly, though not likely without some petulance for not being asked to
come along.
. . . .
The unexpected warmth of the water surprised her even
before she realized she had begun to wade out into it. It covered her ankles,
then her thighs, and made the raw night air seem more rude by comparison on the
parts of her that were yet unimmersed. If her own baptism as an infant had
been, by all reports, a freezing, wet shower endured with screaming and terror,
this means of undoing the sacrament by immersion was markedly more pleasant.
The warm water was far more welcoming than the cold air and earth she was
leaving behind, and not at all the hypothermic ordeal for which she had braced
herself, now, for months. O Death, where is thy sting?
. . . .
My Review
desperate need of some time together. Each has their own reason for escaping to Martha's Vineyard, to spend time at Dory's beach house. Each girl comes from different backgrounds, however their friendship never shows this. When the "fisherman" enters their lives unexpectedly, little did they know how all three of their lives will change forever in just that one summer.
No spoilers for this review.
I was completely floored with this story. I was expecting the usual reunion between friends and was pleasantly surprised when I got SO much more.
The Mystery of the "fisherman" was enough to keep me attached to this story on so many levels. And you will find how important the fisherman is to this story on a Fascinating emotional level. There is so much more than the eye can see.
Dory, Charlotte, and Turner are so different from each other, however you can see how their personalities clicked. Dory the elite social, Charlotte the Catholic good girl, and Turner the adventurer...They each balance each other, protect each other, and make sacrifices needed to keep their friendships. There were moments where my heart ached for each one. Emotion takes a big roll in this story. Moments that will infuriate you, and moments where pride steps in...complete shock at some betrayals...it is a doooosy of a read!
Michael Hurley never disappoints!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Prodigal, Michael’s debut novel from Ragbagger Press, received the Somerset Prize for mainstream fiction and numerous accolades in the trade press, including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ForeWord Reviews, BookTrib, Chanticleer Reviews, and IndieReader. It is currently in development for a feature film by producer Diane Sillan Isaacs. Michael’s second novel, The Vineyard, is due to be released by Ragbagger Press in December 2014.
Michael’s first book, Letters from the Woods, is a collection of wilderness-themed essays published by Ragbagger Press in 2005. It was shortlisted for Book of the Year by ForeWord magazine. In 2009, Michael embarked on a two-year, 2,200 mile solo sailing voyage that ended with the loss of his 32-foot sloop, the Gypsy Moon, in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti in 2012. That voyage and the experiences that inspired him to set sail became the subject of his memoir, Once Upon A Gypsy Moon, published in 2013 by Hachette Book Group.
When he is not writing, Michael enjoys reading and relaxing with Susan on the porch of their rambling, one-hundred-year-old house. His fondest pastimes are ocean sailing, playing piano and classical guitar, cooking, and keeping up with an energetic Irish terrier, Frodo Baggins.
WEBSITE: http://www.mchurley. com/
GOODREADS: https://www. goodreads.com/author/show/ 5445584.Michael_C_Hurley
FACEBOOK: https://www. facebook.com/mchurleybooks
GOODREADS: https://www.
FACEBOOK: https://www.
mber 10th Monday
Sounds fabulous, I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteThe Vineyard looks interesting! Joining the giveaway asap and adding it to my list!
ReplyDelete