It’s the middle of the week already folks! A few more days and another weekend will be upon us. I can’t believe how fast June is flying by. Too fast! Today I’m spotlighting The Blessings by Elise Juska and this is one I’m anxious to fit into my summer reading schedule. I love books that deal with family dynamics so I’m sure I’ll love this one. In the meantime I’m going to tell you about the book, the author, and offer up 5 copies for giveaway so you can have a chance to add this novel to your summer reading!
About the Book
Hailed by Stewart O’Nan as “deft and tender” and as one of the best books of 2014 by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Elise Juska’s THE BLESSINGS is an extraordinary novel about an ordinary family. The Blessings rally around one another in times of celebration and those of sorrow, coming together for departures and arrivals, while its members harbor private struggles and moments of personal joy. College student Abby ponders homesickness in her first semester away from her Philadelphia home, while her cousin Stephen commits a petty act of violence that takes a surprising turn, and their aunt Lauren faces a crisis in her storybook marriage she could never have foreseen. Through the lens of one unforgettable family, this beautifully moving novel explores how our families define us and how we shape them in return.
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Praise for The Blessings
“The Blessings are a family so real in all their sorrow, joy and complexity that they could be yours or mine. Juska’s portrait of this close-knit clan is bursting with wise observations about the nature of love and belonging. I enjoyed every page.” (J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times-bestselling author of The Engagements and Maine)
“In the tradition of Elizabeth Berg’s and Alice McDermott’s work, The Blessings is a knowing portrait of a sprawling Irish-American family in Philly across the last thirty years, in all their shared strength and separate weaknesses. Elise Juska is deft and tender, letting us get close to her characters in their most vulnerable moments. The ties that bind are never simple, and often painful, but as one daughter acknowledges, ‘these are the hidden intimacies, the private exchanges, on which she builds her life.'” (Stewart O’Nan, author of Songs for the Missing and Emily, Alone)
“Fans of writers like Anne Tyler, Alice McDermott and even Richard Yates will revel in Juska’s resplendent novel detailing two decades in the life of the Blessing clan.” (BookReporter.com )
“With a keen eye for detail and character, Juska shows us that, Tolstoy notwithstanding, a happy family can be happy in its own way and make for great storytelling… An exquisite portrait of a large family.” (Shelf Awareness)
“This heartfelt tribute to the ups and downs of a large, devoted family is warm, uplifting, and recommended for readers from families of all sizes.” (Booklist)
About the Author
Elise Juska’s fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Ploughshares, Gettysburg Review, The Missouri Review, Good Housekeeping, The Hudson Review, and many other publications. She is the recipient of the Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction from Ploughshares and her work has been cited in The Best American Short Stories. She lives in Philadelphia, where she is the director of the undergraduate creative writing program at the University of the Arts.
GIVEAWAY – OPEN TO US & CANADIAN RESIDENTS
5 copies up for giveaway!
*CLICK HERE* and fill out the form to enter
Draw Date July 11/15
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Good luck Kathy!
Really sounds interesting.
Thank you for the give away.
Diane C, it does sound good. Good luck on the giveaway!
Thanks for the opportunity. It sounds like a great summer read. Looking forward to reading it.
Carol L
Good luck Carol!