Lisa Manterfield

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July 11, 2019 - Lisa Manterfield Leave a Comment

Fave Read: Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall

If you’ve read (or heard me talk about) my first novel A Strange Companion, you’ll know I do love a good grief story. I have a bit of an obsession with grief, mostly because it’s such a complex topic, and yet so universal, and I’m always interested to read the point-of-view of others. Grace After Henry, a story about the aftermath of loss, examines the question of whether a lost love one can ever be replaced.

After the sudden death of her partner, Henry, Grace is trying figure out how to go on with the life they had planned together. She’s struggling along, when Henry’s long-lost twin brother turns up on her doorstep looking at lot like a good replacement for the man she’s lost. Suddenly, “Henry” is back in her life, and Grace is pulled into the way things were…until she realizes that things aren’t the same at all, and that she’s hiding from her grief in a make-believe world. 

Why I Loved It 

I enjoy a book that gets real about grief, without sliding into the maudlin. Bonus points if it captures the humor that so often accompanies grief. Set in Dublin and capturing that wicked Irish sense-of-humor, Grace After Henry is a funny, poignant, and very real look at life after loss. It doesn’t linger on the sadness, but focuses instead on the way the mind works when grieving, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to cope with loss. 

What I Learned as a Writer 

While story is key, what really brings the world of a book to life is the cast of supporting characters. I looked forward to scenes with Grace’s outrageous parents, her no-nonsense BFF, and her cadre of fellow mourners at the city cemetery.

Read This Book If… 

You enjoy a wry sense of humor (think Derry Girls, but further south) and stories populated by colorful, quirky characters.

My Rating:

Filed Under: Author Love, Book Love, Love, Loss, and Grief Tagged With: book review, Eithne Shortall, Grace After Henry, grief, Irish Fiction, loss, reading, writing Leave a Comment

June 6, 2019 - Lisa Manterfield Leave a Comment

Fave Reads: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

I love the kind of book that immediately makes me want to read it again to see all the hints and little stitches I missed the first time. This was the case when I finished All the Missing Girls, Megan Miranda’s clever, twisty psychological thriller about small town secrets and unreliable memories.

Nicolette Farrell is fored to return to her home town of Cooley Ridge a decade after she left. Her father’s health is declining fast and Nic and her brother have some decisions to make about his future. Nic left behind a lot of memories in Cooley Ridge, along with the man she thought she’d marry, and the mystery of what happened to her best friend Corinne, who disappeared one night and was never found. But days after her arrival in Cooley Ridge, another girl goes missing, and Nic must relive her nightmare all over again. 

As she tries to unravel what happened to the missing girl, secrets about her family, her friends, and her former love emerge. As Nic begins to see the events surrounding Corinne’s disappearance through fresh eyes, she soon realizes she, and the residents of Cooley Ridge, know more about that night than she first acknowledged. Corinne’s killer might be closer to Nic than she knew.

Why I Loved It 

All the Missing Girls is a great psychological thriller with a wicked twist. What makes this book stand out is that the story is told in reverse, beginning fifteen days after Nic’s arrival, backtracking one day at a time, and coming full circle to solve the puzzle. 

This structure makes for some mind-bending reading as the reader gets the clues in reverse order, while the main character is days ahead.  As I was busy gathering clues along with Nic, I had to remember to reorder them in my mind, and then review them again through the filter of new information. Add to that a great twist at the end and you’ve got a wholly satisfying read and a fascinating re-read

What I Learned as a Writer 

This would have been a totally different book if told in chronological order. It’s a simple story, with some good twists, but Megan Miranda’s decision to tell it backwards leaves readers guessing to the very end. Giving the characters more information than the reader heightened the level of suspense from fun to riveting. 

Read This Book If… 

…you love, dark, twisty psychological thrillers with interesting structures. This one will keep you turning the pages.

My Rating: 

Filed Under: Book Love Tagged With: book review, favorite books, fiction, Megan Miranda, psychological suspense, reading, writing Leave a Comment

August 31, 2018 - Lisa Manterfield Leave a Comment

Have Dinner with Me

 

I have a really fun event coming up in next month.

Dine with Local Authorsinvites readers to have dinner, and chat, with five local authors. I’ll be participating in this event on Monday September 10that Gaia’s Garden in Santa Rosa, CA. I’ll be reading from and talking about The Smallest Thing.

Here are the details:

DINE WITH LOCAL AUTHORS

Monday, September 10, 6-8 PM

Gaia’s Garden International Vegetarian Buffet

1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa

 

For reservations: info@jeaneslone.com or 707-544-2491

There’s a minimum $5.00 food purchase required.

 

I’ll be joined by these fabulous authors:

Wordstruck! non-fiction, humor, by Susanna Janssen

The Healer Is You, health and wellness by Diane See

As Long As You Don’t Turn Them Into Weirdos, memoir by Janell Smiley

The Autobiography of Charlie Lord, Fiction by Bill Wetmore

 

See you there!

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Author, author event, books, dine with local authors, dinner, gaia's garden, lisa manterfield, reading, santa rosa, The Smallest Thing Leave a Comment

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