The Book Lover

by Maryann McFadden

Overview

10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH NEW AUTHOR'S NOTE!
In The Book Lover, a charming bookshop in the village of Warwick, the best stories may not be in the pages of its books, but in the lives of the people who walk through its doors.
Owner Ruth Hardaway has been handselling books in her store, The Book Lover, for years. Her gift isn't just finding the right books for her quirky cast of patrons, it's also helping them to navigate the unexpected chapters in their own lives. When author Lucy Barrett lands on her doorstep for a book signing, only to collapse in a meltdown, Ruth is about to become a heroine in a story she never could have imagined. As for Lucy, who's left a terrible betrayal behind, she's about to encounter a plot twist she couldn't have written when Ruth's son, a disabled vet who rescues injured raptors, causes her to question everything she thought she wanted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780984867103
Publisher:	Three Women Press
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Pages:	370
Sales rank:	377,017
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Maryann McFadden's first two novels, The Richest Season and So Happy Together, were honored as a oeIndie Next Picks, a  chosen by an association of independent booksellers from across the country. She has worked as a freelance journalist, realtor, and photographer and currently teaches at a local community college, coaches writers, and, of course, writes novels. One day a week she also babysits her four young granddaughters while her own daughter teaches writingAfter receiving a degree in English from Rutgers University, she stayed at home raising her children and worked for nearly 10 years as a freelance writer contributing to a variety of newspapers and health magazines like Working Woman and Women's Sports and Fitness. Needing a change, she put her writing aside and immersed herself in business and pursued a career in real estate for the next 15 years. She loved the contact with people that her work provided and her clients' stories and dreams became the grist for her later writing career. So she returned to graduate school and received a Master's Degree in Literature with a Concentration in Writing.The story behind the publication of her first novel, The Richest Season, is one that will resonate with so many first-time novelists and spans many years of overcoming agent and publisher rejections, refusing to accept failure, coming very close to giving up, then self-publishing the book, orchestrating her own book launch, pounding the pavement to convince independent booksellers to stock a self-published book on their shelves, conducting countless book signings and talks, addressing 40 book clubs in 10 states, and exhausting every marketing possibility for her book. She did not quit. And finally, overnight success: a New York agent loved her book and sold it at auction to Hyperion. Maryann received a two-book hardcover deal; Random House in Germany followed with German rights, and Mondadori made a deal for Italy. When a writer's blog referred to her good luck as a oewinning the literary lottery, a  Maryann responded, a oeI had to laugh. Because it implied that getting published was as simple as buying a ticket and waiting for a number to be drawn. Hah! If only it were that easy. My ordeal in trying to get my novel taken spanned 6 years in total.a Maryann is proud of her two children, Patrick and Marisa, and her four granddaughters, Alice, Lily, Julia, and Phoebe. She lives in Northwest New Jersey where she is working on her fourth novel.

Editorial Reviews

McFadden's newest novel (after So Happy Together) is the subtly complex tale of an aspiring author, a struggling bookseller, an Iraq War veteran, and the pursuit of a dream that brings them all together. Lucy Barrett has long desired to see her book in the hands of readers, but big publishers won't pay her any mind. So Lucy self-publishes A Quiet Wanting and gets the attention of Ruth Hardaway, owner of The Book Lover bookstore. Shortly after Ruth proposes to host a signing for Lucy, Lucy discovers that her husband, a longtime gambler, is headed to jail for theft, and to top it all off, he wants a divorce. Now thoroughly untethered from her old life, Lucy leaves Florida and drives to New Jersey, where Ruth has offered Lucy the use of an unused cabin, but under one condition: Lucy must help look after Ruth's son, Colin, a crippled vet. Lucy and Colin soon warm to each other, but Ruth, struggling under the stress of keeping the bookstore afloat, begins to view Lucy's imposition on her life to be the manipulations of a woman desperate for recognition. As they all try to navigate their newfound affections and fears, each character must assess their hopes and aspirations in light of present conditions. Along the way, McFadden skirts the edge of clichéd territory, but in the end, a refusal to give her characters easy outs makes this a believable story of self-discovery. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Maryann McFadden takes you into the hearts and souls of two ordinary women, a writer and a bookseller, who find the courage to pursue their dreams, and the men they love. The Book Lover is unforgettable." --Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times Bestselling Author

"Heartfelt and richly woven, Maryann McFadden's latest tells the story of love lost - and found again in an unexpected place. It's a valentine to book lovers." --Sarah Pekkanen, NY Times Bestselling Author

The Book Lover is a Staff Recommended Summer Read chosen by Sue of Breakwater Books, Guilford, CT: Sue says, "This is a story of a friendship between a bookseller and a writer. Ruth owns and operates The Book Lover, and Lucy is a first-time author struggling to publish her first book. Both women have suffered loss and betrayal and manage, over the course of the novel, to come to terms with the choices they made."

"Oh, what a feast for book lovers! McFadden mines bookstores, writers' lives, publishing, and the rocky terrain of the human heart with equal grace and aplomb. The Book Lover is wise, knowing, and totally wonderful." --Caroline Leavitt, NY Times Bestselling Author of Pictures of You

"The Book Lover is the name of a charming book shop which acts as one of the main characters in this story of broken marriages, secrets, friendships and little white lies. The well developed characters and subject will make this a sure selection for book clubs." --Elizabeth Merritt, Titcomb's Books

"The Book Lover takes you into the heart and soul of the book world, with characters you will come to love. The most honest story about the world of books I've read yet." --Rob Dougherty, Clinton Book Shop

"A compelling story of love, loss and survival." --Tom Warner, Litchfield Books

"Book lovers everywhere will love this story!" --Beth Carpenter, The Country Bookshop

"I've always found some character or situation in Maryann McFadden's books that reminds me of me and mine - this time she even nails my life as a bookseller!" --Betsy Rider, Otto's Books

From the Publisher