MARCH 2016 - AudioFile
When feisty Southern divorce lawyer Paula Vauss receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother, Kai, she begins a search that ultimately shows her the power of family and forgiveness. Joshilyn Jackson’s abilities extend beyond her writing—insightful, funny, and poignant—to her narration. She breathes fiery life into Paula, exposing the vulnerability that gives context to the character’s self-protective sarcasm. Entertaining on every level, Jackson portrays a variety of original, flawed characters—including Paula’s ex-love, Birdwine, who is a private eye, and mystical Kai, a storyteller. In addition, she creates touching scenes and builds suspenseful twists, capturing the listener’s complete attention and admiration. J.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Jackson delivers another quirky, Southern-based, character-driven novel that combines exquisite writing, vivid personalities, and imaginative storylines while subtly contemplating race, romance, family, and self. A searing yet ultimately uplifting look at broken people who heal themselves and each other through forgiveness, love, and the power of stories.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review), THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
“The smart-ass, no holds-barred narration by whip-smart Paula/Kali… should please the many fans of Jackson’s snappy writing style.” — Library Journal (starred review), THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
“Beautifully written, fascinating and deep, The Opposite of Everyone is another must-read novel by Jackson... Jackson has done a phenomenal job of weaving the past with the present and unfolding the story layer after layer. This is a masterfully written tale that readers cannot put down.” — RT Book Reviews (top pick) on THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
“Part twisting suspense, part unflinching exploration of the world of abandoned and exploited girls...This is one of those books that keeps you up late reading, and distracts you from your day, as you yearn to get back to its pages. I can’t recommend it highly enough.” — Susan Rebecca White, author of A Soft Place to Land
“Inevitable, surprising, and beautifully layered… I loved this book and you will also.” — Sara Gruen, NYT bestselling author of At The Waters Edge and Water for Elephants
“Jackson excels at weaving a wholly absorbing story with vivid characters… [she makes] some affecting points about the importance of the stories we tell to each other and to ourselves.” — Booklist, THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
“The voice is hard-boiled and the plot engrossing in Jackson’s new novel, a realistic, contemporary story with a mystery driving it....This is an excellent read.” — Publishers Weekly, THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
“Joshilyn Jackson has written her most unforgettable character, Paula Vauss. I love her, I hate her, I want to yell at her, then laugh with her, then fight with her before drinking with her. But mostly I want her to be real. And I didn’t want her story to end.” — Elaine Lui, founder of Lainey Gossip and author of Listen to the Squawking Chicken
“The unconventional characters in Jackson’s books often provide thought-provoking studies of love and loyalty; this must-read also contemplates the transformative power of storytelling.” — New York Times Book Review on THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
Sarah Gruen
Inevitable, surprising, and beautifully layered… I loved this book and you will also.
Elaine Lui
Joshilyn Jackson has written her most unforgettable character, Paula Vauss. I love her, I hate her, I want to yell at her, then laugh with her, then fight with her before drinking with her. But mostly I want her to be real. And I didn’t want her story to end.
New York Times Book Review on THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
The unconventional characters in Jackson’s books often provide thought-provoking studies of love and loyalty; this must-read also contemplates the transformative power of storytelling.
THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE Booklist
Jackson excels at weaving a wholly absorbing story with vivid characters… [she makes] some affecting points about the importance of the stories we tell to each other and to ourselves.
Susan Rebecca White
Part twisting suspense, part unflinching exploration of the world of abandoned and exploited girls...This is one of those books that keeps you up late reading, and distracts you from your day, as you yearn to get back to its pages. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
RT Book Reviews (top pick) on THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE
Beautifully written, fascinating and deep, The Opposite of Everyone is another must-read novel by Jackson... Jackson has done a phenomenal job of weaving the past with the present and unfolding the story layer after layer. This is a masterfully written tale that readers cannot put down.
Sara Gruen
Inevitable, surprising, and beautifully layered… I loved this book and you will also.
Booklist
Jackson excels at weaving a wholly absorbing story with vivid characters… [she makes] some affecting points about the importance of the stories we tell to each other and to ourselves.
Library Journal
★ 01/01/2016
Because Paula Vauss was born blue, with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, her free-spirited mother, Kai, named her "Kali" after the blue-skinned Hindu goddess. But Kai still had three months left in a youth detention center when she gave birth, so "Paula" ended up on the birth certificate. This conflict between Kai's feckless, creative nature and Paula's wish to be "normal" plays out tragically, leaving mother and daughter estranged for years, until Paula, now a high-powered divorce lawyer known for digging up dirt and nailing greedy husbands for hefty settlements, receives word that her mother is terminally ill, perhaps already dead. The smart-ass, no holds-barred narration by whip-smart Paula/Kali with not infrequent but judiciously placed earthy language should please the many fans of Jackson's (Gods in Alabama; A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty) snappy writing style. VERDICT The story of how a hard-edged, biracial, self-sufficient divorce lawyer allows family and love back into her life after fiercely shielding herself from heartbreak for over 20 years is likely to join the author's six previous novels as a popular book club selection. [See Prepub Alert, 8/24/15.]—Laurie Cavanaugh, Holmes P.L., Halifax, MA
MARCH 2016 - AudioFile
When feisty Southern divorce lawyer Paula Vauss receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother, Kai, she begins a search that ultimately shows her the power of family and forgiveness. Joshilyn Jackson’s abilities extend beyond her writing—insightful, funny, and poignant—to her narration. She breathes fiery life into Paula, exposing the vulnerability that gives context to the character’s self-protective sarcasm. Entertaining on every level, Jackson portrays a variety of original, flawed characters—including Paula’s ex-love, Birdwine, who is a private eye, and mystical Kai, a storyteller. In addition, she creates touching scenes and builds suspenseful twists, capturing the listener’s complete attention and admiration. J.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2015-12-10
A tough divorce lawyer with a troubled past is forced to revisit her childhood when she discovers her estranged mother is probably dead and may have left another child behind. Paula Vauss was born to a free-spirited teen mother who nicknamed her Kali, after the Hindu goddess of change and destruction. The two traveled across the South, Paula's mother taking up with men who'd shelter her and her young daughter for a time, then growing restless and taking to the road again—a lifestyle that worked much better for a young child than for a preteen beginning to exist outside her mother's influence. When an ill-fated move lands mother and daughter with a low-level drug dealer, Paula makes a phone call that will change their lives forever and drive a wedge through their close, loving relationship. Years later, still trying to atone for that devastating act and make sense of her subsequent reinvention into a hardscrabble fighter who survived foster care, law school, and her mother's scathing silence, Paula discovers she may have siblings, including a young child who may be lost in the system. Traveling back through her memories, Paula looks for guidance from her itinerant childhood and the stories her mother told her, an odd combination of Hindu mysticism and Southern mythmaking: "I was born in Alabama. My mother invoked Kali on the black and bloody soil of the American South, and she didn't get renewal, hope, or springtime. She got me." She'll also have to re-evaluate her sense of self, since suddenly, rather than burning bridges, she may have to forgive herself enough to let others in and create deep connections. Jackson delivers another quirky, Southern-based, character-driven novel that combines exquisite writing, vivid personalities, and imaginative storylines while subtly contemplating race, romance, family, and self. A searing yet ultimately uplifting look at broken people who heal themselves and each other through forgiveness, love, and the power of stories.
