Congrats to
Dani in Chicago!
You've won The Underside of Joy!
Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com
with your mailing address so you can receive your book!
The Underside of Joy
By Sere Prince Halverson
I knew I would love The Underside of Joy by the title alone. I mean, come on, what IS the The Underside of Joy? This is a book that I read in record time, and for me, finding time to read with three kids does not come easily. I usually only read at night before bed, or in the car while waiting for a kid during a basketball practice.
With Sere Prince Halverson’s debut, I snuck in reading all the time, neglecting the laundry more than usual, forgetting to feed lunch to kids, and ignoring anything that got in my way.
It’s truly mesmerizing.
The premise is this: A step-mom loses her husband to a drowning, and the birth mother comes back to reclaim her two children. A custody battle ensues. It’s not your basic step-mom fights birth mother story – the writing is so lyrical and fluid, and the setting adds so much to the novel in the fictional Elbow, California, with its Redwood trees, the lush forest, and the flowing river that runs through it.
I fell in love with the characters—Ella, the widowed step-mother, who fights to keep her children, Annie and Zach, after their father dies. She’s the only mother they have ever known. And I even felt sympathy for Paige, the birth mother, who has been gone for three years because she couldn’t deal with motherhood due to a long-ago secret of her own.
This is a story that will tug at your heartstrings; that will have you turning pages so quickly because you can’t wait to find out what will happen next. You’ll love Ella’s extended family – her lost husband’s Italian family, and the heritage they hold close to their hearts, you’ll root for her, and you’ll cry for her losses. You’ll think of Ella, and of Paige even, and definitely of Annie and Zach long after you’ve closed the book, and you’ll wonder about your own Underside of Joy.
To win a copy of The Underside of Joy, tell me about a particular time in your life or a particular place that is very joyful to you. Don't read other people's comments until you comment first because I don't want their choices to affect your answer. Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind, whether it was a place, being with a person, or a feeling about something or someone that gave you immense joy!
I'll choose a winner later in the week, and also, HOPEFULLY, I'll have ANOTHER book to give away this week too, so please do come back! I've got a TON of books coming up -- it's completely crazy! Which is GREAT FOR YOU!
Please remember, this is for US/Canada contestants only, and I have to thank the author and publicists for making these contests possible!
