Cover Reveal: The Women of Great Heron Lake by Deanna Lynn Sletten

Cover Reveal!

I am so excited to share with you the cover of my upcoming historical fiction novel, THE WOMEN OF GREAT HERON LAKE. It’s a sweeping story of two women, decades apart, living parallel lives. Here is the beautiful cover designed by Deborah Bradseth of Tugboat Design.

Created by Tugboat Design

Book Description:

Two strong women, generations apart, living parallel lives.

When Marla Madison’s husband dies, she realizes her life has become very small. Her daughter is grown and Marla has spent the past two decades focused on his friends, his interests, and his home. Feeling lost, she throws herself into fixing up the one-hundred and fifty-year-old family manor on the lake. She soon discovers an old journal in a secret drawer and is instantly intrigued. The handwritten book tells the tale of another Mrs. Madison from over a century ago, the first woman to live in the lake manor. As Marla reads the journal, she discovers that her life parallels that of the woman who wrote those words decades ago and Marla finds inspiration from her strength.

1875 - Alaina Carlton was content to become a spinster until her beloved father introduces her to Nathaniel Madison, one of the most prosperous men in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even though she values her independence, Alaina is intrigued by this man who pursues her. When they marry, she believes she’s found a man who will treat her as an equal, but soon realizes that isn’t entirely true. From their mansion on the illustrious Summit Avenue to their manor at Great Heron Lake, where the rich and powerful play, her life is no longer her own. But fifteen years and two children later when Nathaniel grows ill she takes her rightful place where women weren’t allowed in order to secure her children’s inheritance and her future.

An inspiring family saga of two determined woman who found meaning in their lives by following their passions and not allowing society, or propriety, to hold them back.

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Women’s Historical Fiction/Family Saga

PREORDER NOW!

U. S. Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/2XKyLwa

Amazon Kindle Canada

Amazon Kindle Australia

Amazon Kindle UK

Coming Soon in Paperback and Audiobook

This book has been a labor of love and I hope you will preorder your copy so you can enjoy it on release day!

Book Review: Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Book Review

Mrs. Everything

Jennifer Weiner

Book Description:

From Jennifer Weiner, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Who Do You Love and In Her Shoes comes a smart, thoughtful, and timely exploration of two sisters’ lives from the 1950s to the present as they struggle to find their places—and be true to themselves—in a rapidly evolving world. Mrs. Everything is an ambitious, richly textured journey through history—and herstory—as these two sisters navigate a changing America over the course of their lives.

Do we change or does the world change us?

Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born into a world full of promise.

Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life.

But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies. As their lives unfold against the background of free love and Vietnam, Woodstock and women’s lib, Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives headlong into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). Meanwhile, Jo becomes a proper young mother in Connecticut, a witness to the changing world instead of a participant. Neither woman inhabits the world she dreams of, nor has a life that feels authentic or brings her joy. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?

In her most ambitious novel yet, Jennifer Weiner tells a story of two sisters who, with their different dreams and different paths, offer answers to the question: How should a woman be in the world?

Release Date: June 11, 2019

Women’s Fiction

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My 4-Star Review:

When I first started reading this book, I wondered if I even wanted to finish it. Having grown up in the 1960s and 1970s, I knew the drill. Cold mother, loving but hardworking father, no one understands you, everything is changing around you. Those of us who experienced those turbulent times can certainly identify with how difficult life was for women in those days and the limited choices we had then compared to now. I did continue to read it because I wanted to know what happened to Jo and Bethie as they went through their transformations.

As expected, the book is well-written, the time period is realistic, and the characters were intriguing. Ms. Weiner is a talented writer, no doubt. But I thought that maybe these sisters went through too many changes, had a few too many tragedies, and the story came off as a bit too unrealistic to me. Any one or two of the tragedies they suffered seemed plausible, but all of it? I guess the book does give the reader a lot of drama for their money. All in all, though, it was an interesting read and I did enjoy how it followed the family for generations.

A good story for those who love the fifties, sixties, and seventies time period and books with a lot of family drama.

About the Author:

Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fourteen books, including Good in Bed, The Littlest Bigfoot, and her memoir Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing. A graduate of Princeton University and contributor to the New York Times Opinion section, Jennifer lives with her family in Philadelphia. Visit her online at JenniferWeiner.com