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Day by Michael Cunningham

Day by Michael Cunningham

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This novel is wonderful for its in-depth character portrayals. Cunningham takes very authentic and simple domestic situations and makes them the subject of this beautifully paced work. A generation of young parents and their inquisitive children, the devotion of a brother and sister, an infatuation between brothers-in-law, all the struggles of childcare and childraising stress relationships…. and then there is COVID. The effect of the pandemic on a marriage, on the family members’ psyches and the aftermath of one of their deaths is written with tenderness and insight. This is a fabulous read depicting the new age in which we live.

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About Day:

As the world changes around them, a family weathers the storms of growing up, growing older, falling in and out of love, losing the things that are most precious—and learning to go on—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours

April 5, 2019 : In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, troubled husband and wife, are both a little bit in love with Isabel’s younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, has created a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house—and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. Meanwhile Nathan, age ten, is taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.

April 5, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the brownstone is feeling more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe, while Nathan attempts to skirt her rules. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled jabs and frustrated sighs. And beloved Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts—and his secret Instagram life—for company.

April 5, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality—with what they’ve learned, what they’ve lost, and how they might go on.

From the brilliant mind of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Day is a searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss and the struggles and limitations of family life—how to live together and apart.

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org

Daughter of a Promise, Coming April 2024, Preorder Now

Writing Daughter of a Promise, a Biblical Retelling

This essay was originally published on Women Writers, Women’s Books.

Some people assume writing a third novel must be easier than writing the first, which is true to some degree only because one knows what to expect: that they are in for a long, winding, doubt-ridden journey. When I began drafting Daughter of a Promise I wasn’t sure what the challenges would be, only confident there would be plenty.

It was the winter of 2020, and I was promoting The Nine and working on this new novel, when COVID hit. I began writing with more rigor, mostly to preserve my sanity.  My thinking at the time was if I was going to be stuck in this house with my husband and grown children, it would be nice if something came of it.

Daughter of a Promise Book Cover, a biblical retellingIt’s probably not a surprise that the plot of Daughter of a Promise collides with COVID, just as I was experiencing the same. The final drafts of the manuscript contained about thirty-thousand words too many and as I poured over the third act looking for sections to cut, I was confronted with the vivid details of those early pandemic days, almost as if I’d included a domestic journal. Although much of that was eliminated, the novel brings back memories of the desperation we were all feeling at the time.

After completing a first draft during the winter of 2021, I applied and was accepted to the Southampton Writers Conference BookEnds fellowship where a dozen writers take a year to revise, rewrite, and polish their work. We were assigned to pods of three where, for six months, we workshopped each other’s revisions, keeping in mind the general prescription from the faculty for each book’s re-write. The process of giving and receiving feedback from two other writers with whom I shared synchronistic themes and sensibilities was wonderful.

The feedback I received in our initial meeting was twofold: 1) the story, as I had written it, was being revealed in the wrong order and 2) successful retellings tend to use a “light touch.”  You see, just as with my first two novels, Daughter of a Promise is a modern retelling, this time of the tale of David and Bathsheba from the Book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible.

During the second half of the year, I was assigned a BookEnds mentor, a successful author with whom I worked exclusively.  My mentor was Scott Chesire, author of As High as the Horses’ Bridles which is also full of biblical retelling references. Our mission was to figure out the “why” of my novel and how it should begin. 

“Why” was it imperative that my (first person) protagonist, Betsabé, tell this story at this particular point in time. Instead of addressing my pages specifically, Scott had me read the first chapters of dozens of works that were written in the first person and in our weekly phone calls we discussed them as well as my admiration of slightly unreliable narrators. Not that Betsabé turned out remarkably unreliable, but she justified past decisions and questioned her memory.

I redrafted my biblical retelling as a letter from Betsabé to her unborn son, Sol. She writes in the retrospective to the second child she conceives with David.  In the bible, Solomon carries the mantle of wisdom with the implication being he received this wisdom from GOD, whereas my novel makes the case his wisdom was passed down from his mother.

Daughter of a Promise, by Jeanne Blasberg, a powerful and tender coming of age wBetsabé writes of a tumultuous year, graduating from college, starting a job on Wall Street, and falling in love with her powerful boss. While the onset of the COVID would provide convenient subterfuge for her affair with David, it would also usher in the undoing of so much more.  Ultimately Betsabé is broken open and forced to trust her own innate wisdom and the teachings of her family.

People often ask why I like to cast stories from the bible in contemporary settings. I hope to illustrate how biblical narratives speak timeless truths of the human condition. A powerful king, a young beauty …. from my first reading, I viewed the tale of David and Bathsheba as entirely modern. For centuries the rabbis have debated whether the couple came together in a consensual manner. Whether they did or they didn’t, the bible’s telling is relative to David’s life. Bathsheba’s feelings are not addressed at all.

I needed to write Daughter of a Promise to give her a voice. My Betsabé is a strong young woman trying to find her place in the world, trying to balance the teachings of her family back home in Miami with all she is learning during her analyst training program at the bank. 

She trying out versions of feminism that feel right to her, and she is falling in love. She is falling in love with a city, with a best friend in her roommate, and with a powerful, handsome man. Yes, she makes some questionable decisions but ultimately becoming aware of why one made those choices breeds wisdom.

Jeanne Blasberg is an award-winning and bestselling author and essayist. Her novel The Nine (SWP 2019) was honored with the 2019 Foreword Indies Gold Award in Thriller & Suspense and the Gold Medal and Juror’s Choice in the 2019 National Indie Excellence Awards. Eden (SWP 2017), her debut, won the Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Best New Voice in Fiction and was a finalist for the Sarton Women’s Book Award for Historical Fiction. Her forthcoming novel, Daughter of a Promise (SWP, April 2, 2024) is a modern retelling of the legend of David and Bathsheba, completing the thematic trilogy she began with Eden and The Nine.

Jeanne cochairs the board of the Boston Book Festival and serves on the Executive Committee of GrubStreet, one of the country’s preeminent creative writing centers. Jeanne was named a Southampton Writer’s Conference BookEnds Fellow in April 2021. She reviews contemporary fiction for the New York Journal of Books, When not in New England, she splits her time between Park City, UT, and growing organic vegetables in Verona, Wisconsin.

Slowing it Down: Talking Snow, Story, and Swirling Change

Greetings from Park City where the world outside my window swirls with snow and the world inside my head swirls with story—from all that I saw at The Sundance Film Festival, as well as daily reading and writing. This includes re-reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Middlemarch by George Elliot with FrizzLit. I highly recommend his book clubs!

A snowy President’s Day Weekend, skiing with my sons and friends in UT.

I’m also busy preparing for the publication of Daughter of a Promise on April 2, completing interviews, writing articles, scheduling live events, as well as recording podcasts. If you haven’t yet preordered, please consider doing so! Let me know when you do and I’ll send you the e-reader version of my debut novel, Eden, as a thank you!

I am very proud of the protagonist in this book. Never has one of my characters undergone as much transformation as Bets Ruiz. She begins young and idealistic, a recent college graduate on the threshold of adulthood. She’s at that stage in life where she’s filled with hope and anxiety in equal measure. The novel is told from her retrospective point of view, in the form of a letter to her unborn son, about one fateful year. It is a year filled with desire, love, and tragedy – a year that breaks her open and ushers her into womanhood.

I’ve heard people call personal transformation reinvention – as if we always have a choice! I recently read an excerpt from Alain de Botton’s new book in Oldster Magazine that got me thinking about the change we choose to initiate. The author encourages people to not measure their lives in years but instead by the richness of those years. His theory hinges on a view that time exists in our minds, expanding or contracting based on how engaged we are in the present moment. When absorbed in something new, time is expansive. Being in a rut or stuck in a predictable routine, however, gives the effect of weeks, years, and decades passing by quickly. Initiating change may seem like a luxury not everyone is prepared to take on. However, it’s interesting to consider what holds us back. 

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Extending the growing season in the upper Midwest

One thing that holds us back is fear. Deciding to dedicate myself to Flynn Creek Farm required I overcome fear. And it still does! Farming is incredible during the growing season surrounded by green land, with time expanding as broadly as the big blue sky. In the middle of the night, however, when Wisconsin is dark and covered in snow, I confess to waking in a panic.

Nonetheless, embracing change and tackling fear seem to be integral on my journey. I love skiing because of the opportunity to bite off chunks of fear. Publishing a novel, moving to a new town, and taking on a big project have all kept me awake at night with different degrees of doubt, but they have also resulted in immense joy and satisfaction. They have slowed time. Letting go of the past to make room for new things is my way of affirming life, my acknowledgment that there are many possible paths in this world and I needn’t settle for only one.

Constantly_curating_jeanne_blasberg_substackI’d love to hear about your experiences or philosophy of adopting change. Leave a comment below or on my Substack!

 

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Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur

Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur

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In Little Monsters, as in her memoir Wild Game, I loved Brodeur’s writing, especially the descriptions of Cape Cod. The portrayal of setting was my favorite thing about this book. My second favorite book was Adam’s character. He is bipolar and for most of the novel in a manic state. His interiority was masterful and I so appreciated that point of view character. My least favorite thing about the novel is the way it ends. It seems very unresolved with regard to some major plot points. Even so, a very worthwhile read, particularly for lovers of the Cape.

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About Little Monsters:

From the author of the bestselling memoir Wild Game comes a riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families, and long-buried secrets.

Ken and Abby Gardner lost their mother when they were small and they have been haunted by her absence ever since. Their father, Adam, a brilliant oceanographer, raised them mostly on his own in his remote home on Cape Cod, where the attachment between Ken and Abby deepened into something complicated–and as adults their relationship is strained. Now, years later, the siblings’ lives are still deeply entwined. Ken is a successful businessman with political ambitions and a picture-perfect family and Abby is a talented visual artist who depends on her brother’s goodwill, in part because he owns the studio where she lives and works.

As the novel opens, Adam is approaching his seventieth birthday, staring down his mortality and fading relevance. He has always managed his bipolar disorder with medication, but he’s determined to make one last scientific breakthrough and so he has secretly stopped taking his pills, which he knows will infuriate his children. Meanwhile, Abby and Ken are both harboring secrets of their own, and there is a new person on the periphery of the family—Steph, who doesn’t make her connection known. As Adam grows more attuned to the frequencies of the deep sea and less so to the people around him, Ken and Abby each plan the elaborate gifts they will present to their father on his birthday, jostling for primacy in this small family unit.

Set in the fraught summer of 2016, Little Monsters is a “smart, page-flipping novel…[with] shades of Succession” (The Boston Globe) from a writer who knows Cape Cod inside and out–its Edenic lushness and its snakes.

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org

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New Year, New Writing Updates!

Happy New Year!

If you’re a long-time reader or you’ve subscribed to my newsletter in the past, you may have noticed I’ve migrated my essays and letters to Substack. Introducing…

Logo for Jeanne Blasberg's Substack newsletter, Constantly Curating, in white text with black shadow on a bright red background with a white border

I hope to share writing monthly, and I hope you’ll come along with me on the journey. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to my newsletter there to keep in touch! I’m excited to share lots of fun things with you this spring like upcoming events and book giveaways (hint hint, keep reading)—and let’s not forget the most exciting news of all:

My new novel, Daughter of a Promisewill be released on April 2nd. I am very proud of this book and I am grateful for the positive feedback to date. Kirkus gave it a starred review, calling it, “A sagacious and graceful modern-day retelling of a biblical love story,” and Foreword called it, “….a powerful feminist novel set during a tumultuous year in New York.”

Daughter of a Promise Book CoverAnd yes, it’s a love story! A retelling of the legend of David and Bathsheba. My protagonist’s journey of love, loss, and self-awareness is one, I hope, many readers will relate to. Fans of Eden and The Nine, will enjoy the reappearance of some familiar characters and revisiting a beloved Rhode Island beach town.

If you preorder Daughter of a Promise, and forward me a screenshot or photo of the receipt, I’ll send you an ebook download of Eden as a thank you! Preorders boost book-selling algorithms and help more people find the book, so I would truly appreciate your support.

 

This is a wonderfully wise book. Blasberg is an accomplished writer, and in Betsabé Ruiz she has created an insightful and strong young woman. “ — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 

flynn-creek-farm-sunset-jeanne-blasberg-daughter-of-a-promiseIn other news … John and I have bundled our passions for food, wellness, and the environment into a new venture called Flynn Creek Farm. It’s a 420-acre farm southwest of Madison, WI where we are growing veggies for the Forage Kitchens fast-casual restaurant chain. The master plan for the farm involves returning organic matter to the topsoil to grow small grains and graze cattle. We have dreams of planting an orchard and becoming a destination for education and eco-tourism. Building the wonderful team at Flynn Creek has brought both of us much joy as well as humility and new learning. I will always write fiction, but don’t be surprised if my content is inspired by this new adventure!

book-recommendations-wellness-great-expectations-yellowface-little-monsters-black-earth-wisdomThat’s all my exciting news for the moment, but stay tuned for updates. In the meanwhile, let me leave you with some books I’ve read this winter and highly recommend:

Check them out! And let me know what you’ve been reading.

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The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

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If you loved Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, this one is a bit of a let down. — dead sister’s intended husband. He is a cruel duke and she senses she is in danger in the palace. Little is known about the real Lucrezia except that her suspicious death was suspected to be at the hands of the duke. Maggie O’Farrell’s voice and writing were very engaging, however, the story in this case was long and predictable.

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About The Marriage Portrait:

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org

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The Stark Beauty of Last Things by Celine Keating

The Stark Beauty of Last Things by Celine Keating

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The Stark Beauty of Last Things is a poetic novel that emphasizes the fragility of the worlds we occupy- relationships, lives, places – are all fleeting. The problem is that humans often fail to understand this until it is too late. Told from multiple points of view, this novel also provides an interesting history of Montauk.

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About The Stark Beauty of Last Things:

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org

Wellness by Nathan Hill

Wellness by Nathan Hill

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I loved The Nix and when I heard Nathan Hill had a new novel coming out, I preordered. I toggled between reading and listening to the audiobook because it is narrated by Ari Fliakos who is my all time favorite reader. His tone captures the wry wit of Hill’s characters so well. But onto Wellness—All I can say is that I have been recommending it to everyone and Nathan Hill has become my favorite author. He writes with the wisdom and life knowledge of a person much older but with the funny, dry cutting language of a person who is younger. His observations about diets and tech to name just two societal staples are hysterical. And yet while being funny and amusing, the book is also so heartbreakingly poignant. I loved it, couldn’t put it down and now while my husband is reading, I am constantly asking him what part he is up to and to read it aloud to me so we can have a good laugh. The best kind of book.

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About Wellness:

The New York Times best-selling author of The Nix is back with a poignant and witty novel about a modern marriage and the bonds that keep people together. Mining the absurdities of contemporary society, Wellness reimagines the love story with a healthy dose of insight, irony, and heart.

“A stunning novel about the stories that we tell about our lives and our loves, and how we sustain relationships throughout time—it’s beyond remarkable, both funny and heartbreaking, sometimes on the same page.” —NPR

When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty ’90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria.

For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org

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The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

ministry-for-the-future-kim-stanley-robinson-book-review-jeanne-blasbergThis is a work of science fiction that reads like it could be true. It is very long book that offers many thread lines and points of view as well as the ministry for the future’s ideas with regard to advocating for beings that can’t speak for themselves. It was educational, inspiring but also filled me with dread.

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About The Ministry for the Future:

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org

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Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake By Ann Patchett

tom-lake-ann-patchett-book-review-jeanne-blasbergI listened to this on audio, such a delight as Meryl Streep was the narrator. Her performative and soothing voice combined with Ann Patchett’s writing resulted in a most pleasurable experience. The story was well done too. Well suited for me as a mother who had three grown children at home during the pandemic and also as the mother of a daughter. I am finding it very interesting to read the pandemic novels of great writers BTW. This is a novel about what we share with our children and what we hold back, about their insatiable desire for stories about us before they were born, and about how much changes and how much stays the same between the generations of women. This is a love story to Northern Michigan and a life dedicated to farming orchards. The point of view may be that of a grown woman in her fifties, but as she recounts one summer and one love affair to her children, she is also telling her own coming-of-age. The structure of this novel was quite pleasurable to follow.

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About Tom Lake:

Read more of Jeannie’s Reviews on her blog, on Goodreads or StoryGraph, or on the New York Journal of Books. For more TBR inspiration, check out Jeannie’s curated book lists at Bookshop.org