Mailbox Monday – December 14, 2009

Welcome to another installment of Mailbox Monday, hosted each week by Marcia at The Printed Page. This event encourages readers to share the books which arrive at their home each week. Visit Marcia’s post today to leave a link to your post, or get links to other bloggers’ mailboxes.

This week I found some great books in my mailbox – literary fiction from a small press, a trilogy by one of Australia’s best known writers, a medical thriller, and a much anticipated women’s fiction novel by one of my favorite authors.

Thirsty by Kristin Bair O’Keeffe arrived from the senior editor at Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists. This debut novel was published in October 2009 by Swallow Press/Ohio University Press and immediately caught my attention. Set in 1883, the novel is about Klara Bozic who arrives in Thirsty – a small steel town just outside of Pittsburgh – with her new husband Drago. Once there, far from her roots in Croatia, Klara discovers the man she has married is as abusive as the father from whom she has fled. The novel spans forty years of Klara’s life and has been called “rare and special,” “an intelligent page-turner,” “powerful,” “moving,” and “a beautiful tale, vivid and gently told.” I like to support the small presses…and O’Keefe’s first novel sounds like one which is worth the read. To read more about O’Keefe and her work, visit the author’s website.

The Vera Wright Trilogy (My Father’s Moon, Cabin Fever, and The Georges’ Wife) by Elizabeth Jolley arrived unsolicited from Meryl Zegarek. Due for publication in February 2010 through Persea Books, this trilogy is already getting lots of attention from critics. Based on the facts of Jolley’s life (who is one of Australia’s most celebrated and beloved novelists), the trilogy opens in 1939 wartime England with seventeen-year-old Vera who leaves school to become a nurse in a military hospital. The three novels demonstrate life as it was for women in England from the 1930s through the 1950s, ‘giving insight into the many kinds of love – heterosexual, homosexual, mother-child, etc… – and the power of imagination.’ To learn more about the author (who passed away in February 2007), visit wikipedia which has much information about the author’s life and work. I had not hear of Jolley before this book arrived, but I am now very eager to read some of her novels.

The Last Surgeon by Michale Palmer arrived (autographed) direct from the author. Years ago, I read several books by Palmer…and loved them, so when I was contacted to review this book, I knew I would not say no. As with Palmer’s previous work, The Last Surgeon is a medical thriller. It is due for release in February 2010 through  St. Martin’s Press. The Boston Globe calls Palmer’s novels “heart-pounding.” This book has an aggressive marketing campaign planned…and as part of that, a signed copy of the book will be offered for give-away here on Caribousmom soon! To learn more about Palmer and his work, visit the author’s website.

Get Lucky by Katherine Center arrived from Ballantine Books as part of a planned book tour with TLC Book Tours in April. I was thrilled to get my hands on an Advance Readers Edition of this book since I have read both of Center’s previous novels and loved them (read my reviews of The Bright Side of Disaster, and Everyone is Beautiful). Get Lucky is the story of Sarah Harper who finds herself unexpectedly unemployed and visiting her older sister Mackie in Houston where they both grew up. After a decade away, Sarah finds herself confronting the demons from her past and learns that choosing to go looking for happiness may depend a bit on getting lucky enough to find it. I am excited to read this latest effort from Center. To learn more about her and her work, visit the author’s website.

What did you find in YOUR mailbox this week?