Beautiful Book Review of Sybelia Drive
“Sybelia Drive is the sort of book that leaves me feeling that everyone should know about – it deserves to be widely read and loved. It’s a lyrical, intelligent, probing book that also hums with the comfort of friendship and connection, and moves along at a rhythmically soothing pace. It is subtle but also surprising, written with a lightness of touch and a depth of feeling that left me feeling changed.” - Ellie Hawkes of Elspells Book Blog
In her beautiful review of Sybelia Drive, Ellie Hawkes notes how challenging it is to respond to a novel she loves “so fiercely.” Not only is her response engaging and comprehensive, it is the most amazing and rewarding kind of acknowledgment a writer might ever hope to receive. Gratitude for her generous praise and for her invitation to other readers to “seek out” and read the novel themselves!
To read the entire review, visit Elspell’s Book Blog. To purchase a copy of Sybelia Drive, visit Braddock Avenue Books.
Sybelia Drive & how to spend Christmas in Florida without ever leaving your living room
In these December days of deciding to stay home & stay safe, there are still ways to transport ourselves. Sure, there’s The Crown and Borgen and other series to stream our nights away. But there is also the opportunity to read all those books published in 2020 in the midst of this crazy pandemic. Books you’ve never even heard of because they were, yeah, published inside of this insanity.
Recently, Emma Straub of Brooklyn’s Books Are Magic compiled a booklist called “2020 Sucked, but These Books Don’t” where you can find—at this point—167 titles, including a good handful of small press titles like SYBELIA DRIVE. From just this list, you can travel to Vietnam, Appalachia, Sweden, Southern California, or even small-town Florida without ever leaving your living room sofa. I myself would encourage life under the Travelers Palm, lakeside, with a tall glass of tangerine juice, spiked if you like. And so, if you’re looking for a gift for others, a good read for yourself, give Sybelia Drive a chance. A multi-voiced novel that explores the lives of those on the homefront during the war in Vietnam, she won’t disappoint you. Give her a place on your bedside table, a long luxurious read, and a rating on Goodreads so others will know she’s out in the world, ready to transport anyone who will turn her pages.
Purchase Link for Sybelia Drive 🌴
In Columbus, Ohio, there are a few signed copies at Prologue & Bookspace! & if you’re in Brooklyn, definitely give Books Are Magic some love.
If you’d like to know more about the novel, check out the latest press and December & January readings below!
PRESS
Goodreads Booklist: 33 Reader-Approved, Highly Rated Works of Fiction to Discover Now - Sybelia Drive lands on a booklist among the gorgeous works of Alice Randall, Taylor Brown, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Randall Kenan, & so many more
LitReactor Column - my crazy craft essay on 20 years of wandering toward an understanding of narrative structure
Authorlink Interview with Ellen Birkett Morris - lessons learned, decisions on form, the power of objects
Book Q&A’s with Deborah Kalb - the voices, places, & hopes of Sybelia Drive
LitHub’s “5 Writers, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers” - KCD & Sybelia Drive among stellar writers and their books
Women Writers, Women’s Books - “The Men and Boys of Sybelia Drive” - the novel’s treatment of masculinity
Largehearted Boy - “Book Notes” - Karin Cecile Davidson’s Playlist for Sybelia Drive
Debutiful - “Recommendations” - Sybelia Drive lands on a shortlist of recommended October 2020 debut novels
EVENTS
December 2020
December 10: Readings on the Pike - hosted by Hannah Grieco - 7 pm EST - Zoom link available the week of the event on “Readings on the Pike” Facebook page
December 20: Hidden Timber Reading Series - 3 pm EST - Zoom Event - in conversation with Christi Craig - Advance Registration
January 2021
January 14: Buffalo Street Books, Ithaca, NY - in conversation with Lori Ostlund - Zoom Event - more details to come
SYBELIA DRIVE - ARCs, Pre-Order Links, & Two Months to Go
SYBELIA DRIVE ARCs have arrived, pre-order links are up, & only two months to go until the novel’s release date of October 6th! Artist & true friend, Annie Russell, created the most beautiful cover I could ever imagine, & the Braddock Avenue Books creative team coordinated design, edits, & all the rest. When I started writing this novel, I wrote on a dare, I wrote to answer questions I’d had for decades. LuLu showed up, then Rainey, & of course, Saul. I wandered after them into the citrus groves of childhood, trying to know the bitter scents of fallen fruit, of fathers & sons sent away to war, of mothers trying to make ends meet. I’d love to share their story, so here is the PRE-ORDER LINK. Braddock Avenue Books, the small press that gave this book a home, will benefit the most from pre-order purchases. From now until the beginning of October, they’ll earn 50% of the sales price, but once Amazon takes over, the press will earn a little less than a dollar. Pretty sobering. Is it a leap of faith to ignore discounts & convenience? I hope so. Braddock Avenue Books will thank you, and so will I! Plus you’ll get a memorable read, or the most gorgeous doorstop you’ve ever seen, and my ever-loving gratitude. 💕🌸
Sybelia Drive - Cover Art & Gratitude
So thrilled to share this beauty! The cover of SYBELIA DRIVE! Perfectly imagined and created by artist Annie Russell from the novel’s descriptions of the Florida setting — palmettos, camellias, trumpet vine, ligustrum.
The process of sending a book into the world is sweet and involves many — from the characters, no matter that they are fictional, to the first readers, agent, editor, publisher, cover artist, book designer, publicist, and so many more. For these folks, I’ve so much gratitude. Thank you, Mark Fabiano, Seth Borgen, Fritz McDonald, Valerie Borchardt, Jeffrey Condran, Annie Russell, Savannah Adams, Lori Hettler! And to LuLu & Rainey! Without these girls, there’d be no story.
Forthcoming: October 6, 2020.
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