Smashbomb

Stop by my blog, and read an emotionally charged deleted scene from the literary fiction novel LOW WATER CROSSING by Dana Glossbrenner. Enter the GIVEAWAY to win a signed copy of the book or signed copies of both books in the Sulfur Gap Series - two winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/10/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-low-water.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Low Water Crossing is a tribute to those who endure heartache and nevertheless celebrate, to those who wait—and live full lives while waiting.

A backhoe unearths a human skeleton buried on Wayne Cheadham’s West Texas ranch. The investigation points a grisly finger at Wayne’s first wife. And so begins the wild ride through twenty-five years of love and heartbreak.

Wayne’s a highly eligible bachelor who runs into trouble, first because he’s naïve, and next because, well, life is unpredictable. He’s a loveable guy with a peaceful outlook. Just about anyone wants the best for him, dang it. To cope with sadness, he arranges for an old steel-girded bridge to be placed in the dry pasture in front of his house. Says it helps him adjust his perspective. Others say it’s the world’s largest yard ornament. He takes in stray emus and abandoned horses and becomes a mentor to a loveable little boy without much family. He sits and ponders his plight at a low-water crossing over the creek.

A cast of characters from the fictional small West Texas town of Sulfur Gap—the staff of a high school burger shop hangout on the Interstate, coffee groups at the Navaho Café, hair stylists from the Wild Hare, a local sheriff and his deputies, and the band at the local honky-tonk—knits together the community surrounding Wayne, and all bring their own quirks. People you’d find anywhere, some with thicker Texas twangs than others.

The town, the ranch, and familiar Texas cities such as San Angelo, Abilene, and Austin provide a backdrop for universal themes of love, grief, and loyalty.

Kudos Comment

The Answers

Catherine Lacey

6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Mary Parsons is broke. Dead broke, really: between an onslaught of medical bills and a mountain of...

Literary Fiction

Dinner At The Happy Skeleton

Chris Chalmers

6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Dan is the kind of gay man for whom the Noughties might have been named. Warm, witty and serially...

London Tales (Short Stories #2)

Tim Walker

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

This collection of eleven tales offers dramatic pinpricks in the rich tapestry of London’s...

Short Stories Historical Fiction

Audio Books by Audiobooks

Book and Entertainment

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Wish you could read more but don’t have the time? You’ll love audiobooks! Audiobooks.com is the...

Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Joyce Girl in Books

Dec 14, 2018

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Winner of the Impress Prize for New Writers 2015, Annabel Abbs creates a fantastic work of historical fiction based upon the life of Lucia Joyce. Although the titular character may be unheard of within the general public, her father will be known amongst the majority of readers. James Joyce, the eccentric author of Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake, travelled around Europe with his family until settling in Avant-garde Paris, 1928. His daughter, Lucia, an ambitious, talented dancer describes the unconventional life as a child of Mr. Joyce, its ups and downs, and inevitable ruinous breakdown.

The Joyce Girl begins in Küsnacht, Zurich where Lucia is receiving treatment from Dr. Carl Jung – another well-known name; this novel is full of them. Struggling to come to terms with her current mental ill health and supposed repressed memories, Jung encourages Lucia to write her memoirs in order to learn of the events that led to this current predicament. Starting from 1928, aged 21, Lucia describes her life to Jung and the reader in brutally honest detail.

The unusual Irish family went through various successes and traumas in the intervening years, creating a humorous and emotional story. Lucia’s brother, Giorgio, caused the family enough problems without adding in the devastating heartache Lucia suffers from men who do not reciprocate her love. One of these lovers is the famous Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot, 1952), the first man Lucia falls for. It is fascinating to learn of the multiple connections these notable names had with each other. Although in retrospect it makes sense that the literary and artistic crowds would stick together.

From Lucia’s memoirs Jung formulates that the Joyce parents were extremely controlling, not giving Lucia the opportunity to live her own life – particularly within her dancing career. However, Jung still maintains that Lucia experienced emotional trauma and is insistent on retrieving those memories. What he eventually discovers will shock and possibly sicken the reader.

Through enormous amount of research, Annabel Abbs has put together a likely account of the Joyce family, particularly Lucia’s life. Using existing biographies, original letters and professional opinion, Abbs devises a logical narrative for the unfortunate dancer. Drawing upon knowledge of other literary greats and artists of the era, The Joyce Girl can be easily believed to be a true account, although doubtlessly some scenes must be based upon imagination.

The Joyce Girl will attract historical and romantic novel enthusiasts, providing an enjoyable, thought capturing story, as well as an opportunity to learn. Whether you are aware of James Joyce’s works, or even Lucia herself, The Joyce Girl is bound to capture your attention and draw your mind into the European life during the early 1930s. Although only her debut novel, Annabel Abbs comes highly recommended and it will be interesting to see what direction she has decided to take in her shortly expected second novel.