Happy National Library Week! The amazing debut we’d like to share with you today is THE GIRLS FROM CORONA DEL MAR by Rufi Thorpe.
- Why this book should be on your night stand:
A fiercely beautiful debut blazing with emotion: a major first novel about friendships made in youth and how these bonds, challenged by loss, illness, parenthood, and distance, either break or sustain.
Mia and Lorrie Ann are lifelong friends: hard-hearted Mia and untouchably beautiful, kind Lorrie Ann. While Mia struggles with a mother who drinks, a pregnancy at fifteen, and younger brothers she loves but can’t quite be good to, Lorrie Ann is luminous, surrounded by her close-knit family, immune to the mistakes that mar her best friend’s life. Until a sudden loss catapults Lorrie Ann into tragedy: things fall apart, and then fall apart further-and there is nothing Mia can do to help. And as good, kind, brave Lorrie Ann stops being so good, Mia begins to question just who this woman is and what that question means about them both.
Perfect for Reading Groups: This is a provocative, thoughtful novel that raises deeply philosophical issues. This book demands discussion: about the responsibilities of a mother, about the quality of human life, about the complexities of female friendship, and about the lies–small and large—intrinsic to every relationship.
Share this book with fans of: Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, Virgin Suicides, The Emperor’s Children, and Commencement.
Click to Request an eGalley.
Meet the Author: 3 reasons why you’ll love Rufi Thorpe:
1. The header of her blog describes her as: “Novelist and Weirdo.”
2. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and son.
3. She received her MFA from the University of Virginia.
Friend Rufi Thorpe on Facebook.
Follow Rufi Thorpe on Twitter.
Exciting Book Buzz! Early Praise for The Girls From Corona del Mar:
“Rufi Thorpe had me at the first line in her funny, sad, delightful debut novel, The Girls from Corona del Mar. A story about friendship, love, loss, and the sheer unexpectedness of life. Reading this book was like getting to know old friends; I was sorry when I turned the last page.”—Anton DiSclafani, bestselling author of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
“Rufi Thorpe’s open-hearted, open-eyed debut tells the engrossing story of a long friendship between two complex women and investigates the unpredictable, often baffling ways that luck shapes all of our lives. Generous, soulful, and tough.”—Maggie Shipstead, bestselling author of Seating Arrangements and Astonish Me
“I could say this is a remarkable debut by a gifted new voice in fiction; or that it’s a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a difficult friendship; or that it has something entirely new to say about how we approach and occupy motherhood. But really, what’s most impressive is its incredible vitality, its searing intensity. Turn off your phone and let it take you.”—Ann Packer, bestselling author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and Swim Back to Me
“The Girls from Corona del Mar is one of those rare books that breaks down the wall between reality and fiction; the entire time I read this book I ached as if it were my own best friend whose life was unraveling before me. Day and night I thought of her—I still think of her! Rufi Thorpe is a brilliant writer and this is a beautiful first book.”—Vanessa Diffenbaugh, bestselling author of The Language of Flowers
“The Girls from Corona del Mar is unflinchingly realistic in its portrayal of life’s twists and turns. Yet it’s also full of heart. As Thorpe chronicles a complicated friendship across decades, continents and reversals in fortune, she brings to life two unforgettable characters.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of Maine and The Engagements
Craving more dynamic debuts? Celebrate National Library Week with an amazing new author … Click to View or Download our Spring 2014 Debut Fiction Sampler now!