Here's your chance to win a paperback copy of The Girl Who Slept With God by Val Brelinski. I'll be posting my review of the book on Saturday, August 13th, along with the winner of the giveaway.
Meanwhile, here's what Penguin has to say about a book inspired by the author's own unconventional upbringing:
When
she was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford, Val Brelinski, who had run out of
short stories to hand in for workshop, sat down one afternoon thinking
about
her rather unorthodox childhood and, as if compelled, wrote one hundred
pages of what would later become
THE GIRL WHO SLEPT WITH GOD (Penguin; On-sale: July 5; $16.00;
ISBN: 9780143109433), her powerfully affecting debut novel, which is now
available in paperback. Growing up in rural Idaho, Brelinksi, the
daughter of devout evangelical Christians, spent
much of her time reading the Bible, attending services, and
“witnessing” to unbelievers. She and her two sisters were not permitted
to read magazines, play cards, or visit bowling alleys, movie theaters,
and restaurants that served alcohol. These experiences
and their profound effects, sometimes for the worse, became the
emotional impetus of Brelinski’s entrancing debut.
Set in Arco, Idaho, in 1970, THE GIRL WHO SLEPT WITH GOD tells the story of three sisters: moral-minded Grace, gregarious and strong-willed Jory, and young Frances. Their father, Oren, is a respected member of the community and science professor at the local college. Yet their mother’s depression and Grace’s religious fervor threaten the seemingly perfect family, whose world is upended when Grace returns from a missionary trip to Mexico and discovers she’s pregnant with—she believes—the child of God. Distraught, Oren sends Jory and Grace to an isolated home at the edge of the town. There, they prepare for the much-awaited arrival of the baby while building a makeshift family that includes an elderly eccentric neighbor and a tattooed social outcast who drives an ice cream truck.
Set in Arco, Idaho, in 1970, THE GIRL WHO SLEPT WITH GOD tells the story of three sisters: moral-minded Grace, gregarious and strong-willed Jory, and young Frances. Their father, Oren, is a respected member of the community and science professor at the local college. Yet their mother’s depression and Grace’s religious fervor threaten the seemingly perfect family, whose world is upended when Grace returns from a missionary trip to Mexico and discovers she’s pregnant with—she believes—the child of God. Distraught, Oren sends Jory and Grace to an isolated home at the edge of the town. There, they prepare for the much-awaited arrival of the baby while building a makeshift family that includes an elderly eccentric neighbor and a tattooed social outcast who drives an ice cream truck.
I'm making it easy to enter: just post a comment to either this blog post or my facebook page @bookaliciousbabe and tell me one thing you did in your childhood that you just can't forget...and keep it clean!
U.S. entries only please.
OK. Somehow I just got 4 entries. Sorry. I'm really not trying to cheat. My most memorable childhood moment was my near drowning at 7 years of age. I stepped into a hole while wading in a dirty, disgusting river and was rescued by my cousin who was a lifeguard. It could have been really bad as my dad was trying to get out to me and he couldn't float, much less swim. CPR brought up all the nasty brown sludge in my lungs. It was terrifying.
ReplyDeleteCrying on the way HOME from sleep away camp, not on the way there.
ReplyDeleteGoing to Disneyland in LA for the 1st time at age 7 with my parents. It was a magical experience!
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