Review by: Katie McCurdy
www.katieslegacy.blogspot.com
The Newcomer - 4 Stars
Only a few pages into The Newcomer and I knew that Laurie Eakes had crafted together another one of her unique and wonderful stories. The last in her little New Jersey series, The Newcomer is a nice conclusion from these fun characters. Though I admit it wasn’t my favorite in the series, it was still a very enjoyable read.
All of the characters, including the main characters Gordon and Marigold, were fairly well developed. The love story between them seemed a bit rushed. I didn’t feel like I really knew them very well by the time the book came to a close. But taking into consideration that it is a small book, I can understand that.
I loved watching Marigold deal with the two girls, Beryl and Ruby. Both of the girls lost parents dear to them, and both had very different ways of showing their sorrow. As the reader, my heart went out to these orphan girls who suddenly found their lives entrusted to an Uncle that they had never met and didn’t even
come to them until months after their parent’s death.
come to them until months after their parent’s death.
The tension between Marigold and Gordon was great and I enjoyed watching them work through their differences—especially where the children were concerned. All in all, I’ve enjoyed yet another of Laurie Alice Eakes' works and look forward to reading many more of her books in the future!
CFP Note: This book comes out in large print in September, 2011, also.
Here is a link to the Heartsong website that also includes a blurb of the book and a sample scene:
http://heartsong-authors.blogspot.com/2010/08/newcomer-by-laurie-alice-eakes.html
CFP Note: This book comes out in large print in September, 2011, also.
Here is a link to the Heartsong website that also includes a blurb of the book and a sample scene:
http://heartsong-authors.blogspot.com/2010/08/newcomer-by-laurie-alice-eakes.html
Hi, Katy! Thank you for your lovely review. I agree that sometimes either the characters seem to be rushed, or not enough description of a beautiful historical setting is given; I suppose that's a necessity with these small books.
ReplyDeleteLaurie Alice Eakes is such a wonderful author and I'm looking forward to her next book in The Midwife series. I can't remember the name of it, but the cover is magnificent...even more so than Lady in the Mist, which I didn't think was even possible!
Thank you for the great review and for being our "Friend on Friday", Katy!
Thank you for the nive review of The Newcomer. In 2009, I had to write three of these short books and one long book, Lady in the Mist. Plus my husband's job moved us from Virginia to Texas. My entire life was rushed, tied up in knots, totally insane. Because, of course, I had edits, too. Then I ended up being way over word count. Heartsong is strict about its word count, so the copyeditor and I worked and worked to get it cut down to the maximum 50k mark. We ended up giving up at 50,200 words. So, yes, I'm afraid I had to sacrifice a few details here and there that I really wanted to include. I'd never written children before and don't have my own yet, so that proved a new challenge. I did a lot of reading about grieving children, including a book by a mother of three whose husband died in the Trade Center 9/11 and how her children reacted to losing their father that way.
ReplyDeleteDiana, thank you for being such an ardent supporter. The second Midwife book is Heart's Safe Passage, and a time we had coming up with a title for that one. The cover, I am rather happy to say, was my idea; Revell's wonderful art department just ran with it. Before that releases on Feb. 1, 2012, I have a Regency with Revell out Oct. 1, and a novella out with Barbour in Jan. 2012--"Printed on My Heart" in Highland Crossings. That is my first colonial set story to get published.
ReplyDeleteDiana - Yes, that's true. Lady in the Mist was really good and I agree, her second book does look even better. Something about that lady standing on the deck of a ship during a storm is just eye-catching! Can't wait! :-D
ReplyDeleteLaura - I loved the addition of the two orphan girls. Having a bunch of little sisters of my own, I thought you captured the way they handled their grief very well! :-)
Thanks for having me on this Friend on Friday! :-D
You're welcome from Carrie and I both, Katy! You certainly did a great job on that cover, Laurie, it is awesome. You are blessed to have such a wonderful art dept. with Revell who takes your ideas and runs with them. It sounds as though you are one busy lady! Looking forward to all your upcoming books!
ReplyDeleteLaurie Alice is one talented and super busy lady. So glad she could stop by and visit with us! My internet was down all afternoon but glad it is up again so I could come by, too! Thanks again, Katie for doing the review for OTT!!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Carrie! I really enjoyed it and any way I can help author's get the word out about their books, I'm happy to do it! :-) I've posted the review on my review blog, with a link back here. Hope it helps! :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://katysreviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/newcomer-laurie-eakes.html
Man, that would be so hard to cut a book down to 50K. I'll bet it was painful at times, Laurie Alice, to make those cuts. All the same, you have a gift for telling a full-bodied story in spite of the smaller word count that these categories insist on.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, Katie, for visiting on Overcoming Through Time. It is amazing to me that Laurie Alice can accomplish so much despite being blind. The ability to produce a gem of a story with that small word count is a feat indeed. It takes a special talent.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this series and I also enjoy Lena's writings. Thanks for offering it.
ReplyDeletewsmarple/at/gmail/dot/com