When spring has sprung, it’s the perfect time to relax outside and dive into some new books. Luckily for you, SparkPress has some amazing reads coming out this April and May! Stay tuned for our June/July preview next month.

 

The Absence of Evelyn, Jackie Townsend
April 4, 2017

Newly divorced Rhonda, haunted by her sister Evelyn’s ghost, travels to an old palazzo in Rome to confront Marco, the man who stole her sister’s heart―only to find out he’s vanished in the wake of Evelyn’s death. Meanwhile, Rhonda’s nineteen-year-old daughter Olivia, adopted by Rhonda at birth, travels to the mysterious and lush waters of northern Vietnam, where she’s searching for the missing Marco―a man she only knows from her parents’ whispers, a man she has never met or seen.

Soon, truths will be exposed and lives unravel, and the real journey begins. Four lives in all, spanning three continents, are now bound together in an unfathomable way―and they tell a powerful story about love in all its incarnations, filial and amorous, healing and destructive.

“A compellingly crafted story…filled with psychological insights into the actions of diverse, entwined lives…the absent Evelyn the pivot point of their dance.”
—Midwest Book Review

 

Forks, Knives, and Spoons, Leah DeCesare
April 18, 2017

There are three kinds of guys: forks, knives, and spoons. That is the final lesson that Amy York’s father sends her off to college with, never suspecting just how far his daughter will take it. Clinging to the Utensil Classification System as her guide, Amy tries to convince her skeptical roommate, Veronica Warren, of its usefulness as they navigate the heartbreaks and soul mates of college and beyond.

Beginning in 1988, their freshman year at Syracuse University, Amy and Veronica meet an assortment of guys―from slotted spoons and shrimp forks to butter knives and sporks―all while trying to learn if the UCS holds true.

On the quest to find their perfect steak knives, they learn to believe in themselves―and not to settle in love or life.

“Leah DeCesare has a writer’s voice that is remarkable for a debut novel. The characters in Forks, Knives, and Spoons are so relatable, and the story makes you long for your own youth. A wonderful book about love and growth, discovering who you are, and what makes you happy.”
―Anita Hughes, author of Christmas in Paris

 

A Story That Matters, Gina Carroll
May 2, 2017

No matter who you are, your story is a part of something big―the fabric of history and the human experience. Once written and shared, your story will change someone. And that someone is most likely you.

A Story that Matters offers an accessible and simple way to write your stories. Each chapter is in three sections. The first discusses memoir writing in the context of themes―motherhood, childhood, relationships, professional life, and spiritual journey. The second provides basic writing and editing prescription, with a focus on common beginner mistakes and roadblocks. The third provides a sample story related to the life theme discussed in the first section of the chapter.

Chock full of writing and editing lessons that focus on how to get a first draft written and how to craft the draft into a compelling story, A Story That Matters explores our ability to help, heal, and connect to others through story, reminding us of the greater need for a broader array of authentic voices in the story-sharing universe.

 

The Half-Life of Remorse, Grant Jarrett
May 16, 2017

When two vagrants meet on the streets of Muncie, Indiana, they are both unaware that their paths crossed years before. Chic, crude and uneducated, is convinced that Sam is nothing more than a harmless lunatic. And Sam, emotionally scarred and psychologically traumatized by events long past, regards Chic as just another denizen of the street. But Chic has spent his adult life trying to purge his soul of the brutal crime he committed as a teenager. The same botched burglary that resulted in the deaths of Sam’s wife and son. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter Claire is still unable to give up hope that her father might someday reappear.

When these three lives converge, the puzzle of the past gradually falls together. But redemption commands a high price, and what is revealed will test the limits of love and challenge the human capacity for forgiveness.

Jarrett’s past work has been praised by Library Journal, Elle magazine, New York Times notable authors, Kirkus, Independent Publisher, and he also won Best New Fiction at the 2014 International Book Awards in Fiction for his book Ways of Leaving.