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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Book Review - New Release Today - Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society - Any Hill Hearth


Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society: A Novel
Title:  Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society: A Novel


Review:  I’ve read a few disappointing books lately and was a bit worried about this title, but no need to worry after all….I LOVED IT!!!  Get this book and read it...

Yes I loved this book.  What a fun, thought-provoking look at life in Florida in the early 60’s.  The characters were well written, diverse and interesting to boot.   Tracy is a woman to get behind.  She is unsatisfied with her life and goes out and changes things for the better.  She does this in her own life so she sees no reason not to do it for others.  Sometimes that is a mistake, but she seems to roll with the punches very well.   She admits her mistakes, maybe not right away but eventually.  A friend in deed is this woman and the people who befriend her back, are changed forever(in a good way.)

The main characters form an interesting group of mis-fits who find a home with each other, even with their huge differences.  I loved the way they talked in the group, the dialogue was quick and easy to read.  The book flowed well and read fast.  I would loved to have been at one of their book meetings and even think I could have fit in well there.  Maybe a mis-fit in my own right and yet ready for friends like these who will stand up for you in a pinch and love you no matter what or who you really are…of course a true friend already knows…maybe even before you do.

This is a feel good book with an ending that will make you laugh and maybe even cry.  A braver woman has never been, walking around in a housecoat and muddy legs at a festival….you have to read this book.  When I finished it I put it down reluctantly and thought, “Wow, that was a good book and a great way to spend the afternoon.”  If you enjoy women’s fiction then you will enjoy this book.  I’ve read three others this week and this one stands heads and shoulders above the others.  Funny, heartwarming, feel-good reading that I wish more books were like.  If you enjoyed, The Help, you will enjoy this book even with the differences.  This is a book for anyone.  Go out there and buy a copy today…you won’t be disappointed.

Publisher: Expected publication: October 2nd 2012 by Atria Books
 ISBN: 9781451675238
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 272
Quick Review: 5 stars (out of 5)-
Why I Read It:  Sent by the publisher for review.

Synopsis: This book has been chosen as the January 2013 Main Selection of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, the largest "meeting and discussing" book club in the world, with more than 500 chapters.

A brilliant debut novel from a New York Times bestselling author about a transplanted wife from Boston who arrives in Florida in the 1960s, starts a literary salon, and shakes up the status quo.

In 1962, Jackie Hart moved to Naples, Florida, from Boston with her husband and children. Wanting something personally fulfilling to do with her time, she starts a reading club and anonymously hosts a radio show, calling herself Miss Dreamsville.

The racially segregated town falls in love with Miss Dreamsville, but doesn’t know what to make of Jackie, who welcomes everyone into her book club, including a woman who did prison time for allegedly killing her husband, a man of questionable sexual preference, a young divorcee, as well as a black woman.

By the end of this novel, you’ll be wiping away the tears of laugher and sadness, and you just may become a bit more hopeful that even the most hateful people can see the light of humanitarianism, if they just give themselves a chance.
Amy Hill Hearth 
Author Biography: Amy Hill Hearth's first novel, "Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society," will be published Oct. 2 by Atria/Simon & Schuster. Called "a funny and charming fiction debut" by Publisher's Weekly and "fun to read" by Kirkus Reviews, the novel has been chosen as a Reader's Digest Select Book (May 2013 volume) and as a Main Selection (January 2013) of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, the largest "reading and discussing" book club in the world, with more than 500 chapters.

Ms. Hearth (pronounced HARTH) is the author or co-author of seven nonfiction books including "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years," the New York Times bestselling oral history about two African-American sisters who were the daughters of a slave. That book was adapted for the Broadway stage (1995) and an award-winning T.V. film (1999) with the actress Amy Madigan ("Field of Dreams," "Places in the Heart") playing the role of Amy Hill Hearth.

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