Hello Beautiful People,
I first fell in love with Erika Robuck when a copy of Hemingway’s Girl found its way into my hands. Since then, I’ve read every book she’s ever written, most recently, Fallen Beauty. I’m honored to have The Write Teacher(s) participate in her Blog Tour, and I’m thrilled to announce that we’ll be giving away one copy of Fallen Beauty to one lucky Write Reader! (Details on how to win at the end of the post.)
Here’s what the book blurb will say:
Upstate New York, 1928. Laura Kelley and the man she loves sneak away from their judgmental town to attend a performance of the scandalous Ziegfeld Follies. But the dark consequences of their night of daring and delight reach far into the future.
That same evening, Bohemian poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her indulgent husband hold a wild party in their remote mountain estate, hoping to inspire her muse. Millay declares her wish for a new lover who will take her to unparalleled heights of passion and poetry, but for the first time, the man who responds will not bend completely to her will.
Two years later, Laura, an unwed seamstress struggling to support her daughter, and Millay, a woman fighting the passage of time, work together secretly to create costumes for Millay’s next grand tour. As their complex, often uneasy friendship develops amid growing local condemnation, each woman is forced to confront what it means to be a fallen woman and to decide for herself what price she is willing to pay to live a full life.
Here’s what I think you need to know:
FALLEN BEAUTY, is, in a word – beautiful. When you open that first page, you are immediately immersed into the world of the roaring twenties, the dancing, the love, the glitz and glamour, I mean, we’re talking Ziegfeld Follies here people! There’s an immediate connection that one will have with Laura Kelley, one of the fallen beauties of this scintillating tale.
At the start of the story, we find out that the love that has completely enraptured Laura is threaded with scandal, as her lover is a married man. The flames of this scandalous relationship ignite to epic proportions when we learn that after one night of heat, passion, and intimacy, Laura becomes pregnant. Her lover wants nothing to do with the baby, and she raises her daughter, Grace, on her own, in a town that turns a cold shoulder towards her status as an unwed mother. Laura is an artist with fabric, needle, and thread – and this becomes not only her saving grace, but her lifeline. Her dresses are exquisite, and catch the eye of the bohemian poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Millay, or shall I say, Vincie, is the other half of this story. Everything that Laura is, Vincie is not. Everything that Vincie is, Laura is not. They appear as polar opposites, and yet, as the story unfolds and as the lives intertwine, one realizes that both Laura and Vincie are more alike than they think.
This story will shock you. This story will engage you. This story might make you cry, and it times it might make you laugh. It’ll remind you of your great love, it’ll make you hope for a great love. It reminds you of the nature of compassion, and absolutely illuminates the beauty of forgiveness.
I don’t want to get into it any further, because I urge you to get yourself a copy of this book.
But, here’s a few more things you should know:
As an avid reader, I adore everything that Robuck touches. It’s love + lust + heart + history all wrapped up within the pages of a book. I mean, for me, that’s like Christmas.
As a teacher, I adore everything that Robuck touches, and would love to see her novels incorporated into curriculums across the country, as they combine history and literature. The greats of American literature come alive in all of her stories – they become tangible, flesh and bone characters, ones who resonate with the most basic human instincts. I had no idea about the little nuances of Millay, the intricate details of her life that Erika brings to the surface are truly intriguing, and it’s that type of special detail that would engage teenage audiences as well.
So – here it comes, THE GIVEAWAY DETAILS!
We’re hosting this giveaway on instagram, and it’s super easy to enter – you’ll find everything you need to know by clicking right here. Good luck + Happy Reading!
Live, Love, Learn,