Peggy Webb | Books, Beaches and Southern Comfort Food
My favorite summer vacations are always those with family.
Since we all live in far flung places, it's a rare treat
when we can get together. In the summer of 2012 we converged
on Florida to enjoy the beaches and the great food at
Lulu's, the famous restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffet's
sister. Here I am with my daughter and my two granddaughters
at Lulu's. The second shot is of my son, my daughter-in-law
Anita, my oldest grandson and my two granddaughters.
Of course, we always pack our eReaders and plenty of good
books. One you'll want in your beach bag this summer is THE
LANGUAGE OF SILENCE (Simon and Schuster, all formats,
preorder now), the story of a battered woman who escapes to
the same circus that sheltered her grandmother. Early
reviews call the book "beautiful and terrifying." Do plan to
spend part of your summer under the Big Top! Winner of this
contest can also spend the summer with Elvis! Two winners
will receive digital copies of ELVIS AND
THE BRIDEGROOM STIFFS as well as signed paperback copies
of ELVIS
AND THE BLUE CHRISTMAS CORPSE. Happy beach reading!
Following in the footsteps of
her tiger-taming grandmother, a woman flees her abusive
husband to join the circus in this masterful, heartfelt work
of women's fiction.
Peggy Webb won raves for her debut novel, The Tender Mercy
of Roses*, with novelist Pat Conroy calling her "a truly
gifted writer." Now Webb has crafted a poignant portrayal of
a woman on the edge seeking solace in the past.
Nobody in the family talks about Ellen's grandmother Lola,
who was swallowed up by the circus and emerged as a woman
who tamed tigers and got away scot-free for killing her
husband. When Ellen's husband, Wayne, beats her nearly to
death, she runs to the only place she knows where a woman
can completely disappear—the same Big Top that once
sheltered her grandmother. Though the circus moves from one
town to the next, Wayne tracks it, and Ellen, relentlessly.
At the same time, Ellen learns more about her feisty, fiery
relative, and the heritage that is hers for the
taking—if she dares. With her violent husband hot on
her trail, Ellen must learn to stand up and fight for
herself, to break the cycle of abuse, and pass down a story
of love and redemption to her children.