This tale of 'Southlea Bay' introduces Janet Johnson, who moved with her husband Martin as empty nesters to a country cottage in the Pacific Northwest. Raccoons are the latest pest they're trying to fend off at the start of the tale as Janet is invited to a meeting of THE REJECTED WRITERS' BOOK CLUB. As a small town librarian, it's not surprising that she's invited; what is surprising to her is that the lady who reads to the under fives actually writes horror.
The frustrated authors here include an exotic romance author, a WW2 memoir writer, and a lady praising the psalms. Also, of course, a poet; no money in poetry. After a meeting which Janet finds somewhat surreal, she is glad to escape back to her normal life of trivia and family news. But next day a crisis occurs when one of the rejected ladies gets a letter which might not be a rejection as such, more an acceptance. Their cosy camaraderie is in jeopardy.
By now I've either whetted your appetite or turned you away from the notion, but it's clear that this is not a standard book club. The only books discussed are the participants' own while failure, not the bestseller list, is the main criterion. A road trip to visit Janet's newly pregnant daughter is on the cards, and the cheerful ladies volunteer to come along and keep Janet company for the drive to San Francisco. Can she keep her sanity? Or are these going to be her guardian angels? You'll have fun finding out.
Some highlights include a ghost story, matchmaking, and a publishing conference. The emphasis falls on amusement in the midst of the mundane, characters in domestic dramas, and jovial sendups of the publishing process. We also find a much better way of repelling raccoons than the traps initially proposed. So there's fun for just about everyone in Suzanne Kelman's cheeky tale. THE REJECTED WRITERS' BOOK CLUB is the first tale in the 'Southlea Bay' series. Suzanne Kelman has been a screenwriter and while originally from Scotland, she now lives in Washington State with her family.
Librarian Janet Johnson is puzzled when she is invited—and practically dragged—to her first meeting of the Rejected Writers’ Book Club. This quirky group of women would much rather celebrate one another’s rejected manuscripts over cups of tea and slices of lemon cake than actually publish a book. But good friends are exactly what Janet needs after moving to the small town of Southlea Bay, Washington. Just as the ladies are about to raise a teacup to their five hundredth rejection letter, they receive bad news that could destroy one member’s reputation—and disband the group forever. To save the club, Janet joins her fellow writers on a wild road trip to San Francisco in search of the local publisher who holds the key to a long-buried secret. As they race to the finish line, they’ll face their fears—landslides, haunted houses, handsome strangers, ungrateful children—and have the time of their lives. Revised edition: This edition of The Rejected Writers' Book Club includes editorial revisions.
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