Release Date: Dec. 20, 2022
About The Book:
Brenda Lockhart’s family has been living well beyond their means for too long when Brenda’s husband leaves them―for an older and less attractive woman than Brenda, no less. Brenda’s never worked outside the home, and the family’s economic situation quickly declines. Oldest daughter Peggy is certain she’s heading off to a university, until her father offers her a job sorting mail while she attends community college instead. Younger daughter Allison, a high school senior, can’t believe her luck that California golden boy Kevin has fallen in love with her.
Meanwhile, the chatter about the O. J. Simpson murder investigations is always on in the background, a media frenzy that underscores domestic violence against women and race and class divisions in Southern California. Brenda, increasingly obsessed with the case, is convinced O. J. is innocent and has been framed by the LAPD. Both daughters are more interested in their own lives―that is, until Peggy starts noticing bruises Allison can’t explain. For a while, it feels to everyone as if the family is falling apart; but in the end, they all come together again in unexpected ways.
About The Author:
Mary Camarillo went to work for the Postal Service after high school. It might be genetic; both her grandfathers were railway mail clerks. She sorted mail, sold stamps, balanced the books in the accounting office, went to night school to get her degree, earned her CPA, authored countless audit reports, and then started writing fiction. Her short stories and poems have been published in The Sonora Review, The Bookends Review, Lunch Ticket, and The Ear, among others. This is her first novel. She lives in Huntington Beach, California, with her husband, who plays ukulele, and their terrorist cat, Riley, who has his own Instagram account. She lives in Huntington Beach, California. https://www.marycamarillo.com/
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.camarillo.31
Instagram: https://instagram.com/marycamel13
Twitter: @MaryCamelMary
Book Blurbs:
“A family is thrown into chaos in 1990s Southern California in Camarillo’s debut . . . and the novel’s ending is a satisfying one. An emotional portrait of three women dealing with unexpected change.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Camarillo’s prose is lively, companionable, and quite satisfyingly observant in ways that surprise and delight, as if a friendly someone you know well is murmuring in your ear, giving you living presences, using history as the canvas across which the drama takes place. Bravo!”―Richard Bausch, award-winning author of Peace and Hello to the Cannibals
“The Lockhart Women is deeply and thoroughly Southern Californian―in all the perfectly detailed cities and streets and, of course, freeways, but also in the evocation of its time: the 1990s. These women in this page turner―flawed and desperate and seeking redemption―are vivid portraits.” ―Susan Straight, award-winning author of In the Country of Women
“With control, compassion, and surprising humor, Camarillo dissects how a modern family comes apart. . . . Unputdownable.”―Eduardo Santiago, PEN Emerging Voices Rosenthal fellow and award-winning author of Tomorrow They Will Kiss and Midnight Rhumba
“Like Mona Simpson’s Anywhere but Here, The Lockhart Women sensitively illustrates what happens to children coming of age under the influence of childish parents. But unlike Simpson, Camarillo provides hope that everyone―parents and children―can grow and develop. An authentically hopeful and realistic novel.”―Shelley Blanton-Stroud, author of Copy Boy
“. . . an intimate portrayal of a Southern California working class family that splinters apart when the father leaves. Brenda Lockhart and her two daughters are complicated and not always admirable characters, but they are relentlessly human. Camarillo laces their story with concise prose, dry humor, and flinty realism, allowing love, resilience, hope and eventual forgiveness to shine through.”―Samantha Dunn, bestselling author of Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life
“O. J.’s famous white Bronco flight and his trial for murder is the perfect backdrop for this story of a mother and her two daughters watching their lives implode. Great writing, compelling and fast-paced, The Lockhart Women is impossible to put down.”
―Diana Wagman, award-winning author of Spontaneous and Extraordinary October
Bloggers On Tour:
Dec. 16th- Bookworm Mrschelle https://instagram.com/bookworm_mrschelle
Dec. 17th- Pages and Pups https://instagram.com/pages_and_pups
Dec. 18th- Miss W Book Reviews https://instagram.com/misswbookreviews
Dec. 19th- Laura’s Next Chapter https://instagram.com/laurasnextchapter
Dec. 20th- David L Morgan https://instagram.com/david_l_morgan
Dec. 27th- Kelizak 93 https://instagram.com/kelizak93
Dec. 29th- Coffee Break Book Reviews https://instagram.com/coffee.break.book.reviews
Dec. 29th- Christina Luvs 2 Read https://instagram.com/christinaluvs2read
Dec. 29th- Shooks Books https://instagram.com/shook_sbooks
Dec. 30th- Sarahs Bookish Reviews https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookish.reviews
Dec. 30th- A Court Of spines n pages https://instagram.com/acourtofspinesnpages
Jan. 4th- CMT Loves Wine and Books https://instagram.com/cmtloveswineandbooks
Jan. 5th- Reading Late Into The Night https://instagram.com/reading.late.into.the.night
Jan. 7th – Bookish Kels https://instagram.com/bookish.kels
Jan. 10th- Tiffany Vt4 https://instagram.com/tiffanyvt4
Jan. 12th- Bryant Park Books https://instagram.com/bryantparkbooks
Jan. 13th- Reading With Mere-https://instagram.com/readingwithmere
Jan. 13th-Books Love And Understanding https://instagram.com/booksloveandunderstanding
Jan. 21st- Nissa The Bookworm https://instagram.com/nissa_the.bookworm
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