On Tour 07/01/25-09/02/25 “ The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty” by Kirsten Mickelwait

Release Date: May 27, 2025

About The Book:

Raised in New York’s Gilded Age, pampered heiress Sara Wiborg dreams of a more creative life than the rigid future prescribed for her. It’s only when she meets Gerald Murphy that she finds a man who shares her creative, aesthetic ideal and, after a friendship of eleven years, they marry despite the strong disapproval of her family.

Against the sizzling Jazz Age backdrop of 1920s Paris and Antibes, Sara’s innate style and gift for friendship attract the bohemian elite of the new century-including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, and Dorothy Parker. But by the 1930s, her fortune is lost and tragedy strikes-not once, but twice. Sara’s strength and resilience allow her to find a new equilibrium over time, long after the parties have ended. A heartbreaking story of love and loss, The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty follows Sara through her very modern life to reveal how tragedy can be healed by faith, unconditional love, and a creative mind.

About The Author:

Kirsten Mickelwait is a longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a copywriter by day and a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction by night. She received a degree in English from UC Berkeley, where she expanded her love of James Joyce and the expatriate creatives of 1920s Paris—including Sara and Gerald Murphy. She is a repeat alumna of the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference as well as the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Kauai Writers Conference, and the Paris Writers’ Conference. Her memoir, The Ghost Marriage, was published in 2021; The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty is her debut novel. https://www.kirstenmickelwait.com/

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirsten.mickelwait

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kmickelwait54/

Substack: https://kirstenmickelwait.substack.com

Book Blurbs:

Micklewait provides a jewel box of a book illustrating that none of us invented the fight for a singularly creative life.” – Randy Susan Meyers, internationally bestselling author of The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone

“Mickelwait’s prose feels both personal and historically rich, moving between sensual details and cultural snapshots . . . At its core, this debut is about choosing a life deliberately and with devotion. . . Mickelwait champions this with a soft lyricism that never shies from sorrow.”-BookLife Reviews

“Fans of Paula McLain and Marie Benedict will enjoy this insightful novel.”-Kirkus Reviews

“What if you accidentally married your worst enemy? With unflinching honesty and hard-earned grace, Kirsten Mickelwait peels the shiny façade off her catastrophic marriage to reveal how she not only survived the lies, betrayals, and lawsuits, but also found her way to compassion. If you don’t think on your ex fondly, The GhostMarriage will teach you why you should.”—Meredith May, author of The Honey Bus and Loving Edie

Bloggers On Tour:

July 1st- Cassie’s Book Reviews https://instagram.com/cassies_books_reviews

July 6th- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx

July 21st – Sarahs Bookish Reviews https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookish.reviews

July 31st- Love My Books 2020 https://instagram.com/lovemybooks2020

July 31st- Marilyn Goncalves https://instagram.com/marilynjgon

Aug. 2nd- Sarahs Bookstack https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookstack

Aug. 5th- Coffee Break Book Reviews https://instagram.com/coffee.break.book.reviews

Aug. 12th – Novels and Latte Book Club –https://www.facebook.com/groups/357651988042629

Aug. 13th – Subakka Bookstuff https://instagram.com/subakka.bookstuff

Aug. 18th-Reading Is My Remedy https://instagram.com/reading_is_my_remedy

Aug. 21st- One More Exclamation https://instagram.com/onemoreexclamation