Teasers and 'The Same Sky' by Amanda Eyre Ward

This week I'm sharing a really interesting book with you, which is also a new Blackfriars release! An incredibly topical and relevant book, I've just reviewed it and really enjoyed it, if that's the fitting word for its subject matter.

In this heart-rending and poignant novel, award-winning author Amanda Eyre Ward tells the story of Alice Conroe, a forty year old Texas barbecue owner who has the perfect life, except she and her husband long for a child. Unable to conceive, she’s trying desperately to adopt but her destiny is quickly altered by a young woman she’s never met.

Fearless thirteen-year-old Carla Trujilio is being raised by her grandmother in Honduras along with her four year old twin brothers. Her mother is sending money home from Texas where she’s trying to make a better life for her family, but she only has enough to bring one son to her. When Carla’s grandmother dies, Carla decides to take her fate into her own hands and embarks on a dangerous journey across the border with Junior, the twin left behind.

Two powerful journeys intersecting at a pivotal moment in time: Alice and Carla’s lives will be forever and profoundly changed. Heartbreaking, emotional, and arresting, this novel is about finding the courage to trail blaze your own path in life with faith, hope and love, no matter the struggle or the tragedy.

Tuesday Intros and Teaser Tuesdays are hosted by Diane of Bibliophile by the Sea and MizB over at A Daily Rhythm respectively.

Intro:

'My mother left when I was five years old. I have a photo of the two of us, standing in our yard. In the picture, my mother is nineteen and bone-thin. The glass shards on the top of our fence glittr in the afternoon sun and our smiles are the same: lopsided, without fear. Her teeth are white as American sugar. I lean into my mother. My arms reach around her waist. I am wearing a cotton dress, a dress I wore every day until it split along the back seam. When the dress fell apart, my grandmother, Ana, stitched it back together with a needle and thread. Finally, my stomach pushed against the fabric uncomfortably and the garment was just too short. By that time, my mother was in Texas, and for my sixth birthday she sent three new dresses from a store called Old Navy.' p.1

This is the beginning of Carla's story and I like how Ward has managed to capture the simplicity of a child's voice without losing its complexity. Because children see and notice a lot and you don't want to miss that when writing from a child's perspective. I especially liked how she keeps revealing little details so that by the end of the paragraph you have an idea of what the picture looks like but also who the people in it are.


Teaser:

'I took a cup of hot tea outside and curled up in a chair. I remembered sitting on my mother's lap in this same place.' p.48-9

This is from one of Alice's chapters and I picked it because I wanted to show how the 'mothers and daughters' theme runs throughout the book. As I said in my review, most women will be both mothers and daughters in their lives and it's one of the most complex relationships we have in our lives, I think. Ward's book is a beautiful take on it!

Sound like a book you might enjoy? Check out my review if you have the time and let me know what you think!