Award-winning
novelist Joseph Monninger, described as “Henry David Thoreau meets
Nicholas Sparks” by Publishers Weekly,
has written MARGARET FROM MAINE (A
Plume Original, on sale December 24, 2012), a beautiful novel
that explores the dilemmas faced by
those who serve our country—and the men and women who love them.
Using
the stunning natural backdrops of Maine ,
Virginia , and North
Carolina as a visual and emotional canvas, Monninger,
who, as The New York Times has
observed, “writes with his five senses open,” imagines a love
triangle pointed by a fallen hero, a wounded warrior who struggles with the
weight of survival.
In MARGARET FROM MAINE, the end
of military guardsman Sgt. Thomas
Kennedy’s conscious life is ushered in by a flash of light on a plain in
Afghanistan .
While he languishes in a veterans’ hospital, Thomas’s devoted wife,
Margaret, is raising their son on a dairy farm in rural
Maine .
Thomas’s Congressional Medal of Honor is no solace for her pain and
loneliness. Neither, it would seem, is an invitation to
Washington ,
DC , to meet the President of the
United States
as he signs a bill in support of wounded veterans. Her escort to the
nation’s capital is Charlie King, a West Point
graduate and newly trained Foreign Service officer who has left the war with
wounds of his own.
Charlie
and Margaret’s shared circumstances inspire them so confide in one
another. Suddenly, the pair creates a private world all their own, leaving the
effects of war behind them. Escaping to the southern states in search of
elusive seasonal rhododendron blossoms, they fall in love. Margaret’s
vows to her husband linger, raising a series of harrowing
choice.
My Review:
From the moment I opened the book, I couldn't put it down. Through the author's use of vivid and descriptive writing, from the very beginning, I was able to immerse myself into Margaret's New England farm life. Although I am not married to a member of the military, I do have a very close family member, along with several friends, who serve our country and often I believe that their sacrifices are easily forgotten. This book took me on a journey through the eyes of Margaret and Charlie and how individually and together their lives were changed forever by injuries suffered in the war. This book gave me moments of love, passion, sorrow, grief, euphoria and so many other emotions. I truly believe that the sign of a good book is the ability to make the reader feel as though they aren't reading a book, but rather living in the characters' lives. And this book definitely did that! It was those moments, where I found myself so lost in the text that I was laughing and crying along with the characters, that I knew this was one of those books I would pass along to my friends and family and recommend anyone who loves books to read! Overall, it's a heartwarming story, set in the beauty of Maine, full of twists and turns, that will leave you wanting it to never end!
Learn more: You can learn more about Joseph Monninger and his books on his blog.
Purchase it: Visit this page to find places to buy this wonderful book! It would be a wonderful gift for any reader in your life (including you)!
Win: Enter below to win your very own copy of the book, Margaret from Maine!
*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a product for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.*
i want to read the world as we know it because i love books that make you think
ReplyDeletei want to read Wish!
ReplyDeleteFinding somewhere
ReplyDeleteOh and because it looks like the type of book I can get lost in. I love to read!
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