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Published Jul 2013
304 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
The HomeSweetHome network's Free House Sweepstakes has just announced this year's lucky winner of a brand-new, fully-loaded dream home: Janine Brown of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
For Janey Brown, hearing her name called on television feels like the inescapable fruition of her Aunt Midge's endless string of harebrained plans, each of them designed to drag Janey into the world outside the tiny kitchen where she is happiest submerging her anxiety and grief in the pursuit of the perfect pot-au-feu.
Meanwhile, across town, Nean Brown just knows that house is her destiny. When she hears her name, it's almost not even a surprise. Good fortune took its sweet time showing up in her life, but better late than never. For Nean the house promises an escape from the latest in her revolving door of crappy jobs and drunk boyfriends, from being the kind of person other people look at but don't see.
Both Janine Browns head for their new hometown of Christmas Cove, Maine to claim the prize, and when their lives intersect, they discover that more than just a million-dollar dream home awaits them at water's edge. In the vein of Mary Kay Andrews, Kelly Harms's The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane will win you over.
A debut novel about luck and love, and winning a sweepstakes - with a cast of characters who will charm readers from the very first page.
"A perfect recipe of clever, quirky, poignant and fun make this a delightful debut." - Kirkus
"Janey and Nean each have a common name and uncommon hard luck, and when they suddenly have in common a sweepstakes house, their lives begin to change ...Their quirky wit will win you over, even as they fumble through their crazy new life... Alive with warmth and wit; I enjoyed it right through to the satisfying end." - Kristina Riggle, author of Real Life & Liars
"A delightful book bursting with good humor, fast action, and delicious food. Aunt Midge is a pure joy, and I loved Harm's surprising, spirited, and generous slant on what it takes to make a family." - Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Summer Breeze
"Funny, original and delightfully quirky, Kelly Harms' The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane shows us that sometimes, all we need to make it through one of life's rough patches is a change of scenery and a home-cooked meal." - Molly Shapiro, author of Point, Click, Love: A Novel
"The characters are so well drawn that they practically leap from the page, charming dysfunction and all! A poignant, hilarious debut that's filled with heart, soul, insight and laugh-out-loud moments. It'll make you rethink the meaning of what makes a family -- and if you're anything like me, it'll make you want to pick up and move to 1516 Shipwreck Lane immediately! I'm such a fan of this utterly charming novel." - Kristin Harmel, author of Italian for Beginners and The Sweetness of Forgetting
This information about The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kelly Harms is a former editor and literary agent where she worked with a wide array of bestselling and award-winning authors of commercial fiction. She traded New York City for the writing life in Madison, Wisconsin, where she lives with her adorable and sometimes imperious toddler Griffin. She currently works as a freelancer and amateur baking enthusiast—Harms can make a lot of things, but not clafoutis. This is her first novel. Visit her at kellyharms.com/
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