I am happy to announce the January EDIWTB book club selection: Between Here and April, by Deborah Copaken Kogan. I received a review copy of this book from Algonquin a few months ago, and thought it would make a good book club selection. Here's a blurb from Amazon:
How could a mother kill her children? This breathtaking first novel from photojournalist Kogan attempts a heart-wrenching answer. Elizabeth Lizzie Burns Steiger, a
41-year-old TV producer/journalist, has a hallucination while watching
a performance of Medea at a Manhattan theater; she sees her
best friend in first grade, April Cassidy, who was killed by April's
depressed mother, Adele, in 1972 in Potomac, Md., along with April's
sister. In addition to exploring her memories in therapy, Lizzie
interviews the Cassidys' former neighbor and others who knew the family
for a proposed cable network documentary, but a priceless Pandora's
box—tapes of Adele with her psychiatrist—provides the most startling
revelations. Kogan skillfully interweaves Lizzie's struggles with her
troubled marriage, parenting and a personal trauma shared in the
Balkans with a former lover in this unflinching portrait of filicide,
which still manages to find light in the darkness of a very disturbing
subject.
The Washington Post says Between Here and April may be "the perfect book club book".
Caribou's Mom says:
Kogan’s writing is sharp, intuitive and hypnotic. I always enjoy novels
written by journalists who have honed their writing skills to get to
the core of the story quickly, and who know how to create tension and
conflict between characters. This is not a book for everyone. Many
readers will be disturbed by the images Kogan creates. The subject
matter will turn many readers off. But, those readers willing to follow Kogan into the darkness will be rewarded with a story not soon
forgotten.
Book a Week with Jen says: "It's a well written, moving read (though not perfect — the end is
odd). And it's one of those books that had me thinking about it long
after I'd put the book back on the shelf."
If you can handle the dark topic, please join me here for the book club discussion for Between Here and April. Algonquin has generously agreed to send 15 copies of the book to EDIWTB readers who sign up. Once the books go out, I will pick a day (probably late January or early February so that people have enough time to read it), and will post a review of the book. Book club participants (and anyone who else who has read the book) are encouraged to post their thoughts in the comments to keep the discussion going. We may also get Deborah Copaken Kogan to answer questions in a later post.
If you're interested in participating, please send an email to me at [email protected] with your contact info in the following format:
Name
Mailing Address
Email address
The first 15 people who email me will receive copies of the book.
Thank you to Algonquin!!