My sunshine away unfolds in a baton rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy. Try and restrain yourself from flying through the pages of this wonderful novel. The following version of my sunshine away was used to create this guide. My sunshine away is a very good book, just shy of greatness. The narrator feels that people have preconceived notions or stereotypes about both. When lindy becomes the victim of a rape, everything changes. Walsh spent seven years crafting my sunshine away, and his patience and diligence paid off with this haunting comingofage mystery set in an upper middle class suburb outside baton rouge. My sunshine away and millions of other books are available for instant access. Walsh utilizes an unreliable narrator but avoids the two biggest reasons i often dont enjoy these types of books. Its a pageturning thriller with a heartbreaking crime and an intriguing cast of suspects. Gaines center, center for louisiana studies, the ul lafayette english department, and the lafayette public library.
My sunshine away is a must read for fans of coming of age stories and for people who are drawn to books with amazing writing. Walshs debut novel, my sunshine away, a thirtysomething narrator tells of the summer of 1989 when he was 14 years old. Walshs haunting, lyrical novel will compel you to look back on your. Both an enchanting comingofage story and a gripping mystery, my sunshine away reveals the ways in which our childhoods shape us, and what happens when those childhoods end. Giving lecture and reading as winner of 2016 housatonic boook award for my sunshine away. Walsh, is set in the late 80searly 90s in baton rouge, louisiana. My sunshine away book central rappahannock regional. A gripping read thats more than a thriller, more than a traditional southern tale, my sunshine away is a brilliant meditation on the unpredictability and the lifelong effects of childhood events and relationships.
Duke kern was the younger of the two and hung out with the group of kids. Every month, reese picks one book she loves with a woman at the center of the story and shares it with her book club. Reese witherspoons book club list all 34 hello sunshine. My sunshine away npr coverage of my sunshine away by m. I wont summarize the plot, as you can find that elsewhere.
Reese witherspoons popular book club hello sunshine is a virtual community where bookworms all over the world can read and discuss the seasons juiciest reads. Walsh, a dazzling new literary voice welcome to woodland hills, louisiana. The storys narrator revisits his childhood and the moment that stole his and many of his classmates innocence away. Walshs debut novel is fourteen years old and in love with his neighbor on piney creek road in baton rouge, louisiana, lindy simpson. Find groups in sunshine coast about book club and meet people in your local community who share your interests. My sunshine away unfolds in a baton rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate football fandom. With promotional opportunities shrinking oprahs book club defunct, the. The instant new york times bestseller a tantalizing mystery and a tender comingofage story. Reese witherspoon is a selfdescribed bookworm, and even has her own book club on instagram.
My sunshine away is an extraordinary debut novel from m. A man reflects on the summer of his fourteenth year, where in baton rouge he fell in love with a goldenhaired girl across the street before an unspeakable crime shattered illusions in his seemingly idyllic neighborhood. Acutely wise and deeply honest, this is an astonishing and pageturning debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive. The character development of the narrator was excellent, a task made more difficult when the reader is. Walsh april 5 during the summer of 1989, the narrator of m. Baton rouge, louisiana is the states secondlargest city, its capital and the setting of his powerful southern gothic debut, my sunshine away. A community propelled by meaningful connections with stories, authors and fellow members, reeses book club sparks thought, joy, and conversationonline and in real life. Louisianas capital city, baton rouge, has its fair share of glamorous and notsoglamorous stories. A gripping read thats more than a thriller, more than a traditional southern tale, my sunshine away is a brilliant meditation on the unpredictability and the lifelong effects of childhood events and. It would also make a great book club selection and is going on my book club recommendations list. Walsh is a literary novel that reads like a memoir and incorporates a healthy dose of mystery. But in the summer of 1989, when fifteenyearold lindy simpsonfree spirit, track star. But in the summer of 1989, when 15yearold lindy simpson free spirit, track star and belle of the block experiences a horrible crime late one evening near her home, it becomes apparent that this idyllic stretch of.
Nearly a million books are published annually in the united states. My sunshine away unfolds in a baton rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish and passionate football fandom. Save over 40% all preorders are available at the membership price or one member credit, and because they are shipped separately, preorders are not eligible for feature selection bundle prices. A gripping read thats more than a thriller, more than a traditional southern tale, my sunshine away is a. Book jacket resistance women by jennifer chiaverini. After lindy is raped one night and no arrest is made, innocence and illusions are shattered on piney creek road in baton rouges affluent suburb. Walsh may live in new orleans, but his heart is with his hometown. Walshs book, which was seven years in the writing, is an exercise in southern gothic that includes a pair of genuine. I wrote to the doubleday book club and, once again, my book was selected for inclusion in their promotions, this time as a directors choice. My sunshine away is also simply, like lees to kill a mockingbird, a great work of fiction. The book begins with there were four suspects in the rape of lindy simpson and the narrator just happens to be one of them. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. The novel offers a compelling main storyline as well as many pieces worth scholarly consideration, marking it as a budding classic likely to remain in readership for many years to come.
Walsh, author of my sunshine away, grew up there, so he captures these contradictions effortlessly in his stunning debut set in 1989, the novel tells the heartbreaking story of lindy simpson, the once carefree and spirited track star whose life goes awry after she is attacked on her. The story is narrated by an unnamed protagonist who confesses that he was a suspect in the rape of his neighborhood friend and first crush, lindy simpson. My sunshine away is a novel that combines elements of memoir and mystery as it follows the protagonist through his troubled teen years into adulthood. Walsh brilliantly juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families, and consuming adolescent love.
Book club questions that work for any book with free printable sheet it can be incredibly frustrating when youve got your book club coming up maybe in the next few hours and you cant find any discussion questions for the book you read. But the nostalgic narrative turns on its head when the girl next door, the object of desire and crush of our hero, is brutalized. Covid19 advisory for the health and safety of meetup communities, were advising that all events be hosted online in the coming weeks. My sunshine away is a page turner, realism at its finesta story made memorable in paragraph after paragraph by the brilliance of its author, and by the scope of the questions he asks as to how we live this life to the fullest as loving and moral beings. The power of the book lies in its spoton characters. He was obsessively in love with lindy simpson, a 15yearold girl living across the street. Although the book snaps with the tautness of a thrillerand walsh keeps the reader guessing until the end, as the best mystery writers do my sunshine away also asks essential questions, like how much responsibility we have to each other, and whether we can we ever fully reassemble the pieces of broken lives. Acutely wise and deeply honest, it is an astonishing and pageturning debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive. The unnamed protagonist and narrator tells the story of his difficult teen years as he struggles to understand love, responsibility and what it means to grow into a good man. Books from the bayou is a collaborative effort between the ernest j. An enthralling saga, inspired by real events, that recreates the danger. Top ten tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the broke and the bookish that asks bloggers to create top ten lists on. Could my sunshine away be described as an optimistic book.
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