I’m always so thrilled to be part of the Harper-Collins tours as I almost always LOVE the books I get to read for them! This was true for the latest one I just finished: Viola Shipman’s Famous in a Small Town. I love Shipman’s writing and have read many of his previous novels. The stories are ones I can connect with and I tend to love the characters. I find them heart-warming with uplifting endings. They remind me a bit of books by Fannie Flagg.
Here’s the scoop:
Famous in a Small Town
Author: Viola Shipman
On Sale June 13, 2023
Publisher: Graydon House
Paperback Original
ISBN 978-1525804854
Price: $18.99
Buy Links: NOT affiliated with BBNB
HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/famous-in-a-small-town-viola-shipman?variant=40980279459874
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/famous-in-a-small-town-viola-shipman/1142722523
BookShop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-champion-of-good-hart-viola-shipman/18794129?ean=9781525804854
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1525804855/keywords=fiction?tag=harpercollinsus-20
Social Links:
Twitter: @Viola_Shipman
Facebook: Author Viola Shipman
Instagram: @Viola_Shipman
Author Bio:
VIOLA SHIPMAN is the pen name for internationally bestselling LGBTQIA author Wade Rouse. Wade is the author of fifteen books, which have been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies around the world. Wade chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction.
Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Michigan Notable Books of the Year and Indie Next Picks. He lives in Michigan and California, and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, A Literary Happy Hour, every Thursday.
Book Summary:
Fried Green Tomatoes meets Midnight at the Blackbird Café in USA Today bestselling author Viola Shipman’s FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN, a heartwarming story about intergenerational friendship and self-discovery, set in beautiful Northern Michigan.
In 1958, 15-year-old Mary Jackson became the first woman ever crowned The Cherry Pit Spittin’ Champion of Good Hart, Michigan, landing her in the Guinness Book of World Records, and earning her the nickname Cherry Mary. Nearly 80 years old at the story’s start, Mary runs The Very Cherry General Store, a business that has been passed through three generations of women in the family. While there is no female next of kin, Mary believes the fourth is fated to arrive, as predicted by “Fata Morgana,” a Lake Michigan mirage of four women walking side by side.
Becky Thatcher (yes, like the Mark Twain character), an Assistant Principal from St. Louis, has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend and heads to Good Hart for a healing girl’s trip with her best friend. When Becky drunkenly spits a cherry pit an impressive distance, Mary urges her to enter the upcoming contest, and wonders if Becky could be the woman she’s been waiting for.
Inspired by, and paying tribute to, Michigan’s National Cherry Festival, to the Tunnel of Trees, to lake life, and to the beauty of intergenerational friendship, FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is “full of summertime delight…and sweet, nostalgic charm” (Heather Webber, USA TODAY bestselling author of Midnight at the Blackbird Café).
Bursting with memorable characters and small-town lore, FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN is a magical story about the family you’re born with, and the one you choose.
“[A] charming coastal tale.”—KATIE COURIC MEDIA
“Fans of nostalgic small-town charm and quirky characters will love Viola Shipman’s latest book for summer.”
—READER’S DIGEST, Best Summer Books 2023
“Famous in a Small Town is a beautiful reminder to…fully embrace the magic that lives inside you.”
—Heather Webber, USA Today bestselling author of Midnight at the Blackbird Café
Thank you for my ARC galley and for making me part of the tour!