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For fans of Anne Tyler and Barbara Kingsolver, Lois Ann Abraham's debut novel is an irreverent mid-life coming-of-age story about a resilient woman's journey to find a place to call home.
"The Swedes have a word for it: hortur, a whore's luck." So begins the story of Shatina Winona Mai Martinez, known as Tina Martin, who attempts to find a way out of being "girlfriend" to a pimp, finding that she cannot rely on "whore's luck" because there's nothing lucky about her life! After a successful robbery to bankroll her escape, she flees the city, only to find herself stranded in the most unlikely place: Happy Trout Fishing Resort, a rustic vacation spot nestled in the Sierra Nevada. It's hard to shake off the habits and dangers of her past life, but Tina relies on her good intentions, keen organizational skills, and willingness to do unpleasant things to make herself indispensable to the camp's proprietor, Bill, and his adolescent daughter, Rachel. Tina faces the challenges and risks of her situation with optimism, though it seems that every obstacle she overcomes contains the seeds of a new disaster.
Published by Ad Lumen Press.
A sharply specific book can bring more thunder than a wide drama, when an author of this skill sets her scopes on a subject with such heart. Tina is a character we should all be reading: funny, honest, flawed, and allowed to be piercingly dear on the page. Here you will find no slick post-modern detachment, no sneering cynicism, no characters you'll "love to hate." Lois Ann Abraham is not afraid to write with real love, and this is an emotional treasure.
