The Vineyard by Michael Hurley Review, Interview & Giveaway

The Vineyard

by Michael Hurley

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BLURB:

Ten years after college, three very different women reunite for a summer on Martha’s Vineyard. As they come to grips with various challenges in their lives, an encounter with a reclusive fisherman threatens to change everything they believe about their world—and each other.

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Excerpt 

Chapter 10

Despite the tumultuous beginning of the season and the clouds in Dory’s future, June in Edgartown was as bright as ever, and the three friends took advantage of every minute of it. There were walks down Main Street on sunny afternoons carrying giant, round mounds of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream, teetering three-high and dribbling down onto sticky fingers before it was licked gone. There were steamed little neck clams with butter sauce and fresh horseradish, served with gin and tonics on the porch of The Crew House, overlooking the harbor, and the good-looking, Italian waiter who worked there. It became Turner’s mission to see how many times she could get him to use the word “Tanqueray” in a sentence, because she liked the way he said it. There were lazy hours lying on the beach by the lighthouse and meandering hunts for the perfect cockleshell, and double-dog dares to go skinny-dipping after dark that always descended into fully-clothed refusals, recriminations, and false accusations of prudery—the truth, however, being that none of them was eager to expose great white bellies bursting with clams and Tanqueray and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream.

© 2014 by M. C. Hurley. All rights reserved.

           

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Michael Hurley and his wife Susan live near Charleston, South Carolina. Born and raised in Baltimore, Michael holds a degree in English from the University of Maryland and law from St. Louis University.

The Prodigal, Michael’s debut novel from Ragbagger Press, received the Somerset Prize for mainstream fiction and numerous accolades in the trade press, including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ForeWord Reviews, BookTrib, Chanticleer Reviews, and IndieReader. It is currently in development for a feature film by producer Diane Sillan Isaacs. Michael’s second novel, The Vineyard, is due to be released by Ragbagger Press in December 2014.

Michael’s first book, Letters from the Woods, is a collection of wilderness-themed essays published by Ragbagger Press in 2005.  It was shortlisted for Book of the Year by ForeWord magazine.  In 2009, Michael embarked on a two-year, 2,200 mile solo sailing voyage that ended with the loss of his 32-foot sloop, the Gypsy Moon, in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti in 2012. That voyage and the experiences that inspired him to set sail became the subject of his memoir, Once Upon A Gypsy Moon, published in 2013 by Hachette Book Group.

When he is not writing, Michael enjoys reading and relaxing with Susan on the porch of their rambling, one-hundred-year-old house.  His fondest pastimes are ocean sailing, playing piano and classical guitar, cooking, and keeping up with an energetic Irish terrier, Frodo Baggins.

Interview:

1. Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?

No.  I have a huge ego and am delighted to be just who I am.  I do wish I had six-pack abs, though.  My whole life, I’ve never had six-pack abs.  Damn.

2. What did you do on your last birthday?

Actually, my wife forgot my last birthday, and I spent the whole day sulking and dreaming of sailing off to the Caribbean without her. I got over it. 

3. Do you have any tattoos?  Where? When did you get it/them? Where are they on your body?

You must be joking.  I am way too old and way too stuck up to get a tattoo.  I can’t tell you how often I see a beautiful young woman who has ruined her perfectly lovely body with a tattoo.  It’s a millennial thing that I just don’t get. 

4. What are you working on right now?

I just finished The Vineyard, and I am taking a victory lap for a while.  When I start to feel guilty about that, I’ll begin writing my next book, which is set in rural Mississippi and has a working title of Angel Band.  The closest description I can think of is that it’s something of a latter day To Kill A Mockingbird. 

5. Is your life anything like it was two years ago?

It is nothing like what it was two years ago.  At age 56 I have retired after thirty years as a trial lawyer and the senior managing partner of a law firm in Raleigh, North Carolina.  I now I spend my days in the upstairs office of a 100 year old house in rural South Carolina, writing books, cooking meals, and making sure the food and water bowls are full for three dogs and one cat. My wife, who works full time and has become the breadwinner, thinks I am a lazy slug and points out every help-wanted sign she sees. This could get ugly.

Website: www.mchurley.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mchurleybooks

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/5445584.Michael_C_Hurley

My Review:

This is one of those books that you will want to read more than once. I was so wrapped up in the characters and the author's ability to make them so involved. The characters were flawed and dealt with real life issues. As their secrets started to be told, and the women got closer to the fisherman, I wondered what would happen next. There is a lot to be said about a book that reminds me of people I know, and places I have been. This book does both. There is also The Fisherman was was interesting and I was definitely drawn to his character and why he was a recluse. His relationship with these women will change their lives forever, the fun part is how? I have read other books by this author, and I am always satisfied. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.

Giveaway:

• One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

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