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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
The Landlady of Maple Avenue
Winner of multiple book awards, The Landlady of Maple Avenue is a poignant and humorous literary family saga inspired by true events. Set in the 1950s, it follows the aging Marceline Gillis, an immigrant mother of seven, as she plots to reclaim her position as the matriarch and rightful landlady of a Victorian house on Maple Avenue. Battling family tensions, disappointments, and the grief of losing loved ones, Marceline navigates the complexities of power, ownership, and legacy within her tight-knit Catholic family. Her journey is filled with heartache and determination as she seeks validation after a lifetime of hardship. Gillis demonstrates remarkable skill in bringing the complex dynamics of a mid-20th century immigrant family to life in a way that modern readers can easily connect with. Her sharp wit shines through in the dialogue between family members, creating moments of levity that balance perfectly with the more poignant aspects of the story, and every character felt so real like they'd jumped straight out of a time machine.
Book Details
- Publisher: Bookbaby
- Publish Date: Dec 4th, 2024
- Pages: 408
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.98in - 5.98in - 1.10in - 1.41lb
- EAN: 9798350974331
- Categories: • Family Life - General
About the Author
Suzanne Elizabeth Gillis is an Award Winning Author. She holds an MFA with honors in Screenwriting from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and a BA in Narrative Writing and Film from Hampshire College. She owns a website business where she helps non-writers develop story ideas for feature screenplays and TV series since 2007. THE LANDLADY OF MAPLE AVENUE is her first debut novel inspired by true stories about her father's immigrant family from Nova Scotia, Canada, who immigrated to Cambridge, Massachusetts in the 1920s. It has already won numerous book awards. She is currently completing her new novel DR. TIGHTSKIN, a LGBTQ comedy based on her original comedy screenplay UNDER MY SKIN.
Praise for this book
"I haven't read a plot similar to this before. A lovely tone to the writing; you can hear the character's voices and accents as you read their dialogue. Great sentence structure and pacing throughout, which reflect the chaos of Gillis's family's daily lives, keeping you intrigued to find out what happens to them all, and especially to Marceline to see if she changed her ways. The structure was excellent throughout, avoiding revealing too much too soon, and was brilliant for adding chapters at pivotal moments that jump between time zones, revealing the character's past experiences and pain. This added great depth, detail and suspense to the story overall, which kept the reader fully engaged and enthralled till the very end. Excellent pacing and writing for a memorable historical family saga, which I thoroughly enjoyed!" Beta Reader Review by Aby "Characters are all relatable and real. Between Marceline's continued selfishness and Fred being a drunken mess with a moral conscious it is Tommy who continues to be the ray of sunshine with his gut-wrenching lovefest, especially when he befriends the local moms which is absolutely hilarious. He continues to be my favorite character, and I can see readers absolutely loving him for his sweet positive energy. The dialogue between the family feels natural and I can picture myself in the room while they're talking to each other. The plot with each new chapter left me intrigue and very curious to see what Marceline was going to do next. My mind was running wild with the different paths she could take, something small like fake an injury, to something large like killing Corinne. It definitely compels readers to continue to the next chapter. Fred's death and the events leading up to it were so well-written it gave me goosebumps. Poor Fred indeed!" Beta Reader Review by Yoanna "This was an incredible story that tugged at my heart in a million ways. Marceline is such a misunderstood and broken character portrayed so well!