This Fine Life preview

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you may recall seeing a discussion on my wall about a sudden change I'm making - namely, a move. Well let me tell you, that has thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into all my plans for the week as I'm in full-blown oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-I'm-moving-in-less-than-a-month-and-why-on-earth-do-I-have-so-much-STUFF mode.

Well, this has coincided with the Revell tour for Eva Marie Everson's latest novel, This Fine Life. I've never read any of Everson's other solo offerings or the popular Potluck Club series she co-authored with Linda Evans Shephard. So I wasn't sure  what to expect from This Fine Life - I only knew I had to read it because of the time period (1960s South), the fabulous, Mad Men-esque designed cover, and the exquisite, intriguing promise that young Mariette meets her future "between the third and fourth floors" of her father's apparel factory. Here's the entire back cover blurb:

It is the summer of 1959 and Mariette Puttnam has just graduated from boarding school. When she returns to her privileged life at home, she isn't sure where life will take her. More schooling? A job? Marriage? Nothing feels right. how could she know that she would find the answer waiting for her in the narrow stairwell of her father's apparel factory, exactly between the third and fourth floors?

In this unique and tender romance, popular author Eva Marie Everson takes you on a journey through the herat of a young woman bound for the unknown. Discover the joys of new love, the perseverance of deep friendship, and the gift of forgiveness that comes from a truly fine life.

This novel is absolutely exquisite, each page in Mariette's journey worth savoring. Everson excels at bringing the 1960s to life, saturating the novel with so much period detail from the food to the clothes that you feel as though Mariette and her family could step from the pages into real life, they are so well drawn. And the journey - wow. Everson has crafted a story that cannot fail to touch the heartstrings of anyone who is searching, or remembers what it's like, to embark on a journey of self-discovery, seeking one's place in the world.

I plan to post one of my full-blown, long reviews (*grin*) just as soon as I get rested enough to string my thougths together into more coherent sentences. Till then, bear with me on the blog front- the next few weeks are bound to be crazy. :)