{"product_id":"belonging-9798888451748","title":"Belonging","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAppealing to readers of Delia Owens’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhere the Crawdads Sing, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eKristin Hannah’s \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFirefly Lane, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eand Ann Packer’s \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Dive from Clausen’s Pier, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eBelonging is a heartbreaking and hopeful coming of age story that traverses lifelong friendship, first love, and a young woman’s fierce desire to transcend her traumatic childhood.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJenny is thirteen when an epic dust storm rolls into her central California town in December 1977. Bedridden after contracting a life-threatening illness in the storm and suffering a shocking loss, Jenny realizes she will never be cared for by the mother who both neglects and terrifies her or the father who allows it. She relies on her cousin, Heather, who has the loving home Jenny longs for; her beloved great-uncle, Gino, the last link between generations; her best friend, Henry, a free spirit with whom she shares an inexplicable bond; and earnest baseball star, Billy, who becomes her first love. After a stunning turn of events in both their lives, Jenny and Henry leave for college in LA together in the summer of 1982—Jenny fleeing a broken heart, and Henry running from something he can’t reveal, even to his best friend. When she returns home years later, the life Jenny so carefully created collides with the one she left behind.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Spanning three decades, \u003ci\u003eBelonging\u003c\/i\u003e is about first love and heartbreak, friendship and secrets, family and forgiveness, hometowns and coming of age, and memory and music. The heart of the story is Jenny’s struggle to undo the binds of a childhood that have deeply affected her life, the painful path to love endured by children raised in alcoholic families, and the grim reality of believing you must hide a part of yourself in order to belong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Fordyce captures the complexities of both love and forgiveness as well as the painful ways the events of the past can't help but color our present-day lives. BELONGING is a wise, uplifting, and deeply compassionate novel with characters so vivid they feel like part of your own family.” -- Stacey Swann, author of \u003ci\u003eOlympus, Texas\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBelonging\u003c\/i\u003e is a moving and original story of a girl coming of age and learning who she is in a family wracked with tension, set against a California landscape from the seventies to the present, chronicling the history of that time and place as much as its indelible characters.  Jill Fordyce is a sensitive and beautiful writer and a novelist to watch.” -- Malena Watrous, author of \u003ci\u003eIf You Follow Me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBelonging\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautifully rendered, intimate story tracing the life of one of the most lovable, real protagonists you'll ever meet, the vivid characters who populate her world, and the connections—and, ultimately, forgiveness—between them. Readers will be transfixed and absorbed by Jenny's journey from a devastating childhood illness and loss, her coming of age in a gorgeously depicted backdrop of Bakersfield, CA, and the eventual move away from home that brings her closer to her past than ever. A significant accomplishment.” -- Liza Monroy, author of \u003ci\u003eSeeing as Your Shoes Are Soon to Be On Fire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is the book I’m reading. I love the characters—the story is moving and rich.” -- Pennie Clark Ianniciello, Creative Literary Consultant\u003cbr\u003e“Fordyce weaves a complicated and compelling tale of an extended family whose simultaneously destructive and nurturing family relationships shapes the life of young Jenny, isolated in her teens by a virus contracted in a dust storm, who struggles to find herself and a place in her family. Vividly drawn characters and a strong sense of place bring \u003ci\u003eBelonging\u003c\/i\u003e to life.” -- Cynthia Johnson, Reference Librarian, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, MA ","brand":"Post Hill Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51874147041623,"sku":"9798888451748","price":21.74,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/belonging-9798888451748","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}