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Summer Virtual Tour for DAUGHTER OF FIRE by Sofia Robleda

For a young woman coming of age in sixteenth-century Guatemala, safeguarding her people’s legacy is a dangerous pursuit in a mystical, empowering, and richly imagined historical novel.

“DAUGHTER OF FIRE is a gorgeous, gripping tale of one young woman’s struggle to find herself amid the terrors of colonialism and the desperate need to uphold the heritage of her people, bound up in her love for her mother.” – Booklist

“Gorgeous and atmospheric. A unique and compelling point of view. Legit one of my favorite books of all time.” – Xiran Jay Zhao, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Iron Widow

“A captivating odyssey of a novel from start to finish—Robleda vividly brings to life the world of sixteenth-century Guatemala, immersing you in Catalina’s brave fight to preserve her people’s history against all odds. Beautifully imagined, intimate, lush, evocatively written, DAUGHTER OF FIRE has firmly secured its place among my all-time favorites, narrated by a fresh and much-needed voice in historical fiction.” – Mariely Lares, Sunday Times bestselling author of Sun of Blood and Ruin

When Mexican writer Sofia Robleda embarked on a personal ancestral search, she discovered the history of an ancient Mayan sacred text with stories that were so enlightening, she knew she had to write about it. The result is DAUGHTER OF FIRE (Amazon Crossing; August 1, 2024), a moving and beautifully written historical fiction novel about a girl named Catalina, born in the 1530s to an Indigenous Guatemalan mother and a Spanish colonizer father.

The Popol Vuh is a little-known sacred text with invaluable insight into the Maya way of life before colonization, including their myths and stories and the history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala. The stories were mostly passed down orally, until around 1550, when they were written down in secret, by anonymous K’iche’ authors. But after the Spanish conquest of the Maya, missionaries and colonists destroyed many documents, and the original sacred text was lost. Only a translated copy made by a friar in the 18th century remains.    

“I grew up in Cancun, surrounded by the ancient Mayan culture, but when I found out I had Indigenous blood, I started studying our pre-Columbian history in a lot more detail,” explains Robleda. “When I read how many documents were destroyed, I had a visceral reaction. I couldn’t stop crying over this great loss to our heritage. But the Popol Vuh survived. Its story possessed me. I felt I’d gone out to look for my roots, and they’d taken a hold of me. The result was this novel, and I’m ecstatic that DAUGHTER OF FIRE will be published this summer.”

Catalina de Cerrato is being raised by her widowed father, Don Alonso, in 1551 Guatemala, scarcely thirty years since the Spanish invasion. A ruling member of the oppressive Spanish hierarchy, Don Alonso holds sway over the newly relegated lower class of Indigenous communities. Fiercely independent, Catalina struggles to honor her father and her late mother, a Maya noblewoman to whom Catalina made a vow that only she can keep: preserve the lost sacred text of the Popol Vuh, the treasured and now forbidden history of the K’iche’ people.

Urged on by her mother’s spirit voice and possessing the gift of committing the invaluable stories to memory, Catalina embarks on a secret and transcendent quest to rewrite them. Through ancient pyramids, Spanish villas, and caves of masked devils, she finds an ally in the captivating Juan de Rojas, a lord whose rule was compromised by the invasion. But as their love and trust unfold, and Don Alonso’s tyranny escalates, Catalina must confront her conflicted blood heritage―and its secrets―once and for all if she’s to follow her dangerous quest to its historic end.

DAUGHTER OF FIRE is an engrossing story about loyalty and prejudice, love and oppression, and embracing one’s identity. It’s a must-read for Summer 2024!

To help celebrate the release this new novel, we are hosting a virtual book tour with this wonderful list of book influencers who will post reviews, features, and giveaways. We hope you will follow along:

Monday, July 22 Jess N Books AND Amber Shelf

Tuesday, July 23 Tomes and Textiles AND Lauren’s Book Vibes

Wednesday, July 24 Totahly Booked

Thursday, July 25 Kera’s Always Reading

Friday, July 26 WBTB Book Reviews

Sunday, July 28 Purrfect Pages

Monday, July 29 Lit Wit Wine Dine

Tuesday, July 30 Angela Reads Books

Wednesday, July 31 Sue The Bookie

Thursday, August 1 Meg’s Book Club AND Love My Books 2020

Friday, August 2 Karen’s Library

Saturday, August 3 Books On My Mind

Sunday, August 4 Marisol Reads Books

Monday, August 5 Spookish Mommy

Tuesday, August 6 Mabel Journals

Wednesday, August 7 Bookalong

Thursday, August 8 Sarah And Her Bookshelves

Friday, August 9 Linda’s Book Obsession AND Michelle Loves Books

Saturday, August 10 Books and Coffee MX

Sunday, August 11 Secret Reading Life

Monday, August 12 We Love Big Books And We Cannot Lie

Tuesday, August 13 Books with Bethany

Wednesday, August 14 Paperbacks N Frybread

Thursday, August 15 – Lexijava

Friday, August 16 Subakka Bookstuff

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July Virtual Tour For New Historical Fiction THE CURSE OF THE FLORES WOMEN by Angélica Lopes, Translated by Zoë Perry

In this haunting novel about the enduring bonds of womanhood, a young girl weaves together the truth behind her family history and the secrets that resonate through generations.

“With each page, Alice’s role as the guardian of an important piece of Brazilian folk art, itself a feminist symbol, becomes more clear. Lopes…makes it clear that sisterhood is integral to survival.” ―Booklist

Angélica Lopes is a celebrated script writer, journalist and YA author from Rio de Janeiro, who got her start writing Brazilian soap operas that attracted millions of viewers daily. THE CURSE OF THE FLORES WOMEN is her first adult novel, a beautifully written tale about women activists in the early 1910s in the fictional town of Bom Retiro, Brazil and in modern times in Rio de Janeiro. Foreign rights have already been sold to France, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Portugal, and now with the help of the talented translator, Zoë Perry, Amazon Crossing will publish it for the first time in English on July 1, 2024.

“I wanted to set the fictional story of the lacemakers in a period when the debate around women’s issues and their achievements was just beginning,” Angélica explains. “I also wanted to tell a story about the unity of women in the face of domestic violence. I wanted a story of women coming together, not in conflict or working against each other. I am overjoyed that it will now reach an English speaking audience.”

Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting―against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, and she discovers it hides a secret coded tale of domestic violence that happened 100 years before, she is compelled to uncover the hidden history of the women in her family while also fighting for the rights of all womankind.

Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a “curse” that rendered them unlucky in love. With no men on the horizon to take care of them, the women learned the art of lacemaking to build lives of their own. But their peace was soon threatened by forces beyond any woman’s control.

As Alice begins piecing together the tapestry that is her history, she discovers revelations about the past, connections to the present, and a resilience in her blood that will carry her toward the future her ancestors strove for. Filled with an eclectic cast of female characters, a colorful setting marked by feuding families and a ruling oligarch, and generational secrets, THE CURSE OF THE FLORES WOMEN is historical fiction at its best.

To celebrate the publication of this new release, we are hosting a virtual book tour with this fantastic lineup of book influencers. We hope you will follow along:

Monday, July 1 – Dive Into A Good Book AND Lauren’s Book Vibes

Tuesday, July 2 – Tomes And Textiles AND Jess N Books

Wednesday, July 3 – Amber Shelf

Thursday, July 4 – Kera’s Always Reading

Friday, July 5 – Linda’s Book Obsession AND Mabel Journals

Sunday, July 7 – Booking With Janelle AND Lit Wit Wine Dine

Monday, July 8 – Armed With a Book

Tuesday, July 9 – Sarah And Her Bookshelves

Wednesday, July 10 – Reading With Nicole

Thursday, July 11 – What’s Better Than A Book

Friday, July 12 – Books With Bethany

Saturday, July 13 – Books and Coffee MX AND Marisol Reads Books

Sunday, July 14 – Purrfect Pages

Monday, July 15 – Angela Reads Books

Tuesday, July 16 – Bathtub Bookworm

Wednesday, July 17 – We Love Big Books And We Cannot Lie

Thursday, July 18 – Spookish Mommy

Friday, July 19 – Sue The Bookie

Saturday, July 20 – Melann Rosenthal AND Meg’s Book Club

Sunday, July 21 – Subakka Bookstuff

Monday, July 22 – Love My Books 2020

Tuesday, July 23 – Paperbacks N Frybread

Wednesday, July 24 – Bookalong

Thursday, July 25 – Bookapotamus

Friday, July 26 – Suzy Approved Book Reviews AND What Is That Book About

Saturday, July 27 – Bookish Spren

Sunday, July 28 – Secret Reading Life

Monday, July 29 – Book Things With Brit

Tuesday, July 30 – Gloriana Wong

Wednesday, July 31 – We Break For Books

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November 2021 Virtual Tour for Award-Winning Author Shion Miura’s New Novel, THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI, Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

We hope you will follow along for our virtual tour this November as we share reviews, features, and giveaways when we celebrate the release of THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI by Shion Miura and translated into English by the talented Juliet Winters Carpenter. In this warm and lively coming-of-age story, Miura transports us from the trappings of city life to the trials, mysteries, and delights of a mythical mountain forest.

November 1: KIM READS AND READS

November 2: THE CAFFEINATED READER

November 3: BOOKSTASM and CRYSTAL’S LIBRARY

November 4: OH THE BOOKS SHE WILL READ

November 5: SECRET READING LIFE and JYPSYLYNN

November 7: JUST ANOTHER CHAPTER AND TEA

November 8: AIMEE DARS READS and BOOKS ON MY MIND

November 9: WE LOVE BIG BOOKS AND WE CANNOT LIE

November 10: BOOKED WITH EMMA and SUZY APPROVED BOOK REVIEWS

November 11: NURSE BOOKIE

November 12: BOOK NERD KAT and IOWA AMBER READS

November 15: TINA MAY READS

November 16: BOOKTIMISTIC

November 17: HOT COCOA READS

November 18: SUE THE BOOKIE

November 19: WELL READ TRAVELER and BOOK NERD TOKYO

November 22: DANISH MUSTARD READS

November 23: ALLEGEDLY MARI

November 24: BOOXOUL

November 28: WE BREAK FOR BOOKS

November 29: IT’S BIBLIOTHERAPY and DISCOVER A WORLD THROUGH A BOOK

November 30: WHERE THE READER GROWS

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The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura Translated into English by Juliet Winters Carpenter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Rachel Tarlow Gul, Rachel@otrpr.com

From Shion Miura, the award-winning author of The Great Passage, comes a rapturous novel where the contemporary and the traditional meet amid the splendor of Japan’s mountain way of life.

“Fans of all ages should enjoy the author’s blend of the traditional and the contemporary.” Kirkus Reviews

“Shion Miura, award-winning and world renown Japanese author of The Great Passage (2011), delivers yet another fascinating introspection into how the ancient and traditional worlds meet the modern and contemporary way of life in The Easy Life in Kamusari (2021) – the first book in Miura’s new Forest series. Translated into English by superb veteran translator, Juliet Winters Carpenter, this upcoming novel…unravels into a beautiful coming-of-age tale that makes the reader long for a greener life – one without phones, the internet, and where sentences end in ‘naa-naa.’” Asia Media International

Just in time for the holiday season comes, THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI, an uplifting and absorbing story that is both simply told and full of beauty and depth.  Written by the award-winning Japanese author, Shion Miura and translated into English for the first time by Juliet Winters Carpenter, one of the foremost translators of Japanese literature, the novel will be out November 2nd from Amazon Crossing.

The narrator of the novel, Yuki Hirano, is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village of Kamusari.  No phone, no internet, no shopping. Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is “take it easy.”

At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast. Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life. But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.

Yuki learns to fell trees and plant saplings. He begins to embrace local festivals, he’s mesmerized by legends of the mountain, and he might be falling in love. In learning to respect the forest on Mt. Kamusari for its majestic qualities and its inexplicable secrets, Yuki starts to appreciate Kamusari’s harmony with nature and its ancient traditions.

In this warm and lively coming-of-age story, Miura transports us from the trappings of city life to the trials, mysteries, and delights of a mythical mountain forest.

For further information and review copy requests, please contact Rachel Tarlow Gul at Over the River Public Relations: rachel@otrpr.com.

THE EASY LIFE IN KAMUSARI

By Shion Miura

Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

Amazon Crossing; November 2, 2021

Literary Fiction | 208 pp. | Paperback: $14.95, ISBN#: 978-1542027168;

Kindle: $4.99, ISBN#: 978-1542027144

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August 2021 Virtual Book Tour for TWO SPIES IN CARACAS by Moisés Naím, translated into English by Daniel Hahn

Release date: August 1, 2021, Amazon Crossing

A “gripping political thriller that immerses the reader in the volatile Bolivarian revolution led by Venezuelan army colonel Hugo Chávez…This is a must for anyone who wants to explore this tumultuous and often strange period in modern Latin American history.” – Publishers Weekly

Mark your calendars for this fantastic virtual book tour for TWO SPIES IN CARACAS by Moisés Naím and translated into English by the talented Daniel Hahn.

Moisés Naím has been called “one of the world’s leading thinkers” (Prospect Magazine) and is one of today’s most widely read columnists on international economics and geopolitics. In the early 1990s, he served as Venezuela’s Minister of Trade and Industry, as director of Venezuela’s Central Bank, and as executive director of the World Bank. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC and a best-selling author of 14 nonfiction books, including the New York Times bestseller The End of Power, which was selected by the Washington Post and the Financial Times as one of the best books of 2013. Naím’s background and extensive knowledge of the rise and fall of Venezuela in the 21st century offer the perfect foundation for his debut novel.

SYNOPSIS:

TWO SPIES IN CARACAS is the best combination of historical fiction, spy thriller and romance set against the passions and betrayals of Hugo Chavez’s revolution. Although fiction, the story is inspired by more than two decades of research, as well as Naím’s direct access to the best-informed sources about what happened in Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela.  The result is a captivating page turner based on unimaginable real-life events.

Venezuela, 1992. Unknown colonel Hugo Chávez stages an ill-fated coup against a government, igniting the passions of Venezuela’s poor and catapulting the oil-rich country to international attention. For two rival spies hurriedly dispatched to Caracas—one from Washington, DC, and the other from Fidel Castro’s Cuba—this is a career-defining mission.

Smooth-talking Iván Rincón of Cuba’s Intelligence Directorate needs a rebel ally to secure the future of his own country. His job: support Chávez and the revolution by rallying the militants and neutralizing any opposing agents.

Meanwhile, the CIA’s Cristina Garza will do everything in her power to cut Chávez’s influence short. Her priority: control the greatest oil reserves on the planet by ferreting out and eliminating Cuba’s principal operative.

As Chávez surges to power, Iván and Cristina are caught in the fallout of a toxic political time bomb: an intrepid female reporter and unwitting informant, a drug lord and key architect in Chávez’s rise, and personal entanglements between the spies themselves. With everything at stake, the adversaries find themselves at the center of a game of espionage, seduction, murder, and shifting alliances playing out against the precarious backdrop of a nation in free fall.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Moisés Naím is an internationally syndicated columnist and the host and producer of Efecto Naím, an Emmy winning weekly television program on international affairs that has been aired throughout the Americas since 2012 via NTN24/DirecTV. Naím was the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy magazine for 14 years and is the author of many scholarly articles and 15 books on international economics and politics. In 2011, he received the Ortega y Gasset prize, the most prestigious award for journalism in the Spanish language. His 2013 book, “The End of Power”, a New York Times bestseller, was selected by the Washington Post and the Financial Times as one of the best books of the year. In the early 1990s, Naím served as Venezuela’s Minister of Trade and Industry, as director of Venezuela’s Central Bank, and as executive director of the World Bank.  He was previously professor of business and economics and dean of IESA, Venezuela’s leading business school. Dr. Naím holds MSc and PhD degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lives in Washington, DC. For more information visit https://www.moisesnaim.com/.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:

Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor, and translator with nearly seventy books to his name. He chaired the Translators Association for two years and served four years as a director of the British Centre for Literary Translation and four years as editor of the journal In Other Words. Recent translations include Juan Pablo Villalobos’s I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me, Julián Fuks’s Resistance, and Carola Saavedra’s Blue Flowers. For more information, visit www.danielhahn.co.uk.

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