Over the River Public Relations Archives

Get to know Jamaican American author, Donna Hemans

We’ve been working with Donna Hemans, a wonderful Jamaican American writer who is gaining visibility in the literary world. Her new novel, TEA BY THE SEA is a story of a family uniting and unraveling told seamlessly and with smart, clear prose. From Brooklyn to the island of Jamaica, TEA BY THE SEA traces Plum Valentine’s circuitous route to find her daughter and the child’s father, who walked out of a hospital with the day-old baby girl without explanation. Seventeen years later, weary of her unfruitful search, Plum sees an article in a community newspaper with a photo of the man for whom she has spent half her life searching. He has become an Episcopal priest. Her plan: confront him and walk away with the daughter he took from her. Instead, Plum finds herself locked in his church with her daughter and by the time it’s all over, Plum is the one in the back seat of a police car facing charges. TEA BY THE SEA is a poignant, multilayer story, that is beautifully written and touches on so many important and relevant issues including immigration, family secrets, mother-daughter relationships, parental kidnapping , betrayal and motherhood.

The novel has received some great attention. Donna was interviewed on Zibby Owens’ popular, Mom’s Don’t Have Time To Read Books podcast, the book was included in The New York Post’s “Best Books of the Week,” and The Rumpus ran an engaging interview with Donna called “An Exploration of Belonging.” Donna’s original essays have also recently appeared in Electric Literature: I Can Only Save My Grandparents’ Home by Preserving It in Fiction and in Ms. Magazine: Picking Meat From Tiny Bones: Coping with Coronavirus, Isolation and Aging Parents.

The bloggers also love TEA BY THE SEA. Check out the blog tour’s full schedule of reviews, interviews and more:

Jerome Charyn’s New Novel About Jerzy Kosinksi is Getting a lot of Attention

Critically acclaimed author, Jerome Charyn is getting a lot of attention for his new novel, JERZY that is just out from Bellevue Literary Press.

In JERZY, Jerome Charyn lends his unmistakable style to this most American story of personal disintegration, told through the voices of multiple narrators—a homicidal actor, a dominatrix, and Joseph Stalin’s daughter—who each provide insights into the shifting facets of Kosinski’s personality. The story unfolds like a Russian nesting doll, eventually revealing the lost child beneath layers of trauma, while touching on the nature of authenticity, the atrocities of WWII, the allure of sadomasochism, and the fickleness of celebrity.

Ruth Franklin wrote this great review and fascinating article for The New Yorker in which she describes the book as “a moving attempt to trace the connections between Kosinski’s wartime struggles and postwar fictions.

Benjamin Markovits in his review for The New York Times Book Review writes that JERZY is “a novel with a light touch that’s still capable of lifting heavy subjects. Charyn knows what he wants to do and knows how to do it.”

And JERZY was included in Jane Ciabattari’s 5 Books Making News This Week column for LitHub for the week of April 4th.

If you are looking for an intriguing and engaging book to read this Spring, add JERZY by Jerome Charyn to your list. This reader’s guide will also help make it an excellent choice for your next book club selection.

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EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET receives rave reviews from Irish and mainstream press

We’ve been fans of Eamon Loingsigh’s writing for some time now. We had the privilege to work on his debut novel, LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY, and now we’re excited to be helping to spread the word regarding his new work, EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET.

Reviews are starting to come in, and the Irish press, indy press — ALL the press — are loving this new novel. Check out what they have to say:

“In his beautiful, passionate prose, Loingsigh — an Irishman himself — continually reminds us of the motherland and the suffering of Irish emigrants. . . . EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET is a gangster story that reads more like “Robin Hood” than The Godfather because of these men’s inner strength and the love they have for each other. . . .
It’s also an intimate look at criminals whose lives have been hardened by oppression and weathered by storms, while inside their rough shells they hide soft hearts.”
—Washington Independent Review of Books

“When accomplished Irish American writers address the lives and experiences of the early 20th century Irish in New York they are recording, but also in a deeper sense also reclaiming a lost heritage. This is painstaking work that’s worth celebrating in its own right, but then to give us a vivid portrait of these flinty people in all their complexity and courage is a thing to cheer about. EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET, author Eamon Loingsigh’s new novel, is a follow up to Light of the Diddicoy, and it’s a high wire act of creativity and reclamation that deserves the widest possible audience.”

—Irish Central“

Loingsigh has an urgent story to tell. And he tells it well. This is a street-level history of how the other half has always lived, the kind of story rarely worried over in classrooms or political campaigns. Loingsigh’s great strength is his unsentimental take on the immigrant experience which—despite the rancor of today’s debate—often acquires a sepia tone when it is discussed in the past tense. EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET should be required reading for those who rail about how today’s immigrants “refuse to assimilate.”
–Brooklyn Rail

[EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET], a follow-up to his previous gripping novel The Light of the Diddicoy, is set on the rough-and-tumble streets in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, where Irish and Italian immigrants fight fiercely for control of the docks and all the jobs and money that comes with that control…On the surface, Loingsigh’s book mines Brooklyn’s gory and glorious Irish past. But it is also the quintessential read for 21st century Brooklyn. Not only is it all too plausible that Liam McGarrity’s grandchildren are cops of firefighters living in Marine Park. But consider all of those immigrants coming into Brooklyn these days. Love? Death? Money? Struggles in the homeland? Surely they can relate to a thing or two Liam had to endure as he was becoming an American in Brooklyn.

—Irish Voice

More reviews to come soon!

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Reviewers Love CRIME PLUS MUSIC!

CRIME PLUS MUSIC: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir is a fantastic new collection edited by novelist and Wall Street Journal rock and pop music critic, Jim Fusilli (Three Rooms Press). The book is a collection of darkly intense, music-related noir stories by world-renowned mystery authors, including: Craig Johnson (The Cold Dish), David Liss (A Conspiracy of Paper), Val McDermid (The Mermaids Singing), Gary Phillips (The Darker Mask), and Alison Gaylin (Hide Your Eyes), plus notable authors from the world of pop music including Galadrielle Allman (Please Be With Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman), Willy Vlautin (singer/songwriter of indie band Richmond Fontaine), and more.

The Washington Post says, “There’s plenty here to chew on for fans of rock-and-roll and crime fiction.”

Other reviewers are loving CRIME PLUS MUSIC as well:

“Fusilli’s music-themed anthology rocks with superb solos from a number of big-name mystery writers and others who deserve to be better known. . . . Splendid compilation.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“ Hits the mark . . . superb collection!” —LIBRARY JOURNAL

“ A strong lineup of talent . . . hilarious . . . raw . . . exciting!” —A LA BOOKLIST

“ The music behind the stories in this volume ranges from country to rock to pop to contemporary electronic dance music to (get this!) bagpipes . . . The stories are little gems.” —DEADLY PLEASURES

“ The lineup of authors is impressive . . . and crime of every form playing alongside music of every form is a great idea!” —BOOKLOONS

“ This short story collection could ﬁll an Award shortlist all on its own. . . . Don’t-miss new writings from some of your favorite crime ﬁction authors— as well as some well-known folks from the music industry.” — BOLO BOOKS

“ In the hands of these modern masters of mystery ﬁction, CRIME PLUS MUSIC exposes the nasty side of the world of popular music, revealing it to be the perfect setting for noir.” — THE BOOK REPORTER

CRIME PLUS MUSIC exposes the nasty side of the world of popular music, revealing it to be the perfect setting for noir.

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Fantastic Early Reviews for This Way to the End Times!

If you’re a fan of science fiction, you won’t want to miss THIS WAY TO THE END TIMES: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse edited by Robert Silverberg, one of science-fiction’s most beloved writers. This collection of 21 gripping stories about the not-too-distant demise of the earth as we know it, will be out on October 25, 2016 from Three Rooms Press.

And what a collection! From rare classic tales by science-fiction legends Jules Vernes and Olaf Stapledon, intense works by Grand Masters Connie Willis, Jack Vance, Ursula K. Le Guin and Brian W. Aldiss, to haunting stories by contemporary authors Dale Bailey, Karen Haber, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, and Megan Arkenberg, THIS WAY TO THE END TIMES paves the road to the fantastical future, alternating humor with grit, and hope with ghastly post-apocalyptic visions.

Early reviews from the book trade publications have been fantastic!

Booklist gave it a starred review and says, “With its range of contributors, this is a much needed volume that will both satisfy the high demand for apocalyptic tales and remind readers of the actual breadth and depth of this literature of the end of the world.”

Publishers Weekly also gave it a starred review and says, “These stunning stories contemplate survival while question whether life is worth saving.”

And Kirkus Reviews says “the variety of ways in which these stories choose to end the world offers a great deal—nightmarish, funny, lonely, or hopeful—for the imagination. Wonderfully written, surprisingly varied apocalyptic tales”

Add THIS WAY TO THE END TIMES to your Fall must-read list. You can pre-order on Amazon today!

Get to know Jamaican American author, Donna Hemans

The Livre Café | 6/1

Book of Cinz | 6/8

Suzy Approved Book Reviews | 6/14

Gail Renatta | 6/21

Beth’s Book Nook Blog | 6/28

Jerome Charyn’s New Novel About Jerzy Kosinksi is Getting a lot of Attention

EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET receives rave reviews from Irish and mainstream press

More reviews to come soon!

Reviewers Love CRIME PLUS MUSIC!

Fantastic Early Reviews for This Way to the End Times!

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