Friday, February 11, 2011

Review: Flavors By Emily Sue Harvey


Flavors By Emily Sue Harvey

Release Date: March 1, 2011

Product Details: 
  • Paperback: 120 pages
  • Publisher: Story Plant, The
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1611880033
  • ISBN-13: 978-1611880038
 

About the Author:

Emily Sue Harvey is a past president of the Southeastern Writer's Association.  She has contributed to several volumes in the "Chicken Soup" and "Chocolate for Women" series and has published articles in multiple venues.  She is the mother of grown children and lives with her husband in South Carolina.


Description (From Good Reads):

Emily Sue Harvey’s first novel, Song of Renewal, was praised by New York Times bestselling author Jill Marie Landis as “an uplifting, heartwarming story,” by bestselling author Kay Allenbaugh as a work that will “linger in the memory long after readers put it aside,” and by Coffee Time Romance as “a must-read book for anyone doing a little soul searching.” New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry said, “It captures your attention, and whets your appetite for more,” while Peeking between the Pages called it “quite simply a beautiful book.”
Now, in Flavors, this master storyteller of the human heart sweeps us along with twelve-year-old Sadie Ann Melton as she enters a life-altering season. The summer of 1950 will change everything for her. For in that summer, she will embark on an odyssey at once heartbreakingly tender and crushingly brutal. At times, she will experience more darkness than she has ever witnessed before. At others, she will thrill to lightness and joy she never imagined. By summer’s end, the Melton women in Sadie’s journey - loving her, coaxing her, and commanding her - will help shape her into the woman she becomes. And they will expose Sadie to all of the flavors of life as she savors the world that she brings into being.
Filled with charm, wisdom, and the smorgasbord of emotions that comes with the first steps into adulthood, Flavors once again proves Emily Sue Harvey’s unique ability to touch our souls with her unforgettable stories.

My Thoughts:

What an enchanting read!  In this beautifully written novella, Emily Sue Harvey, presents the ever-so charming character, 12 year-old Sadie Ann Melton, who quickly reminded me of "Scout" in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird; full of life and innocence and that ever persistent sense of curiosity and wonder about all that surrounds her and often times, not knowing when to keep quiet. Such is the flavor of youth!  But Sadie Ann is more than just a character, she's that inner child found in all of us and as we grow older we find ourselves seeking out that inner child, that zest and innocence that only childhood could capture.  Emily Sue Harvey takes us on a journey to recapture that inner child with the fashion and grace that can only be told by a true southern storyteller. Full of warmth and heartache, this coming of age story at times had me in tears and yet at other times left smiling with the sweet nostalgia of that passage from adolescence into young adulthood.  Harvey's ability to evoke not only emotion, but sensory delight is astounding!  This is certainly a must read and would make a great book group endeavor as well.  I absolutely loved this book, easily give it a FIVE, and can't wait to read more from this truly talented author and storyteller!


Disclosure: I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review

*As a side note: Good Reads is currently hosting a Giveaway for a copy of this novella. 14 copies will be given and deadline to enter is February 20th, 2011.  CLICK HERE for details. 

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6 comments:

  1. Stopping by to follow and to say hello.
    Have a great weekend!
    POSH
    http://poshonabudget.com/2011/01/spring-and-friday-yum.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just hopping by via the Book Blogger Hop...have a fabulous weekend! Love the look of your blog....I'm a new follower.

    Here's my BLOGGER HOP

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dropping by from Friendly Friday...and so glad I did. I love reading/books....I think...they are my true weakness......This sounds like a fabulous book. I can not wait to read more. I hope you'll drop by..

    momsmustardseeds.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, this sounds like a really good read. It's fun to find new authors, isn't it? Sometimes it's like I saturate myself with one and they all start sounding the same. Then I pick up a new one and it's like I'm whitewashing my soul!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Newest Follower here via the Friday Hop. Also a full-time working mom (Reading Specialist) surviving the teenage years. In my free time (really?) I became a new contemporary romance writer with the publication of my first book in February of 2010. I hope you stop by and check out my new blog.

    Contemporary Romance Writer
    E Kelly
    http://writerekelly.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mention Scout Finch in a review and you have me hooked! I'm glad you joined my Southern Lit Challenge!

    ReplyDelete

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