Cranberry Queen
2 journalers for this copy...
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Diana Moore, a thirtysomething professional woman in New York City, is brooding over her irritating dot-com job and rumor's about her ex-lover's beautiful new girlfriend, when the unimaginable happens: Her parents and only sibling are killed in a car crash in New Jersey. Reeling with shock, Diana quits her job and holes up in her apartment, trying to deal with her grief. When close friends try to intervene she flees, jumping into her car and driving blindly out of the city. After an unexpected encounter with a 70-year-old motorcyclist called Grace and her glamorous daughter, Diana discovers that she has landed in the pine barrens, a rural corner of New Jersey, an oasis of simple living and cranberries, where preparations are underway for the harvest and the night of the cranberry festival.
About the Author: Kathleen DeMarco is a screenwriter and producing partner of John Leguizamo at Lower East Side Films. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and has written for HBO, NBC, ABC, and CBS. Kathleen grew up in New Jersey and holds the prestigious title of 1982 New Jersey Blueberry Queen. She lives in New York City.
Diana Moore, a thirtysomething professional woman in New York City, is brooding over her irritating dot-com job and rumor's about her ex-lover's beautiful new girlfriend, when the unimaginable happens: Her parents and only sibling are killed in a car crash in New Jersey. Reeling with shock, Diana quits her job and holes up in her apartment, trying to deal with her grief. When close friends try to intervene she flees, jumping into her car and driving blindly out of the city. After an unexpected encounter with a 70-year-old motorcyclist called Grace and her glamorous daughter, Diana discovers that she has landed in the pine barrens, a rural corner of New Jersey, an oasis of simple living and cranberries, where preparations are underway for the harvest and the night of the cranberry festival.
About the Author: Kathleen DeMarco is a screenwriter and producing partner of John Leguizamo at Lower East Side Films. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and has written for HBO, NBC, ABC, and CBS. Kathleen grew up in New Jersey and holds the prestigious title of 1982 New Jersey Blueberry Queen. She lives in New York City.
Once in a while you stumble upon a book that, while it may not be the most well crafted writing in the world, it touches something inside you and causes you to dig deep inside yourself and reflect on life.
Cranberry Queen was one such book. I picked it up over a year ago, as possible fodder for one of the OBCZs. I've passed it by multiple times when glancing over the stacks, trying to choose my next read. I picked up up now, because I'd hoped it would be a title that could qualify for a challenge (it doesn't). But when I found it didn't qualify, I didn't put it down. I kept reading. It is having a profound impact on me. Who would have thought that a little paperback I picked up for pennies at a place that sells used books by the pound, would make me ponder life so much....
It centers on a woman readjusting her life after a horrible car accident. (She wasn't in it, but her entire family was.) The back of the book just mentions an accident, not what it was, etc, but it's all about recovery, and it had been so long since I'd registered it, that I completely forgotten the publisher's blurb. The entire family-- her parents and brother, are killed by a drunk driver while driving to a "meet the parents" dinner with his new fiancé's folks.
It is no secret that I love my family. They are my treasure, my heart and my hope. I remember when I first realized that love, in all its glory, was a two edged sword. That by opening your heart to another, and laying it on the line for the cause of love, you became vulnerable. I'm not talking about the kind of vulnerability where someone hurts or betrays you. What I am referring to is the vulnerability of mishap or accident. If something happened to me- an accident, illness or whatever, it would be hard and painful, but it would be me. I could deal with that. And if I die, I die. My beliefs in life help me to accept my fate after life. If I am alone, not opened by love, the circle of my life is one. Something happens, the implications don't radiate beyond that circle.
But when you love, you are vulnerable by extension. The safety you worry about is not your own, but that of your beloved. To hurt, it no longer has to happen to you but to the one you love.
Death happens. I know that. But premature or unexpected death is one of my horrors. I don't know how I might cope-- what strengths I might find or what depths I'd plunge. I still don't know, and I hope I never do. But this little volume made me take out all my worries and fears, shake them out and air them on the line, and let the breath of prayer and hope blow through them again.
Cranberry Queen was one such book. I picked it up over a year ago, as possible fodder for one of the OBCZs. I've passed it by multiple times when glancing over the stacks, trying to choose my next read. I picked up up now, because I'd hoped it would be a title that could qualify for a challenge (it doesn't). But when I found it didn't qualify, I didn't put it down. I kept reading. It is having a profound impact on me. Who would have thought that a little paperback I picked up for pennies at a place that sells used books by the pound, would make me ponder life so much....
It centers on a woman readjusting her life after a horrible car accident. (She wasn't in it, but her entire family was.) The back of the book just mentions an accident, not what it was, etc, but it's all about recovery, and it had been so long since I'd registered it, that I completely forgotten the publisher's blurb. The entire family-- her parents and brother, are killed by a drunk driver while driving to a "meet the parents" dinner with his new fiancé's folks.
It is no secret that I love my family. They are my treasure, my heart and my hope. I remember when I first realized that love, in all its glory, was a two edged sword. That by opening your heart to another, and laying it on the line for the cause of love, you became vulnerable. I'm not talking about the kind of vulnerability where someone hurts or betrays you. What I am referring to is the vulnerability of mishap or accident. If something happened to me- an accident, illness or whatever, it would be hard and painful, but it would be me. I could deal with that. And if I die, I die. My beliefs in life help me to accept my fate after life. If I am alone, not opened by love, the circle of my life is one. Something happens, the implications don't radiate beyond that circle.
But when you love, you are vulnerable by extension. The safety you worry about is not your own, but that of your beloved. To hurt, it no longer has to happen to you but to the one you love.
Death happens. I know that. But premature or unexpected death is one of my horrors. I don't know how I might cope-- what strengths I might find or what depths I'd plunge. I still don't know, and I hope I never do. But this little volume made me take out all my worries and fears, shake them out and air them on the line, and let the breath of prayer and hope blow through them again.
Acquired during a visit to Bookczuk. Will read and release.
