Newman to launch second novel at Joseph-Beth Booksellers June 25

 Knox County novelist Melissa Newman has been invited to Joseph-Beth Booksellers to share her latest novel, House of Cleaving released in June by Whiskey Creek Press.

The event is Saturday, June 25 beginning at 2 p.m. with a reading and discussion.

House of Cleaving is written in Newman’s favorite prose – fiction. Her first book, Sister Blackberry released in

2010, also by Whiskey Creek Press, has enjoyed much success and Newman is happy to have gathered fans along the way, many from Barbourville and surrounding areas.

“Since my first book, Sister Blackberry, was released I have met many wonderful people in the area and I have been invited to speak at book clubs and readers’ groups all over the state. These thoughtful people have become good friends. I cherish my loyal readers and hope they like House of Cleaving as much as they enjoyed Sister Blackberry.”

House of Cleaving is the story of Annie, a woman who has truly lost everything – her son to a car crash in which she was driving, then a year later her mother to breast cancer. She wants to leave her small town and the painful memories there but there’s one problem – the house she thought she owned actually belongs to ten of her aunts and uncles, most of them estranged. Annie must travel outside her comfort zone and gather signatures from the family in order to move forward with the sale of her home. During her journey she meets a colorful and sometimes crazy cast of characters who tell her deep, dark Cleaving secrets. A family murder involving her mother, who had always been viewed as quiet and passive, is just one of the many revelations.

The idea for Cleaving came about like most other Newman novel ideas – with just one small seed.

“Yes, the beginning of the book really did happen,” Newman said. “Faced with a choice to find an entire family which had been splintered for decades or just walk away, I did the latter. Annie Cleaving, much braver than I, moved forward into a fictional account of what I imagined the journey might have been had I taken it.”

Newman is already hard at work on her third and fourth novels, “Daddy’s Girls,” scheduled for a spring 2012 release and The Bridge, with a yet-to-be-announced release date.

Another summer book launch event will take place at Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, the Frankfort Avenue location, July 9 at 4 p.m.

For more information about Melissa’s work or other upcoming events go to www.melissanewman.net

Books can be found at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com and can be ordered from most bookstore retailers.