THE MEMORY OF US
by
Camille DiMaio
ADVANCED REVIEWER PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
"Powerful, emotional, and amazing read."
"A smashing debut!"
"Brilliantly told and executed."
"Will make you cry in the best way possible."
"This is a beautiful story of redemption, love, and honor."
"I fell in love with the characters."
"I'm not sure if I have ever had such a range of emotions with a book."
"This is one of the best books that I have read!"
"Touching and funny and tragic and beautiful."
"Packs a powerful, emotional punch."
by
Camille DiMaio
Genre: Historical Romantic Literary Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Press
Date of Publication: May 31, 2016
Number of Pages: 400
Scroll down for Giveaway!
Julianne Westcott was living the kind of life that other Protestant girls in prewar Liverpool could only dream about: old money, silk ball gowns, and prominent young men lining up to escort her. But when she learns of a blind-and-deaf brother, institutionalized since birth, the illusion of her perfect life and family shatters around her.
While visiting her brother in secret, Julianne meets and befriends Kyle McCarthy, an Irish Catholic groundskeeper studying to become a priest. Caught between her family’s expectations, Kyle’s devotion to the Church, and the intense new feelings that the forbidden courtship has awakened in her, Julianne must make a choice: uphold the life she’s always known or follow the difficult path toward love.
But as war ripples through the world and the Blitz decimates England, a tragic accident forces Julianne to leave everything behind and forge a new life built on lies she’s told to protect the ones she loves. Now, after twenty years of hiding from her past, the truth finds her—will she be brave enough to face it?
"Powerful, emotional, and amazing read."
"A smashing debut!"
"Brilliantly told and executed."
"Will make you cry in the best way possible."
"This is a beautiful story of redemption, love, and honor."
"I fell in love with the characters."
"I'm not sure if I have ever had such a range of emotions with a book."
"This is one of the best books that I have read!"
"Touching and funny and tragic and beautiful."
"Packs a powerful, emotional punch."
PURCHASE FROM
AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION
AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE BOOKS-A-MILLION
✪✪✪✪✪
HALL WAYS REVIEW: It's
a rare thing for me to take a romance book for review, but the inspiration and
premise of The Memory of Us were
both so intriguing, I had to sign-up!
I
knew from the first few pages that I had made a good choice to read this book.
Author
Camille Di Maio makes an impressive debut splash with The
Memory of Us, as she takes readers through the headiness,
happiness, heaviness, and heartache of love and the many consequences of
decisions made because of it. Readers see main
character Julianne through many stages of her life and
watch while she navigates the various paths she chooses at critical junctures. Julianne seems to operate on logic, but at
times it is warped reasoning driving her decisions. Ultimately, it is only with
the maturity that comes with aging that Julianne realizes the selfishness of
her decisions.
The
exploration of faith is a key element in the book and Di Maio addresses it
naturally. Julianne moves through many stages in her belief system, and after
tragedy strikes, she at first believes she is being punished and eventually questions
whether God exists at all. The sub-story
of Julianne finding her way back to God (which parallels her finding her way
back to Kyle) is believable and inspirational. Another key element in the book
is that people are flawed, and the characters in The Memory of Us are vastly more
interesting because of it. Again, it is with the maturity that comes with aging
that Julianne recognizes the flaws in others and herself and acts accordingly
to reassess and find forgiveness.
The
writing is beautifully done and the book is well-edited. Di Maio has done her
research to include plenty of details to immerse the readers in the times
without overwhelming them. Happily, the romance is clean and done tastefully.
Di Maio gives just enough information to leave readers satisfied and for the
relationships to feel authentic. There were a few places where I felt Julianne’s
character was inconsistent and some actions a stretch (especially in dealing
with her brother Charles), but overall, The Memory of Us is an excellent book and was time well spent. I look
forward to reading more from Camille Di Maio – hopefully sooner than later!
Camille is an award-winning real estate agent in San Antonio who, along with her husband of 18 years, home schools their four children. She has a bucket list that is never-ending, and uses her adventures to inspire her writing. She's lived in Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California, and spends enough time in Hawai'i to feel like a local. She's traveled to four continents (so far), and met Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. She just about fainted when she had a chance to meet her musical idol, Paul McCartney, too. Camille studied political science in college, but found working on actual campaigns much more fun. She belts out Broadway tunes whenever the moment strikes, and forever stays up late reading “just one more chapter”. There's almost nothing she wouldn't try, so long as it doesn't involve heights, roller skates, or anything illegal. "The Memory of Us" is Camille's debut novel. Her second, "Before the Rain Falls" will be released in the spring of 2017.
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GIVEAWAYS! GIVEAWAYS! GIVEAWAYS!
THREE WINNERS EACH GET
A SIGNED COPY OF THE BOOK!
A SIGNED COPY OF THE BOOK!
June 21 - July 5, 2016
CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
6/21 Missus Gonzo -- Review
6/22 Booksand
Broomsticks– Promo
6/23 The Page Unbound – Author
Interview #1
6/24 Texas Book Lover – Guest Post
6/25 TheLibrarian Talks – Review
6/26 CountryGirl Bookaholic – Excerpt
6/27 It's aJenn World – Author Interview #2
6/28 ByersEditing
Reviews & Blog -- Review
6/29 Forgotten Winds – Book Trailer
6/30 Margie's Must Reads – Review
7/1
Bloggingfor
the Love of Authors and Their Books –
Promo
7/2
TheCrazy Booksellers – Author
Interview #3
7/4
StoreyBookReviews – Author
Interview #4
7/5
HallWays Blog
– Review
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