Susan Kelly, author - women's fiction

News/Announcements

Reviewer describes BY ACCIDENT as "stunning"

May 23, 2010

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/05/23/1448042/a-stunning-year-of-a-mothers-grief.html

In both The Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News and Observer, reviewer Ruth Moose writes:

Sex happens. And so do betrayal and chaos and accidents.

In Greensboro author Susan Kelly's fifth novel, all of the above happens when the reader least expects it. Wham, just when you thought that business was over, the door closed, here it is perfectly in place. Bam.

In prose tight as a bowstring, with metaphors that never miss their mark, Kelly writes with a pen so clean, so beautifully paced, her prose takes your breath away. Each word shines in its carefully chosen place.

In "By Accident," Kelly gives us a year in the life of Laura Lucas as she deals with the unexpected death of her teenage son, Whit. One morning, in separate cars, she and Whit are on their way to the beach, and the next minute he's not. You think of every teen driver. You remember Elizabeth Edwards and the loss of her son. You wonder whether that story sparked the impetus for this one.

Then the thoughts flicker away, and you grieve with Laura. How does she get from one dark day to the next? "What I did today was watch. Watched from the bedroom window. Watched the street, the houses, the driveways, the lawn below. The lawn where Whit had accidentally let go a helium balloon, watched it float above the roofline and the trees until he finally shouted, 'God! Send it back!' Laura thinks 'God! Send him back!'"

The Lucas family lives in a neighborhood where the lots are more valuable than the houses that sit on them. In "By Accident," Kelly gives the reader, in the aftermath of a tornado's wild rampage, the perfect metaphor for nature's grief. Also for Laura's brief affair. How do you put ordinary and normal back in your life when the awful has happened? And what of the crazy and daring things grief can pull or push one into? How can it be explained?

It can't. But Kelly paints a strong picture for survival.

Ruth Moose is a fiction writer who teaches English at UNC Chapel Hill.

and from Publisher's Weekly: Kelly's latest, a delicate novel of grief and recovery, takes readers deep into the mind of a grieving mother. After Laura's son, Whit, dies, she's emotionally paralyzed. Her husband, Russ, is busy with his construction business, and their teen daughter, Ebie, grows disconnected. But when a jovial young arborist named Elliot moves in next door and befriends Laura and Ebie, Laura slowly warms back up to the world, and Elliot, whose fun-loving nature can verge on reckless, takes to Ebie with a Peter Panlike verve. As it becomes clear that Russ is keeping important secrets from his family, Laura and Elliot's emotional intimacy creepily escalates (is he a substitute for her son? an object of lust?), and Kelly drops in cinematic flashbacks that ratchet up the tension. Kelly's characters--all excellent, except cipherlike Russ--imbue this novel with an understated power. Kelly doesn't go in for the cheap movie-of-the-week melodrama often found in grieving mother fiction, and the reader is much better off for it.

ISBN: 1605980889 Pegasus Books Published 2010-05 Hardcover, $24.00 (288p) Fiction | Family Life

Events

November 16, 2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010: Bookclub appearance, Old Raleigh Literary Society. Raleigh, NC 11:30 a.m.

November 9, 2010

Tuesday, November 9, 2010. Bookclub appearance, Charlottesville VA.

November 3, 2010

Wednesday, November 3, 2010: Bookclub appearance, Goldsboro, NC 1:00 p.m.

November 2, 2010

Tuesday, November 2, 2010: Bookclub appearance, Greenville, NC

October 28, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010: Bookclub speaking appearance, 5:30-7:00. Greensboro, NC.

October 26, 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010: Bookclub appearance. Wilmington NC.

October 12, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010: Bookclub appearance, Greensboro, NC. 11:30 a.m.

October 5, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010: Reading and Signing at Bull's Head Bookshop, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 3:30 p.m.

September 28, 2010

Tuesday, September 28, 2010: Bookclub appearance, Greensboro NC. 6:00 p.m.

September 26, 2010

Sunday, September 26, 2010: Speaking/Reading appearance at the Friends of the Library Author Tea, on behalf of the Greensboro Public Library. O'Henry Hotel, 3:00 p.m.

September 14, 2010

Tuesday, August 14, 2010. Appearance before Carteret Writers, Morehead, NC. 11:15

September 9, 2010

Thursday, September 9, 2010: Bookclub appearance. Raleigh, NC

August 6, 2010

Friday, August 6, 2010. 11:30 a.m. Moveable Feast Event. Litchfield Books. 14427 Ocean Hwy. Unit 6. Litchfield Landing. Pawleys Island, SC 29585 http://www.litchfieldbooks.com/ litchfieldbooks@worldnet.att.net

July 15, 2010

Thursday, July 15, 2010, 2:00 - 4:00. Quarter Moon Books, Topsail Beach.

June 12, 2010

Saturday, June 12, 2010. 11:00 a.m. McIntyre's Fine Books, Fearrington Village, Chapel Hill, NC

June 10, 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010. "Lunch With An Author" 11:30-2:00. McKeithan Center, Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington NC. Contact: info@mccoll-associates.com

June 10, 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010: Pomegranate Books, 4418 Park Avenue, Wilmington NC, 7:00 p.m.

June 9, 2010

Wednesday, June 9, 7:00 p.m. The Regulator Bookshop, Durham, NC

June 3, 2010

Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 6:30: Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, VA.

June 2, 2010

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Book People, Granite Avenue, Richmond VA.

May 22, 2010

Saturday, May 22, 2010, Noon - 1:00 pm. Appearance and signing at Holy Trinity Church Sacred Garden Bookstore. 607 N. Greene Street. Greensboro, NC.

May 21, 2010

Friday, May 21, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Malaprops. 55 Haywood Street. Asheville, NC 28801-2834. www.malaprops.com Contact: Alsace, alsace@malaprops.com, (828) 254-6734

May 20, 2010

Thursday, May 20, 2010. 7:30 p.m. Quail Ridge Books. 3522 Wade Avenue. Raleigh, NC 27607 http://www.quailridgebooks.com Contact: Rene, rene.martin@quailridgebooks.com, 919-828-7912

May 19, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, NC

May 15, 2010

Saturday, May 15, 2010, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm: Appearance and signing at One Eleven Main, 111 West Main Street, Aberdeen, NC. 910- 944-1181

May 6, 2010

Thursday, May 6, 2010, 7:00 pm: Barnes and Noble. Friendly Shopping Center. Greensboro, NC 27408. www.bn.com Contact: Becky Carignan, crm2795@bn.com, 336-854-2508

May 2, 2010

Sunday, May 2, 2010, 3:00 p.m.: Appearance for Literary Traditions, Friends of the Library. Troy Public Library, Troy, NC

May 1, 2010

Mayfest, 9:00 - 4:00 Horton's Books & Gifts. 410 Adamson Square. Carrolton, GA 30117. Contact: Dorothy Pittman, authorevents@hortonsbooks.com, 770-832-8021

April 30, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010. 12:00 noon - 5:00 p.m. Cowan's Book Nook. 96 Craig Street East Ellijay, GA 30540-8609 Darcie Pritchett, booknook@ellijay.com, (706) 515-8700

April 4, 2010

Thursday, March 4, 2010: Bookclub appearance, Greensboro NC. 2:30 p.m.

March 25, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010: Appearance at Authors Night: Reidsville Public Library, 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 26, 2010: Bookclub appearance, 7:30 p.m. Greensboro, NC