āWhy I write about the Lowcountryā
One day until THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER releases (June 4th), and I am often asked ā āWhy do you write about the Lowcountry?ā
Through the fifteen years that Iāve been writing stories set in its mystical lands, Iāve answered that question in so many ways. But here I try again because that is the best we can do ā try.
My talented daughter and son-in-law Moon & Rock filmed this and put my words to the screen. Through my sentiments combined with the images they shot, I see the answer to the questions unfold before my eyes.
Highlights: The "story behind the story," updated book tour dates, book club kit, Stories in the Lowcountry, a conversation with Patti, and a new partnership with Women's Alzheimer's Movement, plus more. . .
VIEW Newsletter & Share
June 3, 2019
Dear Friends,
You know that feeling when something youāve always cared and wondered about ends up in a story. Yeah, that feeling? Well, it happened to me when I wrote this novel ā my fascination with memory and how it defines us has shown up in a few of my novels, but in this one, it takes center stage. This time, my curiosity stole the show.
Life is made up of thousands of memories, if not millions. The smell of a favorite childhood landscape. The touch of a loved oneās hand. The sound of a loverās whisper. The sight of a babyās smile. The ache of loss and heartbreak.
Do such memories define us? They often seem to, and yet ā what is a memory?
Amorphous connections inside the brain? Electrochemical signals? Synapses connecting with the patterns of things that have happened to us? These are ā of course ā questions that donāt have a fully satisfactory answer.
Well, sometimes story seems to be the only answer I can find. So please meet the Donohue family as they struggle with not only the memories they want to forget but also and more importantly, the ones they want to keep.
There are so many exciting things in this newsletter that I am pleased to share with you, including a new video we just made about the beautiful landscape where I tell my stories, plus a book club kit. Scroll on down!
Happy Reading.
All Love, š
āPatti Callahan Henry
The Favorite Daughter
Coming June 4, 2019
The New York Times bestselling Southern author Patti Callahan Henry, returns to the Lowcountry, with her fifteenth novel āTHE FAVORITE DAUGHTER, a lush, heart-wrenching novel about the power of memory, the meaning of family, and learning to forgive.
"If you want to keep a memory pristine, you must not call upon it too often."
āSally Mann, Hold Still
The Story Behind the Story
Patti Partners with
Women's Alzheimer's Movement
Brain Health Facts & Tips in Every Copy of The Favorite Daughter
"I want to tell you about a person and a place doing so much good in the world. This is of course what we need. And now Iāve partnered with them to share their story, which is also ours in so many ways."āPatti Callahan Henry
THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER centers around a family that must either come together or fall apart (or both) over an Alzheimerās diagnosis. Not often does an authorās past and a storyās future come together as it does in this book.
My past life (not that kind) was as a pediatric nurse, and my graduate thesis centered on brain injuries. I have long been fascinated by the role memory plays in our lives and as a definition of self.
š When @teresamumu introduced me to the work of WAM (Womenās Alzheimerās Movement) with @mariashriver Maria Shriver, I knew I had found a kindred spirit in facing these questions head-on with action. Real action and research.
Iāll be talking so much more about this ā but for now ā check them out. Check out their brain healthy tips and subscribe to their newsletter. Information is coming in at a rapid pace and they are keeping up! @womensalzmovement. View Blog Post.
Summary
The New York Times bestselling Southern author returns to the Lowcountry, with her fifteenth novel āTHE FAVORITE DAUGHTER, a lush, heart-wrenching novel about the power of memory, the meaning of family, and learning to forgive.
Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City.
Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is homeāuntil she learns of her dadās failing health.
Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the familyās Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sistersā rift. While Alzheimerās slowly steals their fatherās memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs.
As his secret past brings Lenaās own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home.ā
Pub Date; June 4, 2019
Publisher: Berkley 368 pages
Formats: Paperback and e-book
ISBN-10: 0399583130
ISBN-13: 978-0399583131
ASIN: B07H735HPT
Praise
THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER
"One of 10 Southern books for your summer reading list."
āAtlanta-Journal Constitution
"2019 Summer Reading List"
30 of the latest beach reads, mysteries, Southern fiction and more to read as temperatures rise.
āDeep South Magazine
"[I]n Henryās satisfying latest novel . . . . readers will be immersed in this moving tale, hungry to learn whether love and family will overcome betrayal, secrets, and heartache."
āPublishers Weekly
ā[H]enryās latest (after Becoming Mrs. Lewis, 2018) packs an emotional wallop, delving into the bonds and tragedies that make a family. . . . Readers of thoughtful family dramas will be drawn to the travails of the Donohue clan.ā
āBooklist
"Patti Callahan Henry is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Her latest, THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER, is a story of reflection, forgiveness, and surprising twists."
ā Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
āIn exquisitely-wrought prose, Patti Henry lyrically examines the meaning of forgiveness and the inexorable tug of home.ā
āMary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of The High Tide Club
āThe Favorite Daughter is both heartfelt and heartbreakingly honest in its portrayal of a family once divided by scandal and brought together through the power of memories....Moving, intelligent, full of twists and turns, I loved it! Patti Callahan Henry shines at family dramas and The Favorite Daughter is her best!"
āMary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Guests
āA layered, spellbinding novel about families and lovers and the meaning of home. Above all, itās about memory, how it shapes us, fools us, and warms our hearts. This is one truly beautiful book.ā
āNancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of A Nantucket Wedding
Check out The Favorite Daughter Web Page
Updated š Book Tour
THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER
Join me on ā Tour!
There are many exciting events and appearances planned for THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER! From coffee, mimosas, to visiting a winery, pub, farmstead, plus gourmet delights, delicious luncheons, and dinners, to historic homes āplus plenty of interesting literary conversations with fellow authors, Mary Alice Monroe, Mary Kay Andrews, Jane Green, and more. Let's not forget the fantastic bookseller sponsors and the scenic venue hostsā from historical to the coastal areas. There will be ample book signings, friends, and fellow book lovers. It's going to be a fun time and hope; you will join me in a city near you!
Book Club Kit
Download The Book Club Kit
A Conversation with Patti
THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER
With Atlanta Magazine āScribes of Summerā
Patti Callahan Henry, The New York Times best-selling author has written 15 novels, including last yearās historical novel, Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
TITLE
The Favorite Daughter
WHAT ITāS ABOUT
How a fractured family comes to heal through memories that were both lost and found.
CENTRAL CHARACTERS
Colleen Donahue. Sheās in her 30s. She has had a terrible betrayal by the two people closest to her, sister and her fiancĆ©, and she has spent her life protecting herself from that pain.
THEMES
Itās about how memory defines who we are.
WHO WOULD STAR IN THE
MOVIE VERSION?
Amy Adams
EAGER TO READ
Everybody in this article. Iām not kidding.
FAVORITE BOOK OF 2018
The Lost Queen by Signe Pike
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
BEST THING ABOUT BEING A
WRITER
The tribe. The readers and the other writers
HARDEST THING
The middle of the book. Itās the time you think you canāt do it this time. Itās always the time you think youāre wasting your life and your time.
CURE FOR WRITERāS BLOCK
For me, because a long time ago I read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, Iāve redefined writerās block. I call it resistance.
When Iām stuck, I try to find ways to break through or get around it by filling back up the well, whether itās by taking a walk in nature or reading somebody elseās beautiful work. Sometimes, Iāll read poetry.
WRITING ADVICE
I think itās really good for new writers to know our books donāt come out the way they see them. They donāt see all the work, the edits, the dead ends.
By: Suzanne Van Atten
Photography by: Ben Rollins
Atlanta Magazine
Click "Scribes of Summer" below, to view the PDF original article.
Becoming Mrs. Lewis
Historical Fiction
Writing as Patti Callahan
Follow the Journey with Joy and Patti
About the Author
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times best-selling author of fourteen novels, including the historical fiction, BECOMING MRS. LEWISāThe Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. Her fifteenth novel, THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER, (Southern Contemporary Fiction) will be published June 4, 2019.
A full-time author and mother of three children, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband. Read More
Let's Connect
"Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real."
āCormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
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View Summer Newsletter June 3, 2019