Solomon's Oak

Description

"Solomon's Oak" is the story of three people who have suffered losses that changed their lives forever. To make ends meet, Glory Solomon, a young widow, is using the chapel her husband built on their central California farm, under a 200-year-old white oak tree, as a place to hold unusual weddings. Her first is for a bride and groom who want a pirate wedding. Fourteen-year-old Juniper McGuire is the surviving member of a family decimated by a local kidnapping. Juniper arrives on Glory's doorstep, pierced, tattooed, angry and homeless. When Glory's husband Dan was alive they took in foster children and raised them. But Juniper may be more than she has the capacity to handle. Joseph Vigil is a former Albuquerque police officer and crime lab photographer who was shot during an assignment. Now disabled and in constant pain, he came to California to photograph the giant trees of the state. Jo-Ann Mapson's deeply felt, wise and warm portrayal of broken souls finding their way back to humanity shows how these three people - along with a host of dogs, horses and goats -enter and transform each other's lives.

Promotion info

Book Club appeal: A page-turning story full of warmth and heart - for fans of Barbara Kingsolver's earlier novels or Larry McMurtry's contemporary books Beloved by other authors: Advance praise from Jodi Picoult, Kristin Hannah and many others Jodi Picoult will announce the book on her website!

Reviews

'In Solomon's Oak, we see how some things - like massive oaks, and unshakeable love - can stand the test of time. I love the way Jo-Ann Mapson writes about family - how the roots we put down are the ones that ultimately hold us together. Actually, let me correct myself: I just love the way Jo-Ann Mapson writes, period' Jodi Picoult 'Mapson [shows us] the world as we hope it is - a world in which flawed people can be basically healthy, and even pain has a richness to it ... One of the most gifted writers of the contemporary American West' Los Angeles Times 'As always, Jo-Ann Mapson creates a quirky, lovable cast of characters as real as your next door neighbors. Every woman will see someone she knows in her novels' Kristin Hannah, author of Firefly Lane 'Mapson creates characters so real you could recognize them coming down the road' Chicago Tribune

Author description

Jo-Ann Mapson is the author of nine previous novels, including Hank & Chloe, Blue Rodeo and the Los Angeles Times bestsellers The Wilder Sisters and Bad Girl Creek. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband and their five dogs. Visit her website at www.joannmapson.com.