ANNOUNCING THE COMING OF CLOVER BLUE: A Novel by Eldonna Edwards Coming to a Store Near You on 5.28.19

CLOVER BLUE: A Novel

Author: Eldonna Edwards

Publisher: Kensington Press

Publication Date: 5.28.19

Genre: Literature & Fiction > Women’s Fiction > Coming of Age > Literary > Historical

Page Count: 304 Pages

ISBN-9781496712899

ISBN-9781496712912

Order from Barnes & Noble, Hudson Booksellers, Amazon,  Books-A-Million, IndieBound, Walmart, et cetera. Order the ePub edition from Amazon (Kindle), Apple, Google, Kobo, and Nook. Or Purchase in stores SEVEN DAYS FROM NOW (05.28.19)

My Rating: 5 + STARS

Author’s Bio (Provided by the Publisher’s Author Page):

Eldonna Edwards grew up in a large family nestled between cornfields and churches in the provincial Midwest. She eventually escaped the harsh winters, moving to California where she expanded her career from journaling facilitator to author to beloved writing instructor to keynote speaker. Her bestselling debut novel, This I Know, won over the hearts and minds of readers everywhere and was a Delilah Book Club selection. In her second novel Clover Blue (May 2019) Eldonna once again explores themes of otherness and belonging, and the true definition of home. She is also the subject of the award-winning documentary Perfect Strangers that follows one kidney patient and one potential kidney donor in their search for a possible match. Her 2014 memoir Lost in Transplantation chronicles this life-changing decision. Eldonna currently lives and writes in a tiny pink house with her best friend, Brer. Readers can visit her online at eldonnaedwards.com. 

Follow Eldonna Edwards on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, BlogSpot

Contact Eldonna Edwards – Book Clubs Contact for Info  – For media inquiries, please email your request to Vida Engstrand, Communications Director: vengstrand@kensingtonbooks.com 

Clover Blue Book Description (Provided by Publisher): 

Set against the backdrop of a 1970s commune in Northern California, Clover Blue is a compelling, beautifully written story of a young boy’s search for identity.

There are many things twelve-year-old Clover Blue isn’t sure of: his exact date of birth, his name before he was adopted into the Saffron Freedom Community, or who his first parents were. What he does know with certainty is that among this close-knit, nature-loving group, he is happy. Here, everyone is family, regardless of their disparate backgrounds—surfer, midwife, Grateful Dead groupie, Vietnam deserter. But despite his loyalty to the commune and its guru-like founder Goji, Blue grapples with invisible ties toward another family—the one he doesn’t remember.

With the urging of his fearless and funny best friend, Harmony, Clover Blue begins to ask questions. For the first time, Goji’s answers fail to satisfy. The passing months bring upheaval to their little clan and another member arrives, a beautiful runaway teen named Rain, sparking new tensions. As secrets slowly unfurl, Blue’s beliefs—about Goji, the guidelines that govern their seemingly idyllic lives, and the nature of family itself—begin to shift. With each revelation about a heartbreaking past he never imagined, Blue faces a choice between those he’s always trusted, and an uncertain future where he must risk everything in his quest for the truth.

Part coming-of-age tale, part love story, part mystery, Clover Blue tenderly explores an unconventional but no less complex family that resonates with our deep-rooted yearning for home. 

Clover Blue: A Novel by Eldonna Edwards – Book Trailer by Kensington Press

Other Books by Eldonna Edwards:

This I Know Book Description (Provided by Publisher): 

“Set in a small Midwest town in the late 1960s and helmed by an unforgettable young protagonist—compassionate, uncannily wise Grace—This I Know is a luminous coming-of-age story from an astonishing new voice.

Eleven-year-old Grace Carter has a talent for hiding things. She’s had plenty of practice, burying thoughts and feelings that might anger her strict Evangelical pastor father, and concealing the deep intuition she carries inside. The Knowing, as Grace calls it, offers glimpses of people’s pasts and futures. It enables her to see into the depth of her mother’s sadness, and even allows Grace to talk to Isaac, her twin brother who died at birth. To her wise, loving Aunt Pearl, the Knowing is a family gift; to her daddy, it’s close to witchcraft.

Grace can’t see into someone’s thoughts without their permission. But it doesn’t take her special talent to know that her small community is harboring its share of secrets. A young girl has gone missing. Within Grace’s own family too, the cracks are widening, as her sisters Hope, Joy, and Chastity enjoy the normal life that eludes Grace. It’s Grace’s kinship with other outsiders that keeps her afloat—Lyle, a gentle, homeless man, and Lola, a free-spirited new girl at school. But when her mother lapses into deep depression after bringing home a new baby, Grace will face a life-changing choice—ignore her gift and become the obedient daughter her father demands, or find the courage to make herself heard, even it means standing apart . . .”

This I Know: A Novel by Eldonna Edwards – Book Trailer by Kensington Press

Lost in Transplantation: Memoir of an Unconventional Organ Donor: Book Description (Provided by Whole Heart Publications):

“One Gently Used Kidney, Free to a Good Home. When 48 year-old single mother, massage therapist and returning student Ellie meets a young woman with kidney disease, she decides to make it her mission to save the girl. Unfortunately outdated rules made it difficult for altruistic donors and besides, the woman doesn’t want a savior. Does this stop Ellie from her quest to ‘be the change’ one seeks in the world? Not a chance. Told with humor and self-reflection, this inspirational memoir of courage and compassion is interwoven with anecdotal stories that help the reader identify what kind of person commits the selfless act of organ donation. Ellie, a self-described devout agnostic, is kind but often irreverent. She is generous, but she is no saint. Ultimately, becoming a kidney donor has given her a renewed sense of purpose and fulfillment. Lost in Transplantation asserts that we are all capable of altering a human being’s life for the better, including our own.” 

My Review:

Author Eldonna Edwards arrived on the literary scene like a shooting star with her sensationally written 5 Star debut novel This I Know, and she is back a year later with CLOVER BLUE, another 5 + STAR novel that is mesmerizing and riveting, and is guaranteed to leave you “book-drunk.” I was fortunate to receive and read an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of ClOVER BLUE, and it was as if the world stood still for two days as I devoured Edwards’ novel. Many have written it, read it, or heard it said: “I became entranced in the book from its very first page.” I have said it, and I have written these same, or similar words while reviewing a book, but the truth is, the first time I ever experienced being this captivated while reading a novel from its first page to its last page was when I  read CLOVER BLUE. And yes, I was “book-drunk,” as well as melancholy when I read the last line of CLOVER BLUE. Everyone has read a book that left us wanting more when we closed the book, having read the final line, and feeling disappointed. I regretted gulping CLOVER BLUE down, not timing myself and often times forgetting to take a breath. I wanted more of CLOVER BLUE, as readers will find when they too read Edward’s CLOVER BLUE.

Edwards has written another artistically gripping novel, meticulously and impeccably balancing the plot flow of CLOVER BLUE and its true to life characters in their day-to-day lives living in the Saffron Freedom Community. Edwards’ is second to none in her crafting and development of characters and multiple vivid and illuminating character relationships, both within and outside of the Saffron Freedom Community. 

Edwards’ characters are adeptly created and introduced. Edwards creates and introduces each character so well that you feel as if you come to personally know the characters in CLOVER BLUE. You also come to know their unconventionality and differing personas. I wanted to meet these characters, namely Blue, Harmony and Rain as they were the foremost impetus for the emotions I experienced while reading CLOVER BLUE, emotions I continue to experience when I reminisce on CLOVER BLUE and nostalgia carries me back to the Saffron Freedom Community.  Edwards’ characters and her masterful use of dialogue through the character’s interactions are a literary force to behold. One cannot help but connect with Edwards’ characters or find the characters have moved into your heart.  

Edwards’ CLOVER BLUE flows sublimely from its first page to its last page, and as I have already said, will leave you wanting more. The book description alone provides the reader with enough of the storyline to woo you and leave you yearning for more of Edwards’ 5+ STAR novel CLOVER BLUE. It will be incomprehensible to me if book readers, book lovers, and book clubs do not put CLOVER BLUE at the top of their must-read list. Edwards’ CLOVER BLUE is a beautiful coming of age novel that has my strongest possible recommendation I have given a book to date.

What the book description does not tell you is that amid this thought-provoking, heartfelt one of a kind novel, Edwards’ injects parts of her scintillating sense of humor which had me laughing out loud again and again. To help you with your decision to purchase or put CLOVER BLUE at the top of your must-read list, I have to also say there is a ripple effect that begins from your first encounter with CLOVER BLUE and continues throughout the novel as Edwards’ brings CLOVER BLUE to its dramatic climax. Lest there be any doubt, believe me when I tell you that CLOVER BLUE is a profound, coming of age literary masterpiece by Eldonna Edwards, an author without limit. CLOVER BLUE is a keeper, a novel you will also return to and read again and again, just as I do, just as I will.

UPDATE ON Eldonna Edwards novel: This I Know

Edwards’ 5 STAR debut novel This I Know is now available in paperback, as of 04.30.19. My review for This I Know is available to read on my blog, Book Reviews & Musings.