Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tuesday Memes: The Cherry Harvest

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where you can share the first paragraph, or a few, of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!

Today I am spotlighting The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna

A memorable coming-of-age story and love story, laced with suspense, which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community . . . with dark and unexpected consequences.

The war has taken a toll on the Christiansen family. With food rationed and money scarce, Charlotte struggles to keep her family well fed. Her teenage daughter, Kate, raises rabbits to earn money for college and dreams of becoming a writer. Her husband, Thomas, struggles to keep the farm going while their son, and most of the other local men, are fighting in Europe.

When their upcoming cherry harvest is threatened, strong-willed Charlotte helps persuade local authorities to allow German war prisoners from a nearby camp to pick the fruit.

But when Thomas befriends one of the prisoners, a teacher named Karl, and invites him to tutor Kate, the implications of Charlotte's decision become apparent--especially when she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Karl. So busy are they with the prisoners that Charlotte and Thomas fail to see that Kate is becoming a young woman, with dreams and temptations of her own--including a secret romance with the son of a wealthy, war-profiteering senator. And when their beloved Ben returns home, bitter and injured, bearing an intense hatred of Germans, Charlotte's secrets threaten to explode their world.

Opening

    The rain came again, harder this time. Charlotte pulled her knit hat tight, pushed up the collar of her gray wool coat, and stared through the chicken wire at the rabbits. Kate’s prize rabbits.
     She entered the pen and chose a plump one, furry and warm in her cold hands. Its heart thumped like a tiny sewing machine. Charlotte brought it into the dim barn and stroked its fur until it calmed, trusting. She hesitated a moment—stealing from my own daughter—then picked up the butcher knife.

My Teaser

    Kate stiffened at the thought of personal messages between this man and her daughter. But before she could respond, Kate said, “In the barn. I’ll tack my homework to the rabbit hutch.”
page 78

So...what do you think? Is this one you would pick up? Leave a comment below!

(These quotes are from uncorrected advance proofs. Please refer to the final printed book for corrected quotes!)
post signature

10 comments:

  1. The opening is really good -- I like the surprise of the last sentence.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, sounds like quite an intense read and a lot of tension between mother and daughter! Great teaser and opening!

    Here's my Teaser!

    Wendy Lohr

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the opening! Will keep an eye out for this one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I have been drawn to WWII stories lately, and this one sounds unique. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the title of this one and the opening as well. I'd keep reading!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I likwe the opener. It really pulled me in.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Seems well written but I'm not sure this is for me. Hope you enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I didn't expect that intro from the cover (LOL) I'd read more. enjoy Kim

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like the premise of the story and the intro. I would keep reading.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ooh yes I'd like to know more it sounds good! Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete