Showing posts with label joel h. morris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joel h. morris. Show all posts

Monday, March 11, 2024

New Release Spotlight: All Our Yesterdays: A Novel of Lady Macbeth by Joel H. Morris

Today I'm delighted to share with you all a spotlight for Joel H. Morris' new release, All Our Yesterdays, out tomorrow, March 12th! This is a debut historical fiction novel that follows the life of the young Lady Macbeth years before the events of Shakespeare's play takes place. I was shocked that this was Morris' debut novel, as it is both ambitious and excellently executed with engaging and eloquent prose. Below, you'll find some information about the book including a brief a synopsis, some early praise, and some additional information about the author. Be sure to have a look–and happy reading!


ABOUT ALL OUR YESTERDAYS:
Author:  Joel H. Morris - Website
Pub. Date: March 12th, 2024
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Pages: 363

Find it: Amazon | Bookshop.org  


SYNOPSIS:
A propulsive and piercing debut, set ten years before the events of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, about the ambition, power, and fate that define one of literature’s most notorious figures: Lady Macbeth


Scotland, 11th Century. Born into a noble household and granddaughter of a forgotten Scottish king, a young girl carries the guilt of her mother’s death and the weight of an unknowable prophecy. When she is married at fifteen to the Mormaer of Moray, she experiences the violence of a sadistic husband and a kingdom constantly at war. To survive with her young son in a superstitious realm, she must rely on her own cunning and wit, especially when her husband’s downfall inadvertently sets them free.

Suspicious of the dark devices that may have led to his father’s death, her son watches as his mother falls in love with the enigmatic thane Macbeth. Now a woman of stature, Lady Macbeth confronts a world of masculine power and secures the protection of her family. But the coronation of King Duncan and the political maneuvering of her cousin Macduff set her on a tragic course, one where her own success might mean embracing the very curse that haunts her and risking the child she loves."


Early Praise:
“[A] beautiful interpretation, which is so rich in its descriptions and well-crafted characters. . . A most enjoyable setup for the Scottish play.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“All characters are drawn with inventiveness and depth. . . Entirely illuminating. . . [A] beautifully realized tale of a daughter, mother, and wife ultimately at the mercy of Fate’s unknowable interventions.” – Booklist

“A gorgeous evocation of a mother and son in a prison of their own too-powerful story, All Our Yesterdays is a triumph of both research and imagination, a heartbreaking and revelatory read.” – Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Rey

“Intriguing. . . Crisp, no-nonsense prose conveys the narrative’s gathering darkness [and] Morris intelligently explores the era’s gender dynamics. . . [An] entertaining prequel to Shakespeare’s complex and haunting tragedy.” – Publishers Weekly

“[A] wonderfully atmospheric novel. Morris drops the reader into a fully realized 11th-century world with all the sights and sounds. Carefully chosen words and small details shape this fearful and foreboding world. . . [A] rich study of one of the most vilified literary characters.” – Historical Novels Review

“As sharp and cutting as an obsidian dagger, Joel H. Morris’s All Our Yesterdays dives deep into Lady Macbeth’s backstory, replacing desire with fear, calculation with grief, and loss, not ambition, as the spark that ignites her bloody journey. You’ll never read Shakespeare’s play the same way again.” – Liz Michalski, author of Darling Girl

About the Author:
(bio from author's website)

Joel H. Morris is the author of All Our Yesterdays, his debut novel. He has worked most recently as an English teacher and, for the past twenty years has taught language and literature. He is the recipient of a year-long Fulbright Research Scholarship for archival research in Germany. Prior to earning a doctorate in comparative literature, he spent several years as a bookseller before joining a small maritime expedition company as a sailor. His essays, translations, and stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Lit Hub, Electric Literature, Crime Reads, Michigan Quarterly Review, Copper Nickel, Pembroke Magazine, and others. He lives in Colorado.



Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Morningside by Téa Obreht & All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris

   

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.


The Morningside by Téa Obreht
Publication: March 19th, 2024
Random House
Hardcover. 304 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"There’s the world you can see. And then there’s the one you can’t. Welcome to the Morningside.

After being expelled from their ancestral home, Silvia and her mother finally settle at the Morningside, a crumbling luxury tower in Island City where Silvia’s aunt Ena serves as the superintendent. Silvia feels unmoored in her new life because her mother has been so diligently secretive about their family's past. Silvia knows almost nothing about the place where she was born and spent her early years, nor does she know why she and her mother had to leave. But in Ena there is an a person willing to give the young girl glimpses into the folktales of her demolished homeland, a place of natural beauty and communal spirit that is lacking in Silvia's lonely and impoverished reality.

Enchanted by Ena’s stories, Silvia begins seeing the world with magical possibilities and becomes obsessed with the mysterious older woman who lives in the penthouse of the Morningside. Bezi Duras is an enigma to everyone in the building. She has her own elevator entrance and leaves only to go out at night and walk her three massive hounds, often not returning until the early morning. Silvia’s mission to unravel the truth about this woman’s life, and her own haunted past, may end up costing her everything.
"

I'm not entirely sure what to expect from this one outside of the intriguing premise, but Obreht always has really beautiful prose so I know it'll be a great read. 


All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris
Publication: March 12th, 2024 (US)
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"A propulsive and piercing debut, set ten years before the events of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, about the ambition, power, and fate that define one of literature’s most notorious figures: Lady Macbeth

Scotland, 11th Century. Born into a noble household and granddaughter of a forgotten Scottish king, a young girl carries the guilt of her mother’s death and the weight of an unknowable prophecy. When she is married at fifteen to the Mormaer of Moray, she experiences the violence of a sadistic husband and a kingdom constantly at war. To survive with her young son in a superstitious realm, she must rely on her own cunning and wit, especially when her husband’s downfall inadvertently sets them free.

Suspicious of the dark devices that may have led to his father’s death, her son watches as his mother falls in love with the enigmatic thane Macbeth. Now a woman of stature, Lady Macbeth confronts a world of masculine power and secures the protection of her family. But the coronation of King Duncan and the political maneuvering of her cousin Macduff set her on a tragic course, one where her own success might mean embracing the very curse that haunts her and risking the child she loves.
"

I always enjoy these retellings of literary figures, and after reading Lady Macbethad last year, I think I'm primed for another take on her story!