From Tiffanie DeBartolo, author of God Shaped Hole, How to Kill a Rock Star, and Grace: The Jeff Buckley Story, comes Sorrow, a poignant story about friendship and love, art and music, and how these pursuits can save us from ourselves. Check out my spoiler-free review below.
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Kindle: https://amzn.to/3m7Mvh4
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3o5fAuF
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38962537
Synopsis:
Joe Harper has backpedaled throughout his life. A once-promising guitar prodigy, he’s been living without direction since abandoning his musical dreams. Now into his thirties, having retreated from every opportunity he’s had to level up, he has lost his family, his best friend, and his self-respect.
But Joe finds an unlikely path to redemption when he starts working as a carpenter for the bohemian conceptual artist October Danko. The job returns him to his hometown, loaded with bittersweet reminders of his former life, in the shadows of his beloved redwood trees. As Joe’s relationship with October develops, he yearns to take a daring step toward a bold future but struggles to escape the craven decisions of his past.
Sorrow is a stunning, moving novel that explores masculinity and suspended adolescence, all the while begging the questions: Can courage be learned? And is it ever too late to follow your heart?
Review of Sorrow
Sorrow by
Tiffanie DeBartoloMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Joe Harper is a work in progress. He takes a job as an assistant set-maker with a world-renowned performance artist, October Danko. Joe finds himself back in his California hometown, where he grew up surrounded by the redwood trees and trails he has always been enamored with throughout his life. Unlike the redwood trees he is obsessed with, he can't seem to find the courage to plant his own roots and branch out. Joe is so full of regret and sorrow that he can't find happiness within himself. When he finally seems to find the courage to lead him to the right trail in life, his world starts to resemble a forest fire.
While reading this book, I felt like I was part of Joe and October's complex story and was deeply involved in their own emotional performance art exhibition. As the reader, you are in for a journey of he(art) and soul set to a backdrop of art, music, and the beauty of Muir Woods. You should go into this book knowing your own takeaway is truly the experience of Tiffanie's storytelling art. I lived and breathed the words and worlds of Joe and October. Reading Sorrow was a unique and galvanizing experience. You might dislike Joe or even October at times. Think of them as a work in progress. One-click Sorrow on October 20th.
About Tiffanie:
Tiffanie's most recent novel is Sorrow. Her previous works include God-Shaped Hole, How To Kill a Rock Star, the graphic novel Grace: Based on the Jeff Buckley Story, and the film Dream for an Insomniac, which she wrote and directed.
Tiffanie grew up in Youngstown, Ohio where she insists there was nothing to do but read and listen to music. It is no surprise then that after graduating high school a year early to study philosophy at UC Berkeley, she became a writer and founded a record label.
She is the founder and Chief Executive Super Goddess of Bright Antenna Records, whose roster includes The Wombats, Sports Team, Wilderado, and Prep. She also cofounded the ShineMaker Foundation, a charity organization dedicated to making the world a better place. And she is a faculty member of the Jackson Hole Writers Conference, where she teaches writing every June.
In her spare time, she is a runner, hiker, yogi, world-traveler, cook, feminist, poet, and artist.
Tiffanie lives in Mill Valley, California with her husband Scott Schumaker and her two Irish Wolfhounds, Dipsea and Kazoo.
Connect with Tiffanie:
Web Site: https://www.tiffaniedebartolo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TiffanieDeBartoloAuthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffaniedebartolo/
