Review of Michael Baron's Leaves

 

 

PUBLISHED BY: The Story Plant
PUBLICATION DATE: September 25, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9841905-4-6 (978-1-61188-011-3)
GENRE: Fiction
# OF PAGES: 332

 

Book Synopsis:Welcome to Oldham, CT, a small town rich in Colonial heritage while being utterly contemporary. Situated along the Connecticut River Valley, Oldham bursts with color every fall, as the leaves on its trees evolve into an unmatched palette of scarlet, orange, purple, yellow, and bronze. For more than three decades, the Gold family has been a central part of Oldham in the fall, its Sugar Maple Inn a destination for “leaf-peepers” from all over the country, and its annual Halloween party a stirring way to punctuate the town’s most active month.
But this year, more than just the leaves are changing. With the death of their parents, the Gold siblings, Maria, Maxwell, Deborah, Corrina, and Tyler, have decided to sell the Sugar Maple Inn, and this year’s Halloween party will be the last. As October begins, the Golds contend with the finality that faces them, and the implications it has for a family that has always been so close. For some, it means embracing new challenges and new love. For others, it means taking on unimagined roles. And for others, it means considering the inconceivable. Complicating it all is a series of “hauntings” that touch each of the Gold siblings, a series of benign interventions that will remain a mystery until October draws to a close.
Filled with romance, tension, and unforgettable family drama, LEAVES is the first in a series of novels about a world and a family that readers will want to make their own.

My Review

This book was very well written, very enthralling.  It is hard for me to describe how this book made me feel.  I thoroughly enjoyed and I’m very glad that it is the first in a series.  I feel like I know the Gold family on a personal level.  This book really explored the feelings of the Gold Family very well. 

The Gold family:  Maxwell, Maria, Deborah, Corrina, and Tyler recently lost their parents and have made the decision to sell their parents Inn.  The story focuses on each sibling and their relationships with each other and other people.  They each are going in different directions and drifting apart through the sale of the Inn.  Throughout the book, each sibling sees something that reminds them of an incident from the past, but them the image disappears.  They throw one last Halloween party at the Inn before the new owners take over.  During a picture, they all here their mother’s voice; telling them they will need each other in the future.

A great book that focuses on family and what sometimes happens with families that were once close.   This book leaves you with a sort of cliffhanger, leaving you definitely waiting for the next novel in the series to see what happens with the Gold family.  I can’t wait.  I highly recommend this book.  A very good job Michael Barron.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my participation in this blog tour.

 

About the Author:I grew up in the New York area and I’ve lived there my entire life. I worked in retail and taught high school English before I got my first book contract. I have gotten several additional book contracts since then, which is fortunate because I didn’t have the patience to work in retail and, while I quite enjoyed teaching, my approach was a bit too unconventional for most school systems. One school administrator told me that, “there are more important things than being a dynamic teacher.” Since I couldn’t name any of those things (at least in the context of school), I figured I didn’t have a long-term future in the profession. Hence, I became a writer, where I believe people appreciate a certain level of dynamism.
Though I started with nonfiction, I have always loved fiction and I have always wanted to write it. Since I can remember, I've had a particular affection for love stories. In fact, the very first book-length thing I ever wrote, when I was thirteen, was a love story. Mind you, it was the kind of love story that a thirteen-year-old boy would write, but it was a love story nonetheless. I have a deep passion for writing about relationships – family relationships, working relationships, friendships, and, of course, romantic relationships – and I can only truly explore this by writing fiction. These novels have given me a way to voice the millions of things running through my head.
My wife and kids are the center of my life. My wife is the inspiration for all of my love stories and my children enthrall me, challenge me, and keep me moving (and have served as the inspiration for several of the kids I've written about). One of the primary reasons I wrote my first novel, WHEN YOU WENT AWAY was that I wanted to write about being a father. Aside from my family, I have a few other burning passions. I’m a pop culture junkie with an especially strong interest in music, I love fine food (as well as any restaurant shaped like a hot dog), and I read far too many sports blogs for my own good.