The Lost Letters from Martha’s Vineyard by Michael Callahan-review & giveaway

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 21, 2024

A tantalizing novel of two women bound by blood but divided by a long-buried secret, and the island that holds the key to the fateful summer that changed everything forever. In 1959, Hollywood ingenue Mercy Welles seems to have the world at her feet. Far removed from her Nebraska roots, she has crafted herself into a glamorous Oscar-nominated actress engaged to an up-and-coming director… Until she shockingly vanishes without a trace, just as her career is taking off.

Almost sixty years later, Kit O’Neill, a junior television producer in Manhattan, is packing up her recently deceased grandmother’s attic, only to discover a long-lost box of souvenirs that reveal that the grandmother who raised her and her sister Claire was, in fact, the mysterious Mercy Welles. Putting her investigative skills to use, Kit is determined to solve the riddle of her grandmother’s missing life, and the trail eventually leads to Martha’s Vineyard. Mercy retreats to the island nursing a broken heart, only to be drawn to the roguish Ren Sewards, who is not just the simple oysterman he appears to be but a scion of one of the island’s wealthy founding families. With her attraction to Ren quickly growing, Mercy soon finds herself entangled in the intrigues of the tightly knit community and the secrets of the Sewards.

Alternating between Mercy and Kit’s timelines, including excerpts from letters Mercy wrote the summer she disappeared, The Lost Letters from Martha’s Vineyard unfurls into a heart-stopping story of love, betrayal, and even murder.

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REVIEW: THE LOST LETTERS FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD by Michael Callahan is an adult historical story of woman’s fiction focusing on Hollywood actress Mercy Welles aka Edith, and journalist Kit O’Neill

Told from several third person perspectives and numerous timelines ( 1944, 1959 and 2018), using present day, memories and letters from the past THE LOST LETTERS FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD follows journalist Kit O’Neill as she goes in search of her grandmother’s past. After hunting through the attic of her late grandmother Edith’s home, Kit discovers a collection of letters, pictures and memorabilia focusing on the Hollywood actress Mercy Welles, a woman she will come to learn is her grandmother Edith aka Nan. Retracing her grandmother’s past, Kit will discover somethings were better left behind.

Meanwhile, back in 1959, Mercy Welles is struggling with betrayal and heartbreak. Needing a short break from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, Mercy Welles spends the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, where her life will be forever changed.

As the past collides with the future, threatening to repeat itself, Kit O’Neill is caught between the secrets and lies for which people were willing to kill.

The secondary characters include Mercy’s best friend Cass Goldman; Mercy’s summer romance lover Warren ‘Ren’ Stewards, his brother Patrick, and their mother Mint; Kit’s sister Claire, and an eclectic cast of characters, most of whom with an axe to grind or secrets to hide.

THE LOST LETTER FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD is a thought-provoking story of betrayal and vengeance, secrets and lies, murder and chaos, family and friendships, love and loss. The premise is detailed, dramatic, and heart breaking; the characters are determined, desperate and animated.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Courtesy of the Author’s website

I wrote my first story when I was five.

As I recall, it pertained to a king, a princess, and some missing treasure, though not necessarily in that order. At the end of the tale, it is revealed that the king had died of a broken heart—at the age of 96. My parents found this hilarious.

The point is, I have been telling stories for a long time. In eighth grade I entered the archdiocesan essay contest, whose topic was “What the Canonization of St. John Neumann Means to Me.” Evidently it meant quite a lot: I won. It was then, at the tender age of 13, that I decided I was going to be a writer. Not many people determine their careers in grammar school, but I did.

I was blessed to work as a writer and editor during an era when American magazines were still glossy, thick, and glamorous. My career took me from Atlantic City to northern New Jersey to Boston to New York to Philadelphia and, eventually, out to Los Angeles. I’ve worked as an editor at and written for some of the most storied titles in publishing: Vanity Fair, Esquire, ESPN The Magazine, Departures, Town & Country, The Hollywood Reporter, and Golf Digest, among many others. As an editor I’ve worked with some incredible award-winning writers, including Buzz Bissinger, Jessica Pressler, Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Terry McMillan, Alexandra Styron, Samantha Power, and Benjamin Wallace, to name a few. Today I am proud to be the editorial director at UCLA Magazine, helping to tell the story of the top-ranked public university in the nation, while also serving as an occasional contributing critic for both the New York Times Book Review and W.

HARPER COLLINS is graciously offering a paper copy of THE LOST LETTERS FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD by Michael Callahan to TWO (2) lucky commenters at The Reading Cafe.

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10. Giveaway runs from May 24-May 28, 2024