A Giveaway! and The River Witch, our August book pick
Hello Great New Books friends!
It’s Wednesday, August 15, 2012, which means it’s the first day for a giveaway! (We love giveaways here at Great New Books.)
Great New Books August book pick: The River Witch
This month, we’re reading Kimberly Brock’s beautiful debut novel, The River Witch. If you haven’t begun reading yet, we hope this entices you to begin, and soon … it’s a wonderful book.
“Roslyn Byrne is a lost soul, sent adrift after a car accident that changed her life. Her career as a professional ballet dancer ends abruptly from her injuries and she also miscarries after the accident, leaving her insides as scarred as the out.
Through a friend of her mother’s, she finds a small home to rent on Manny’s Island in Georgia to work through her demons. The house belongs to the Trezevant family who have plenty of demons of their own. Urey Trezevant, Roslyn’s new landlord, and his young daughter Damascus have been struggling with the death of Damascus’ mother for a while. Ivy Cain, Urey’s sister, is a hard-nosed, no-nonsense woman with one eye on Damascus and the other trying to figure out what’s best for her family. Nonnie, a relation to Ivy and Urey, practices Hoodoo and believes Roslyn has been sent there for reasons yet to be discovered.
The Damascus River, which flows next to the property, runs through the middle of the story with its alligators, local folklore, music, and death are carried along in its current. Roslyn, along with the Trezevants, navigate through strong currents in their lives, trying to keep from getting pulled under.” –From Great New Books team member, Hallie Sawyer’s blog recommendation of The River Witch.
Names are an important part of The River Witch, twisted into the plot alongside the enchanting setting, pumpkins, alligators, and Southern magic. Our names give us meaning and place us as people on the vast map of time. This quote from the first chapter of THE RIVER WITCH gives perspective on the importance of Roslyn finding a name.
“We didn’t say one word about what had happened to me. There was no going back to change it, so what was the point in telling the story? Mama handled all the questions from the coroner and set up a time for the interment at the end of the week. She said we needed to pick out a stone. The baby deserved a name, at least.
“I can’t. Not yet. I don’t know who she was.”
I didn’t know who I was.” –Chapter One, The River Witch, Kimberly Brock
This week, leave a comment with your favorite name from The River Witch. If you haven’t begun reading, don’t worry! We want you to be able to participate in the giveaway even if you haven’t read the month’s book (we know how busy life can be!) so we’re making it easy. All you need to do is choose a favorite name (many are listed above, ie: Ivey, Nonnie, Damascus, Urey, Roslyn) and share your favorite name from The River Witch in a comment below. If you’re reading the book, we’d also love to hear why you chose that name as your favorite.
Now for the giveaway: since Jennifer lives in Prague, she enjoys reading while drinking coffee from local pottery called Polish Pottery, a heavy and soft-glazed earthenware made in the southwest corner of Poland in the town of Boleslawiec. Today, we at Great New Books are giving away a hand-painted coffee mug, of the valuable Unikat (unique) type, value $35, to one member of Great New Books who enters their favorite name from The River Witch in a comment below.
Polish Pottery mug, hand-painted in Boleslawiec, Poland
If you haven’t joined us yet, please do so by entering your email into the box on the right sidebar—simple—and you’re part of our book club! The running time to enter the giveaway goes until Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at midnight US Eastern time. On Wednesday, the 22nd of August, we’ll announce the winner of the Polish Pottery mug along with a special guest appearance from the author of The River Witch, Kimberly Brock, talking about the importance of names.
Thank you all for joining us, and don’t forget to leave your favorite The River Witch name in a comment below for your chance to win!
Kimberly picked great names for her characters in The River Witch! In fact, my favorite character was Damascus–with her pumpkins and hoodoo–and I particularly loved her name. And my favorite part of the book was the relationship between Roslyn and Damascus because the two shared such a strong and close bond through loss and hope.
I agree, Julia. I really like the names in The River Witch. They’re unique, yet they all seem to have a greater meaning. I can’t wait to hear what Kimberly tells us next week, about how she chose the name for the book. Thanks for sharing!
I’m excited to read this book!! I love the name Urey. I’ll have wait and see if I also love the character.
We’re so glad you’re reading along with us, Tanya! Thanks for sharing. I know you’ll love Urey. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
I’ve got to go with Julia on this one, too. Damascus was such a unique name and tied in so beautifully to the water themes throughout the book. I am not a coffee drinker, but maybe if I had a sexy mug like that, I’d reconsider
.
I love it, re: “sexy mug”. Hilarious!
Have to agree with Damascus the name intrigues me.
Hi Rhonda! Damascus was so unusual yet it fit her perfectly. However, I am a huge nickname person and was always trying to figure out what her nickname would have been. Maybe Kimberly had one and is keeping it secret.
Thanks for the comment and for stopping by Great New Books!
I’m so glad you all like the names in the book. And thank you for choosing The River Witch for you monthly read! I’m so flattered!!
As for where the names came from, it was a very organic process. I jot names down in lists when I travel, read, visit cemeteries, etc. I chose the names for these characters based on the region where they came from, historical names I found during my research, and also because I liked their implications. As for Damascus, I simply knew her name. Maybe somewhere deep in my Baptist upbringing there was the idea of the road to Damascus and the journey of this little girl. Whatever the reason, it’s who she was to me from the beginning. I named her and THEN named the river.
As for a nickname, I honestly never once thought of it and I imagine that has to do with the fact that her name is very important. I’ll mention this to give you something to chew on — Urey only says her name twice in the book. Once when he tells Roslyn his daughter’s name, and once when Damascus hears Urey call her from the river near the end of the book. I like to think if there was ever a true incantation in this story, it was that child finally hearing her name called in love, and all the value and power in that sound.
xoxo
K
Wow! Thank you, Kimberly, for joining in the Great New Books conversation! What a privilege.
It’s fun to hear your method of picking up interesting names for THE RIVER WITCH. And, I love the meaning you’ve infused with the 2 times Urey calls his daughter by name. Names are so important, and they show such care when we use them in love.
Thank you so much, Kimberly!
I’m so excited to read The River Witch! It’s been on my TBR pile and it’ll be fun to read it alongside this group. My vote for favorite name is on Ivey—I love the sound of it and the nature girl in me thinks “ivy”.
Hi Natalia! We’re so glad you’re joining us in reading The River Witch! Thank you. And, I, too, love the name Ivey from the book. Thanks for sharing!