내용
Juno와 Under the Tuscan Sun이 만났을 때…
졸업반인 Kenzie는 가을에 시작될 대학 생활과 졸업 파티(prom)을 기대하는 소녀이다. 그런데 어느 날, Kenzie는 자신이 임신한 사실을 발견한다. 아이를 낳기로 마음 먹은 Kenzie의 결심을 그녀의 남자친구와 엄마는 이해하지 못한다. 결국, Kenzie는 스페인의 시골로 가서 아이를 낳고 스페인 부부에게 아이를 입양시키기로 한다. 그리고 이 사실은 아무도 모를 것이다.
외국에서의 혼자만의 시간을 보내면서 Kenzie는 처음에는 외롭고 괴로움에 힘들어한다. 그러나 고집 세고 무뚝뚝한 요리사 Estela와 말을 돌보는 젊은 청년 Esteban과 함께 지내면서 Kenzie는 비로서 제대로 된 눈을 뜨고, 진정한 아름다움과 행복을 그녀의 주변뿐 아니라 자신의 내면에서 발견하게 된다. Kenzie는 스페인에서의 시간 동안 자신의 삶과 사랑, 그리고 집에 대한 진지한 선택을 하는 기로에 놓이게 된다…
서정적으로 들려주는 스페인의 살아있는 향취, 색채가 녹아 있는 Small Damages는 가슴과 영혼을 만져주는 잊을 수 없는 향연으로 이끌 것입니다.
(starred review하나 더 있음)
판권계약: 네덜란드
≪ Provided by her mother with only the barest of details about a couple that wishes to adopt her baby, Kenzie finds herself an unofficial apprentice in the kitchen of the home of a successful bull breeder connected to the prospective adoptive parents? a world away from where the talented filmmaker expected to be following her high school graduation. In an introspective first-person narration, Kenzie's story effortlessly unfolds. Her initially strained relationship with terse Estela, the marvelous chef charged with her safekeeping, eventually melts into a mutual trust. Readers will sympathize deeply with Kenzie’s emptiness over her father's death, which led the way to a loving but uncommitted relationship with her baby's father, a longtime friend. Parallel to Estela's history is a tale set against Franco's rule, which poignantly serves to help Kenzie sort through her numbed confusion. Characters are never simple in this gorgeous landscape so masterfully described by National Book Award?finalist Kephart; fully engaging in their lives?touched as they are by gypsies and bullfighters and the tragedy of war?will require an audience that is willing to be swept up by unfettered romanticism. Lovely and unusual?at once epic and intimate. (Fiction. 13 & up)- Kirkus Reviews
*MEDIA ALERT*
Beth Kephart’s SMALL DAMAGES is becoming the literary book that could!
Family Circle (circ. 3,841,651) magazine’s August issue says, “Kephart is a linguistic Midas ? everything she puts to paper is golden, including this gem.”
The New York Times Book Review (circ. 1,280,000) will run a full length review this Sunday, saying, “‘Dreamlike’ is one word for ‘Small Damages’…[Kenzie’s] percolating story emerges through Kephart’s lilting prose in the same hazy way you’d meander through the narrow white streets of Seville…The reader is lost and found and lost and found again.”
The Los Angeles Times (circ. 905,920) included it in a Summer Reading Guide calling it, “lovely.”
BookPage (circ. 500,000) will run an author interview in the August issue saying, “Kephart has created a lyrical, beautiful story about a young woman at a turning point, struggling to reconcile her choices, find her place in the world and discover the true meaning of family.”
Romantic Times Book Reviews (circ. 70,000) praises, “[Kephart’s] prose is nearly poetic… it all works to create her own vivid style.”
Publishers Weekly (circ. 19,068) gave it a starred review, saying, “This beautifully written ‘summer of transformation’ story will have readers feeling as torn about Kenzie’s choice as she is.”
Kirkus Reviews (circ. 8,000) also gave it a starred review, praising, “Lovely and unusual?at once epic and intimate.”
School Library Journal (circ. 30,000) proclaims, “This story is unexpectedly tender and original…and the setting is rich and alive.”
BELLA Magazine’s summer issue encourages readers to “escape to Spain with Beth Kephart’s Small Damages.”
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