Photo Essay 3 Oleander Girl Tour: Book Warriors

A wonderful part of the book tour for my new novel Oleander Girl (http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/oleander_girl) has been coming across people who love books, who tell people about them, who showcase them, who encourage reading, and who support authors by inviting them to speak at events that they organize. I thank them all for what they do each day for writers like me and our books. They are the book warriors!

Some of these are: John Evans of Diesel Books (LA and Oakland).

Elaine Petrocelli of Book Passage (Corte Madera, CA--Photo below)

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and her wonderful booksellers Alison Bildsoe and Karen West.

Geraldine Hills, Phoenix Public Library.

Chris Skaugset, Longview Library, OR.(photo below)

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Adrian Newell of Warwicks Books, La Jolla, CA, along with wonderful bookseller Julie Slavinsky.

Joel Sheldon, Jennifer and Connie at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA.

(Store photo below)

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Will, Michael and Jeffrey of Annie Bloom's, Portland.

And Rick Simonson of Elliott Bay Books, Seattle, seen below next to the beloved castle in the children's section of the bookstore. 

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Sneak Peek at my Upcoming Novel Oleander Girl plus 2 possible covers for you to vote on

Friends, if you have a couple of minutes,would you please take a look at the 2 possible covers for my upcoming novel Oleander Girl which my publisher, Free Press, just sent me, & give me your opinion? I'd really value your input before I make a decision.

Unfortunately I can't seem to upload the images here, so please go to https://www.facebook.com/chitradivakaruni, and vote for

the one you prefer (version A yellow, or version B white). Please, if you have a moment, tell

me why you like it better.

You can comment on this blog or on FB. I do appreciate your time!

Below is a brief description of Oleander Girl, so you'll have a sense of which cover is more fitting

.

Thanks as always for your support of my writing.

Chitra

 

OLEANDER GIRL, A SNEAK PEEK

Korobi Roy, heir of an old and distinguished Kolkata household, has met and fallen in love with Rajat, the only son of the Boses, a high-profile nouveau riche business family. Their engagement is a grand affair, but that same evening Korobi's grandfather, who has brought her up since the death of her mother at Korobi's birth, passes away. He leaves behind a dark secret, at once devastating and exhilarating, which will shatter Korobi's sense of self and will thrust her out of her sheltered Kolkata life into a courageous and troubled search, with few resources, acrosspost 9/11 America, a country that she finds at once dangerous, unwelcoming and alluring. What she discovers at the end will force her to make the most difficult choice of her life.

Meanwhile in India Rajat must struggle with his own challenges--outbreaks of Hindu-Muslim violence, in the wake of the Godhra riots, in the Bose's warehouse; money problems stemming from the vandalism of their New York art gallery; an ex-girlfriend who refuses to let him go; and his own jealous suspicions as Korobi travels through America in the company of a disturbingly attractive private investigator named Vic.

Set against a fast-changing world of social, economic and political tensions in India and America that will force the characters to question the beliefs and preconceptions they have grown up with, Oleander Girl is ultimately an exploration of the nature--and the cost--of love, and the ways in which it can help us survive in the midst of hate.