Author Spotlight: A. Manette Ansay

So I headed to my local independent book store for a reading of A. Manette Ansay's newest book Good Things I Wish You last week. Manette is a South Florida resident so there was a packed room full of her students and friends and she even brought her little daughter and their friends to help. She explained a lot about how she went about researching her book and also how long it took her to write it. I love all that insider info. Although I still haven't read her newest title, I am a fan of Vinegar Hill so I took that one with me for her to sign. Here are some pics of the event:

Manette was super nice and did a fab job with her reading as well as giving us all those tidbits that we like to hear about - what went into writing her book and so forth. I, for one was intrigued and have now placed it on my TBR list (so what's new? right?). That's her little girl on her lap and her friend between Manette and I.

Here is a quick synopsis of Good Things I Wish You:

The acclaimed author of Vinegar Hill returns with a story of two unlikely romances—one historical, the other modern-day—separated by thousands of miles and well over a century.

Battling feelings of loss and apathy in the wake of a painful divorce, novelist Jeanette struggles to complete a book about the long-term relationship between Clara Schumann, a celebrated pianist and the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, and her husband's protégé, the handsome young composer Johannes Brahms. Although this legendary love triangle has been studied exhaustively, Jeanette—herself a gifted pianist—wonders about the enduring nature of Clara and Johannes's lifelong attachment. Were they just "best friends," as both steadfastly claimed? Or was the relationship complicated by desires that may or may not have been consummated?

Through a chance encounter, Jeanette meets Hart, a mysterious, worldly entrepreneur who is a native of Clara's birthplace, Leipzig, Germany. Hart's casual help with translations quickly blossoms into something more. There are things about men and women, he insists, that do not change. The two embark on a whirlwind emotional journey that leads Jeanette across Germany and Switzerland to a crossroads similar to that faced by Clara Schumann—also a mother, also an artist—more than a century earlier.

Accompanied by photographs, sketches, and notes from past and present, A. Manette Ansay's original blend of fiction and history captures the timeless nature of love and friendship between women and men.