I have been traveling. A couple of times a day I check Facebook and see if there is any crucial email I have to attend to right away. My wife and I just finished a six week car journey. We saw family -especially grandkids and stopped at various places to golf. Happily, my golf game got a bit better. I haven't been reading as much as I should have been. I will be in a better reading routine now that I am home again. Thank goodness that Gretchen Rumohr has been helping with posts and weekend picks.
I have also noticed several authors who books coming out soon. Thankfully, a few of those in ARC form were waiting for me when I got home.
I have also noticed several authors who books coming out soon. Thankfully, a few of those in ARC form were waiting for me when I got home.
| However, one was not. To say that I am a huge Jeff Zentner fan is an understatement. I think he is a fantastic writer. His first novel, The Serpent King was one of Bick's Picks for 2017. (You can see them all at this link.) I love it when a debut novel is really good. More important is my estimation however is when the sophomore effort is a home run. Jeff's second book, The Goodbye Days was excellent and for my money under appreciated. It was my first pick for Bick's Picks in 2018, and it is in good company. (Again, you can see them all here.) I also thought his follow up effort Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee was another hit. One of the interesting things about Jeff, in my opinion, is that he is unpredictable. Each book has carried a different tone and when you start reading, you are not quite sure what you are going to get, but you can be sure it will be worth the time. I have been watching some of the buzz about his soon to arrive next book, In the Wild Light, and was disappointed that I hadn't scored an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC). Fortunately, while I was traveling Susan Densmore-James, AKA, the Book Dealer sent me an unsolicited review of Jeff's newest. It is just below the images of his first three. |   |
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Jeff Zentner's In the Wild Light: A Review by Susan Densmore-James
Anyone who has followed me on Facebook or Twitter knows I love the work of Jeff Zentner. In fact, I think I have written reviews and/or articles about every one of his books. I received the ARC for this book back in December and was nearly finished when my mother was hospitalized and fighting for her life. With the stress of COVID and my mother’s eventual death, the book was sadly set to the side.
When I was finally back in the right “head space” again, I could not wait to finish Zentner’s book. As I have expressed in previous Weekend Pick posts, I read to feel connected to others and to understand others’ lives of which I might not be exposed otherwise. I read to challenge my own thinking. And yes, this book checked all those boxes and actually added a positive outcome of reading I had never experienced before: I read to heal.
When I was finally back in the right “head space” again, I could not wait to finish Zentner’s book. As I have expressed in previous Weekend Pick posts, I read to feel connected to others and to understand others’ lives of which I might not be exposed otherwise. I read to challenge my own thinking. And yes, this book checked all those boxes and actually added a positive outcome of reading I had never experienced before: I read to heal.
From the first page of In the Wild Light, I was in love with Cash Pruitt and felt at home in Zentner’s stunningly poetic writing and compelling development of characters, the two traits that keep me coming back to read more of his work. Once I had my feet firmly replanted on the ground after the indescribable loss of my mother, I could not wait to get back to my friend, Cash. I was shocked to find my ARC had expired, and I literally burst into tears. Luckily, the author himself came to my rescue, and I was immediately comforted by returning to the pages of the book that transported me to the small Appalachian town of Sawyer, Tennessee.
At the start of the novel, it is revealed that Cash has lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Cash spends his summers mowing lawns and his one friend, Delaney Doyle, works at the Dairy Queen. Luckily, these two found each other, as Delaney’s mother is in a downward spiral due to her drug use. The relationship between Cash and Delaney is heartwarming and real. It reminded me of the importance of friendship during the darkest of times, and as the reader, I felt the love and strong connection between these two teens.
Because of her dire circumstances with her mother, Delaney is determined to escape from Sawyer, and a scientific discovery (plus her incredible intellect and fiery redheaded spirit) gives her the opportunity of a full ride scholarship to an elite prep school in Connecticut. Because Delaney’s discovery is BIG (while with Cash on the Pigeon River, she discovers a mold that can eradicate bacteria), the prep school has agreed to allow her “assistant” Cash the opportunity to attend as well. Yet, Cash has the impossible decision of possibly leaving his grandparents, the two people who have stepped in to raise Cash after the loss of his mother or forego a free education at a prestigious school and lose Delaney, the one friend and person who understands him.
At the start of the novel, it is revealed that Cash has lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Cash spends his summers mowing lawns and his one friend, Delaney Doyle, works at the Dairy Queen. Luckily, these two found each other, as Delaney’s mother is in a downward spiral due to her drug use. The relationship between Cash and Delaney is heartwarming and real. It reminded me of the importance of friendship during the darkest of times, and as the reader, I felt the love and strong connection between these two teens.
Because of her dire circumstances with her mother, Delaney is determined to escape from Sawyer, and a scientific discovery (plus her incredible intellect and fiery redheaded spirit) gives her the opportunity of a full ride scholarship to an elite prep school in Connecticut. Because Delaney’s discovery is BIG (while with Cash on the Pigeon River, she discovers a mold that can eradicate bacteria), the prep school has agreed to allow her “assistant” Cash the opportunity to attend as well. Yet, Cash has the impossible decision of possibly leaving his grandparents, the two people who have stepped in to raise Cash after the loss of his mother or forego a free education at a prestigious school and lose Delaney, the one friend and person who understands him.
What makes this Zentner book the best yet is he couples his already masterful ability to tell an important story with a new twist: a character who finds peace in the power of poetry. Cash begins to write about his love of Tennessee and those people in his life who matter most. As a professor and Director of the Emerald Coast National Writing Project, this is the book I will be using as a mentor text to showcase how Zentner brilliantly weaves his spellbinding narrative with the poetry of the main character, Cash.
In the Wild Light is a must read when it is released this October. It hits the mark in all the ways that reading can be powerful and lifechanging. My connection to Cash and Delaney will always be a part of me. Additionally, I learned about the small-town living in an Appalachian town and was able to experience “seeing” the beauty in this part of our nation. I was reminded of the struggles of people outside of myself: the struggle of addiction and living in poverty are two reminders in this book that allowed me to have an understanding that I did not have before. The relationships of the characters that Zentner so masterfully creates in this book makes this my favorite of his, which is difficult to say since I love all his work, but for me, the best part of this book was that it brought me peace and healing during the most difficult time in my life—a gift I was not aware reading could deliver. I needed this book, and it arrived at just the right time. Thanks, Jeff Zentner!
In the Wild Light is a must read when it is released this October. It hits the mark in all the ways that reading can be powerful and lifechanging. My connection to Cash and Delaney will always be a part of me. Additionally, I learned about the small-town living in an Appalachian town and was able to experience “seeing” the beauty in this part of our nation. I was reminded of the struggles of people outside of myself: the struggle of addiction and living in poverty are two reminders in this book that allowed me to have an understanding that I did not have before. The relationships of the characters that Zentner so masterfully creates in this book makes this my favorite of his, which is difficult to say since I love all his work, but for me, the best part of this book was that it brought me peace and healing during the most difficult time in my life—a gift I was not aware reading could deliver. I needed this book, and it arrived at just the right time. Thanks, Jeff Zentner!
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Until next time.
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