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Shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize Best Fiction for Teens Award 2015 - One of our Books of the Year 2014 - October 2014 Debut of the Month *** Suitable for 15+ as some explicit content An enormous family saga unfolds in this story shot through with magic that is helped on its way by lashing of luck – both good and bad – and a great many extraordinary and truly unexpected happenings. Ava Lavender, a girl born with wings which cannot be explained or hidden, charts the history of her family from its origins in nineteenth century France to poverty in Manhattan before a long, long journey to Seattle and a new start for a new generation – all before Ava is even born. Although Ava is the most unusual of her family there are many others who will surprise and entertain before the story is fully unravelled.
A Piece of Passion from Gill Evans, Fiction Publisher...an exquisite and mesmerizing story of love and desire told in an exceptional and wonderful way. The magical realism of her style is reminiscent of One Hundred Years of Solitude, but this family story and quest for understanding follows four generations from France to America. Foolish love has beset the Roux family for generations. For Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is a burdensome legacy. In her quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl, Ava ventures into the world. But in a world which may view her as
girl or angel, it is a dangerous place to be. On the night of the solstice, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air and Ava’s journey and her family’s saga reaches a devastating crescendo.
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The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender Synopsis
This is a mesmerizing, lyrical tale of the bright and dark sides of love and desire. Foolish love appears to be a Roux family birthright. And for Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is an ominous thing to inherit. In her quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to join her peers, Ava ventures into the wider world. But it is a dangerous world for a naive girl - a world which may view her as girl or angel. On the night of the summer solstice celebration, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air and Ava's journey and her family's saga reaches a devastating crescendo.
First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human. This is a stunning literary young adult novel, won at auction, which marks the debut of Leslye Walton. Magical realism weaves through this generational saga which is reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, with a taste of Chocolat.
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9781406357738 |
Publication date: |
2nd October 2014 |
Author: |
Leslye Walton |
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Walker Books Ltd |
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Paperback |
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320 pages |
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Leslye Walton Press Reviews
Entrancing and sumptuously written. Publishers Weekly, starred review
This fantasy follows Ava Lavender's discovery of her one-of-a-kind self. Teen Vogue Recommended Read
Absolutely mesmerizing... This book is a wonder and completely took my breath away. Once Upon a Bookcase
About Leslye Walton
Leslye Walt on was born in the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps because of this, the author has developed a strange kinship with the daffodil – she too can only achieve beauty after a long, cold sulk in the rain. Her debut novel, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, was inspired by a particularly long sulk in a particularly cold rainstorm spent pondering the logic, or rather, lack thereof, in love – the ways we coax ourselves to love, to continue loving, to leave love behind.
Leslye Walton has an MA in Writing and lives in Seattle. When she’s not writing, she teaches
middle-school students how to read and write and, most important, how to be kind to one another, even on days when they don’t really feel like it. She is currently working on her next novel.
Q&A with Leslye Walton
Please describe The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender in ten words or less. Love can make us such fools.
Describe the writing process for the novel. How long did this book take to fully form? What is your writing process like as an author? This novel was a learning process. I was in grad school at the time, earning an MA in Writing from
Portland State University. Though I’d written short stories before, I had no idea how to write a long piece of fiction, and the plot developed as I wrote. I lived and breathed this novel, these characters, for two years. It consumed my life, but again, I was spending as much time learning how to write as I did actually writing. My stories are always very character-driven. For me, the writing process starts with getting to know the characters. I need to understand them, who they are, and what they care about before I can begin to formulate the plot. And usually it’s the characters themselves who tell me where the story is going to go, and not the other way around.
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a debut novel. What does it feel like now that the book is being published? It feels surreal. I was driving to work when I got the call from my agent telling me we’d sold the book. I pulled over and had my first phone conference with my editor in an alleyway behind a car dealership. I kept looking around, thinking, Is this really happening? But as surreal as this whole experience has been, I’m also a teacher – I teach middle-school language arts – and my students are very good at keeping me grounded.
What are your hopes for the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it? I hope it means something. Although that might not sound very original – don’t we all hope the things we create will mean something?– it still remains true. I bought my favourite book, How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto, at a book fair when I was fourteen. That book sat on my bedside table throughout high school. I brought it with me to college and then later to grad school. The binding of the book is torn, and the pages are yellowed. I can speak some of the lines from that novel as naturally as if the words had derived from my own head. I’d love for Ava Lavender to mean that to a reader. I hope that it speaks some kind of truth for someone – that it makes someone feel less alone, or more alive. I want readers to fall in love with
Ava. I want them to love her like I do.
More About Leslye Walton