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Published by She Writes Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
Brenda Lockhart’s family has been living well beyond their means for too long when Brenda’s husband leaves them—for an older and less attractive woman than Brenda, no less. Brenda’s never worked outside the home, and the family’s economic situation quickly declines. Oldest daughter Peggy is certain she’s heading off to a university, until her father offers her a job sorting mail while she attends community college instead. Younger daughter Allison, a high school senior, can’t believe her luck that California golden boy Kevin has fallen in love with her.
Meanwhile, the chatter about the O. J. Simpson murder investigations is always on in the background, a media frenzy that underscores domestic violence against women and race and class divisions in Southern California. Brenda, increasingly obsessed with the case, is convinced O. J. is innocent and has been framed by the LAPD. Both daughters are more interested in their own lives—that is, until Peggy starts noticing bruises Allison can’t explain. For a while, it feels to everyone as if the family is falling apart; but in the end, they all come together again in unexpected ways.
Meanwhile, the chatter about the O. J. Simpson murder investigations is always on in the background, a media frenzy that underscores domestic violence against women and race and class divisions in Southern California. Brenda, increasingly obsessed with the case, is convinced O. J. is innocent and has been framed by the LAPD. Both daughters are more interested in their own lives—that is, until Peggy starts noticing bruises Allison can’t explain. For a while, it feels to everyone as if the family is falling apart; but in the end, they all come together again in unexpected ways.
Product Details
- Publisher: She Writes Press (June 1, 2021)
- Length: 344 pages
- ISBN13: 9781647421014
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Raves and Reviews
2022 Page Turner Best Book Award Winner in Women's Fiction
2022 California Indie Author Project Winner in Adult Fiction
2022 American Writing Awards Finalist in General Fiction
2022 American Writing Awards Finalist in Women's Fiction
2022 WILLA Literary Awards Finalist in Multiform Fiction
2022 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition Finalist
2022 Los Angeles Book Festival Honorable Mention in Regional Fiction
2022 Hollywood Book Festival Honorable Mention in General Fiction
2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in First Novel (Over 90,000 words)
2021 American Fiction Awards Finalist in Women's Fiction
“A family is thrown into chaos in 1990s Southern California in Camarillo’s debut . . . and the novel’s ending is a satisfying one. An emotional portrait of three women dealing with unexpected change.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Camarillo’s prose is lively, companionable, and quite satisfyingly observant in ways that surprise and delight, as if a friendly someone you know well is murmuring in your ear, giving you living presences, using history as the canvas across which the drama takes place. Bravo!”
—Richard Bausch, award-winning author of Peace and Hello to the Cannibals
“The Lockhart Women is deeply and thoroughly Southern Californian—in all the perfectly detailed cities and streets and, of course, freeways, but also in the evocation of its time: the 1990s. These women in this page turner—flawed and desperate and seeking redemption—are vivid portraits.”
—Susan Straight, award-winning author of In the Country of Women
“With control, compassion, and surprising humor, Camarillo dissects how a modern family comes apart. . . . Unputdownable.”
—Eduardo Santiago, PEN Emerging Voices Rosenthal fellow and award-winning author of Tomorrow They Will Kiss and Midnight Rhumba
“Like Mona Simpson’s Anywhere but Here, The Lockhart Women sensitively illustrates what happens to children coming of age under the influence of childish parents. But unlike Simpson, Camarillo provides hope that everyone—parents and children—can grow and develop. An authentically hopeful and realistic novel.”
—Shelley Blanton-Stroud, author of Copy Boy
“. . . an intimate portrayal of a Southern California working class family that splinters apart when the father leaves. Brenda Lockhart and her two daughters are complicated and not always admirable characters, but they are relentlessly human. Camarillo laces their story with concise prose, dry humor, and flinty realism, allowing love, resilience, hope and eventual forgiveness to shine through.”
—Samantha Dunn, bestselling author of Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life
"O. J.’s famous white Bronco flight and his trial for murder is the perfect backdrop for this story of a mother and her two daughters watching their lives implode. Great writing, compelling and fast-paced, The Lockhart Women is impossible to put down.”
—Diana Wagman, award-winning author of Spontaneous and Extraordinary October
“The Lockhart Women make mistake after mistake in this delightful debut novel, but that's part of their charm. Touching on themes of motherhood, fidelity, and responsibility, this is a coming-of-age tale for both Brenda and her daughters, teaching us that the indelible bonds of love can steer families through the roughest of passages.”
—Julie Zuckerman, author of The Book of Jeremiah
“This is a gripping, sometimes funny, novel that will keep you turning the pages.”
—San Francisco Book Review
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Lockhart Women eBook 9781647421014
