“An authentic page turner…. Rogers [vividly] captures this era of Elvis records and small-town Maine fishing life.” —Down East In 1963, twelve-year-old Florine Gilham enjoys an idyllic childhood in small-town Maine—until her beloved mother vanishes. Untethered and adrift in the wake of her disappearance, Florine finds her once-cherished joys—watching her father’s lobster boat come into port, baking bread with her grandmother, and causing mischief with the summer folk—suddenly ring hollow. When a figure from her father’s past comes calling, Florine must find the courage to lay down roots of her own. Set against the gorgeous backdrop of the Maine coast, Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea is an extraordinary snapshot of a bygone America as seen through the eyes of an iconic New England girl.

A story about a young woman coming of age in Maine in the 1960s.

Una novela llena de imágenes evocadoras, con una voz tan fresca como el aire de Nueva Inglaterra. Cuando su madre desaparece durante un fin de semana de 1963, la idílica infancia de Florine Gilham se trastorna. Atrás quedan los días de verano en el pequeño pueblo de Maine, las excursiones con sus amigos, las tardes ayudando a su abuela a hornear y el esperar cada día en el acantilado para ver llegar el barco de su padre cargado de langostas. Todo cambia por completo. A pesar de que quienes la rodean parecen seguir adelante con sus vidas, Florine está decidida a preservar intacto el recuerdo de su madre. Emprende entonces una intensa búsqueda tras las huellas de ésta. Entre los veranos calurosos y los inviernos helados del Atlántico norte, Florine recorrerá sendas inexploradas en las que descubrirá secretos ocultos, y sobre todo, se encontrará a sí misma. Una novela conmovedora, con personajes entrañables: una niña y su padre que deben aprender a vivir con la ausencia de la madre. Visto a través de los ojos de una chica que se abre paso hacia la adultez.

ABOUT The Beginning Things is a novel of lessons and of steps towards redemption. Twelve-year-old Tot Thompson, mourning the loss of her father and stranded on an island of familial dysfunction, finds a moment of importance in a neighbor's bed. Dan Grad, her recently widowed grandfather, finds a sharp-edged peace inside a bottle of Bells Whiskey. Both have lessons to learn...and strangely enough, important lessons to teach. REVIEWS "Watch out. You can get dangerously attached to the people of Tot Thompson's world. Dangerous because the last page WILL COME and you shall realize it's only a book." -"Carolyn Chute, author of The Beans of Egypt, Maine and others." "The Beginning Things contains three coming-of-age stories, all of them beautifully told with equal parts toughness and tenderness. Readers will recognize important truths about themselves and their lives as lived through Tot, the pre-teen; Elaine, Tot's single mother, and Dan, Elaine's recently widowed father-in-law. Goodjohn balances each of their stories with dry humor and a strong sense of the importance of both endings and beginnings, as well as the battles and triumphs of the in-betweens. This is a rare book, wound tight as thread around a finger, and as lyrical as everyday things fully realized. I have nothing but praise for its wise and insightful author. Enter the world of The Beginning Things, and you will not want to emerge again until the very last word." -"Morgan Callan Rogers, author of Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea " ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bunny Goodjohn was born in London in 1960 and moved to the United States in 1999. She is published in both prose and poetry and her books include "Sticklebacks and Snow Globes" (Permanent Press 2007, Scribe 2008, Centrepolygraph 2008) and "Bone Song" (Briery Creek Press 2015). She teaches and directs the Writing Program at Randolph College in Lynchburg. www.bagoodjohn.com