≫ Libro Gratis WHIMSEY A NOVEL eBook Kaye Wilkinson Barley

WHIMSEY A NOVEL eBook Kaye Wilkinson Barley

Download As PDF : WHIMSEY A NOVEL eBook Kaye Wilkinson Barley

WHIMSEY A NOVEL eBook Kaye Wilkinson Barley

I began this book, Whimsey, not sure of what exactly to expect. I knew that without a doubt, it would be a trip. Never did I imagine that it would be such a great one!
Whimsey is full of a cast of characters as unique as the island upon which they live, work, and love. The very same island for which the book is named. It's an artists retreat, home for generations of artists to nurture and develop their talents of all types. From painting, pottery, weaving, and photography, and everything in between, the island is brought to life by the people that inhabit it and share their talents.
The main character, Emma (don't call her Emmaline!) has left the island of Whimsey to follow her husband. We are dropped into her life, and her unique head, after that marriage has failed. She's despondent with her life, unsure of who she is and where she belongs. Her aunt and an old friend visit her in Atlanta, to tell her of a new venture they want her to participate in. But she doesn't have the heart to tell them that her jewelry designs just don't have the life they once did.
Suffice it to say, we follow Emma on her journey to rediscover herself, where she belongs and where her heart has always been. She's aided in this journey by her lifelong friends, "The Wicked Women of Whimsey," the ghost of her Great Aunt Elizabeth, and her Aunt Zoe. There is even a little pixie magic to help her along the way as well.
The island of Whimsey is a place where eccentricities are not only accepted as the norm, but encouraged and nurtured. I'd like to find the island of Whimsey for myself!


Tags : Amazon.com: WHIMSEY: A NOVEL eBook: Kaye Wilkinson Barley: Kindle Store,ebook,Kaye Wilkinson Barley,WHIMSEY: A NOVEL,FICTION Contemporary Women,FICTION General

WHIMSEY A NOVEL eBook Kaye Wilkinson Barley Reviews

This feel-good story was so much fun to read! The action takes place mostly on Whimsey, a Southern island off the coast of Georgia, a special place with a touch of magic that helps artists thrive.

There's so much to like in this book the heroine, Emma, a jewelry designer who is trying to get her talent back, and the other Wicked Women of Whimsey, all artists of one sort or another. One of my favorite characters is Emma's great-aunt Elizabeth, who bought the island to set up as an artists' colony, and who, back in the 1940s, wrote a "scandalous" series of novels under the nom de plume Samuel Eli Whimsey. Supernatural characters include Elizabeth, who is still around in the present day in ghostly form, and a mischievous pixie named Earlene. And let's not forget Fred and Pyewackett, corgi and black cat, respectively.

Plus, I enjoyed the references to Willie Nelson, Lee Child/Jack Reacher, and Adele. And the food, yum! Not long after I started reading, I found myself craving apple turnovers, hearty homemade vegetable soup, and steaming cornbread slathered with butter. And, oh yes, there's a complicated romantic situation to be resolved too.

To sum up This is an optimistic, positive, upbeat tale, with intelligent, creative, likable characters that the reader will enjoy getting to know. Even the villain of the story turns out to be not all that bad!
Dean Koontz said, in a recent article where he gives seven tips to new writers "Minimalist writing, in the tradition of Hemingway, has been taught for so many decades that much of what is published these days lacks character and color. Metaphor, simile, all kinds of figures of speech have evaporated from much modern fiction, and many new writers have no interest in using the language in vivid and inventive ways."

Well now, hold the phone!!! There's a new kid on the block who has successfully ignored all the old rules about Keeping It Simple, and for her debut book takes us back to a time and a place that, like Brigadoon, never really existed except in some minds, but is wonderful to think and write and read about. Kaye Wilkinson Barley obviously had fun writing this book, and because of that, I had fun reading it.

The world she has created is so much more than it looks like at first glance because it is a world we all wish we could live in, where days are slow, you have time to sit and watch the sunrise over the ocean in the morning, and everybody loves everybody else. In Whimsey, there is no street crime and the folks all take the time to speak in complete, complex sentences, because in Whimsey, there is all the time in the world to do so. This is the world of the Old South and it all rings true.

Rather than take you through the whole plot, I'm going to tell you about some of the things that charmed me, once I got the hang of the slower manner of the Whimsey folk and began to love them for it. That would be about three or four pages in, when I was hooked for life and sat back to enjoy this read.

First, shortly into the book Barley takes us back to the mid forties, when one woman, Emma's ancestor, who was pretty sharp with her money, decided to buy this island named Whimsey, and build a self-sustaining colony where struggling artists of all types could live and work advancing their talents. This island has pixies that only the town folk can see, and a particularly one fairly racy one (for this gentle group of women) named Earlene who goes around hiding Emma's shoes and making fairy dust fly off of Emma as she moves.
You truly don't want to miss Earlene. If I were an imaginary fairy, I would want to be her, and fly around Whimsey in Louboutin-signature red leather-soled spike heels.

We first meet Emma as a young woman, and then as an older one with a bad marriage in the past, which she refuses to discuss with anyone, even her cadre of oldest and best school buddies. We have an old love affair, wrecked by misconception, and we have The Bad Person Who Does Nefarious Things, but only one. However, in her case, one was enough.

One of the big things about this book, which is also true of its author, is its charm. It has everything, beautifully punctuated by Old South dialogue that is still indulged in today in some locations. This is Kaye Barley's fairy tale to share with us, her dream of a kinder, gentler time and place. Her lush and detailed descriptions in and around Whimsey evokes beauty in the reader's mind. You can feel the breeze through the window and see the curtains on the second floor billowing gently in the wind. You can taste the chocolate ganache cake she had at a very important dinner for two. You can palpably feel the love between all of these people, except for one. And Bless Barley's Heart, she even adds in three mouth-watering recipes.

I really loved this story and the people of Whimsey. I believe that this is one of those books that will have universal appeal for a long, long time.
I began this book, Whimsey, not sure of what exactly to expect. I knew that without a doubt, it would be a trip. Never did I imagine that it would be such a great one!
Whimsey is full of a cast of characters as unique as the island upon which they live, work, and love. The very same island for which the book is named. It's an artists retreat, home for generations of artists to nurture and develop their talents of all types. From painting, pottery, weaving, and photography, and everything in between, the island is brought to life by the people that inhabit it and share their talents.
The main character, Emma (don't call her Emmaline!) has left the island of Whimsey to follow her husband. We are dropped into her life, and her unique head, after that marriage has failed. She's despondent with her life, unsure of who she is and where she belongs. Her aunt and an old friend visit her in Atlanta, to tell her of a new venture they want her to participate in. But she doesn't have the heart to tell them that her jewelry designs just don't have the life they once did.
Suffice it to say, we follow Emma on her journey to rediscover herself, where she belongs and where her heart has always been. She's aided in this journey by her lifelong friends, "The Wicked Women of Whimsey," the ghost of her Great Aunt Elizabeth, and her Aunt Zoe. There is even a little pixie magic to help her along the way as well.
The island of Whimsey is a place where eccentricities are not only accepted as the norm, but encouraged and nurtured. I'd like to find the island of Whimsey for myself!