Bathsheba Monk

What a great read! Local author I was lucky to meet & who gave me a signed copy of this book. It took me awhile to final start reading it but I LOVED IT! Set in a post industrialist (fictional town) of "Warrenside, Pennsylvania" where the steel industry which once employed the residents is gone, along with the jobs. The story centers around the returning soldiers of the local National Guard Unit that was stationed in Afghanistan. The unit consists of locals of mixed gender, class and ethnicity. Tensions rise as the returning Unit is dispatched to assist & facilitate the evacuation of local residents from an impending Flood. Among the group is Kat, an heir to the once dynasty of "Warren Steel". Duck her working class high school boyfriend who is still in love with her, the new love interest Max Asad, son of a Lebanese immigrant who has built wealth in the Warrenside thru his strip club,real estate investments and has slowly taken over the town and building his empire. Dr Asad expects Max to honor the arranged Marriage he has planned for his only son. There is also Wind, the local authentic Indian love guru, Jenna the born again who has a nasty attitude and gets her revenge. Plus numerous other great strong characters that make this story of family, love, betrayal, hardship and conflict a great masterpiece, believable, enlightening and engaging.… (altro)

Wow! What a great multi-level story. By the end of the book, you definitely feel like you have walked beside these characters thru-out many years. I am not sure you would call it a coming of age story, although it seemed like it at times. This is the type of book where, you sorta know people in your youth who are similar to some of these characters that makes it seem more like Bathsheba's Diary rather than a novel - A good read that may bring back memories of similar people to those who were teenager's during the 70's and 80's.… (altro)