The Absence of Evelyn: A Novel

by Jackie Townsend

Overview

Newly divorced Rhonda, haunted by her sister Evelyn’s ghost, travels to an old palazzo in Rome to confront Marco, the man who stole her sister’s heart—only to find out he’s vanished in the wake of Evelyn’s death. Meanwhile, Rhonda’s nineteen-year-old daughter Olivia, adopted by Rhonda at birth, travels to the mysterious and lush waters of northern Vietnam, where she’s been summoned by the missing Marco—a man she only knows from her parents’ whispers, a man she has never met or seen.

Soon, truths are exposed and lives unraveled, and the real journey begins. Four lives in all, spanning three continents, are now bound together in an unfathomable way—and they tell a powerful story about love in all its incarnations, filial and amorous, healing and destructive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781943006212
Publisher:	SparkPress
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jackie Townsend is the award-winning author of Imperfect Pairings. A native of Southern California with an MBA from UC Berkeley, she is a management consultant turned author. Married to an Italian and incessant world traveler, Townsend spends a lot of her time in places not her own. As the youngest of four children, she carries a strong sense of family with her to these places, often foreign, and writes about belonging (or not belonging), loss, and love. She lives in New York City with her husband, and sometimes they are even there at the same time.

Editorial Reviews

2017 Next Generation Indie Awards: Finalist, General Fiction 2017 International Book Awards: Finalist, Women's Lit
2017 USA Best Book Awards Finalist in Chick Lit/Women's Fiction

“A globalized family tale of love, redemption, and healing, The Absence of Evelyn will challenge every reader’s understanding of what it truly means to love. Jackie Townsend’s staggering adventure proves that nothing – not time, heartbreak, distance or danger – stands a chance against the power of the heart.” —Redbook "20 Books By Women You Must Read This Spring"
"A careful examination of family ties with an international flavor.” —Kirkus
"A compellingly crafted story…filled with psychological insights into the actions of diverse, entwined lives...the absent Evelyn the pivot point of their dance.” —Midwest Book Review
"The Absence of Evelyn is an enjoyable read for fans of coming-of-age stories and contemporary women’s fiction. It is a quick escapist read that is heartwarming and often inspiring.” — Foreword Reviews
"The Absence of Evelyn is a powerful testimony to the value of love, in all its forms, but also a testimony to the need to let go, whether of one’s own carefully-laid plans or of a loved one. One by one, the characters see their masks, their old comfortable behavior patterns, and their secrets stripped away, leaving only the core of who they really are and what they really want . . . an engaging book, with well-drawn characters set in vivid context, and an engrossing and thought-provoking plot." —IndieReader
"The Absence of Evelyn is a compelling testimony of the diversity of love and family ties." —Buzzfeed, "6 Books To Bring On Your Girls-Only Weekend Getaway"
"Finish off cuffing season with the literary fireworks found in every single page of this magnificently told tale of love and every form it comes in." —PopSugar, "11 Reads to Get You Through Cuffing Season"
"Townsend has a gift for propelling her quirky yet realistic, mostly lovable characters into unique settings and storylines. Reflecting today’s messy, modern families, The Absence of Evelyn captures—and keeps—your attention." —Curled Up
"our lives intertwine and unravel — and a story of the healing power of love begins." —Bustle, "15 Spring Releases About New Beginnings To Kick Start The New Season"

From the Publisher

2017-03-14
A mother and daughter make separate journeys and come to new understandings about themselves and their relationships in Townsend's (Imperfect Pairings, 2013, etc.) novel.Though her life is outwardly full and prosperous, Rhonda Knight feels lost as she turns 47. She runs the Knight Foundation, a charity, but her children have left home; her estranged sister, Evelyn, died abroad two years ago; and her divorce is now final. She was never a believer in passionate, romantic love; she thinks it just gets most people, like her adopted daughter Olivia's biological parents, into trouble. Nineteen-year-old Olivia, meanwhile, has always felt out of step in her family. Her passion is theater, but seeing no future in it, she's studying pre-law. She's not athletic like her older brothers or Rhonda, who's an Olympic volleyball gold medalist. Now, two years after Evelyn's death, mother and daughter take separate trips. Olivia is asked to Hanoi, Vietnam, by Marco Rossellini, Evelyn's former lover, who has some of her old things. Meanwhile, Rhonda, not knowing of her daughter's journey, flies to Italy hoping to confront Marco at his home; she resents him, in part, for the influence he had on Evelyn. Instead, Rhonda meets Marco's daughter, Carlotta, who's training as an Olympic fencer. Both trips spark memories, reflections, and new determination in both mother and daughter while revealing life-changing family secrets. Townsend has a lyrical, emotional style that's especially evident in the Vietnam section but also in smaller moments, as when Rhonda squints at her Olympic medal, "waiting for the heat of it to embroil her as it always did when she stole this secret moment for herself." A sense of realism helps anchor the story, in details of Olympic training or the Knight family's financial arrangements. The prose can become clichéd at times ("her parents' divorce had left a big, gaping hole in the fabric of her being"), but overall, this complicated family, full of ambitious women, makes a fresh impression. A careful examination of family ties with an international flavor.

Kirkus Reviews