It’s hard to believe that in a few days, we start September.  School is back in session or will be soon. Summer vacation pictures have been hopefully uploaded to your computer.

At From Left to Write, we’re starting our back school season with Deborah Reed’s debut novel Carry Yourself Back to Me . We’ll enter the world of Annie Walsh, a singer and songwriter, who is battling heartbreak.

Here’s a short synopsis:

Famed alt-country artist Annie Walsh has more than enough reason to sing her version of the blues, including a broken heart, a stalled career, and a troubled family. Annie seeks refuge from an upended love affair with her producer, Owen Pettybone, by sequestering herself at home with her old dog Detour, surrounded by a lush Florida tangelo grove. There, she spends her days furiously sanding down the house’s every veneer in a vain attempt at erasing the painful memory of the love she lost. Soon, however, this quiet, small town existence—far from recording studios, ardent fans, and affairs of the heart—comes crashing down around her. A violent murder connected to her brother Calder threatens to tear her family apart and forces Annie to shore up her loyalties and uproot profound disappointments from her distant past. The evidence stacks against Calder, compounded by his lifelong affliction with Tourette syndrome that causes some in the community to cast aspersions on the soundness of his mind.

As the circumstances converge to challenge lifetime ties and forge unexpected new bonds, this soulful, stirring novel shifts its narrative from an imperiled and ever-changing present, where each hour brings an unforeseen and unwelcome piece of news, to the poignant childhood days of first allegiances and life-altering loss. Like a fine and forlorn love ballad, the gifted, conflicted Annie lulls the reader into a journey through love and loss that mines the mysterious, and, at times, paradoxical rhythms of the human heart. As vibrant as Annie’s treasured tangelo grove, Carry Yourself Back to Me cultivates an always tender, sometimes tart, portrait of one family’s regret and redemption. Inflected with melancholy and redeemed by melody, this deeply affecting novel is certain to strike a resonant chord with music fans and lovers of fine fiction everywhere.

You’re getting a sneak peek of the novel here at From Left to Write, as Carry Yourself Back to Me goes on sale September 20. Published by Amazon Encore, you can pre-order the book on Amazon.

While you wait for your copy to arrive, check out a playlist of songs compiled by author Deborah Reed that are mentioned in the book and “others just represent the essence of it.”

Come back on September 22 and read what our book club members have to share about the book. Or better yet, subscribe to the site so you don’t miss anything.

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