Synopsis: Spare change is actually two tales that come together. The first tale is about Olivia Westerly, an independent woman who is very superstitious, and her journey to find love, only to lose her husband on her honey moon, all because of superstition. The second story is about a young boy named Ethan Allen Doyle, who grows up in a poor, Southern, dysfunctional family and ends up witnessing his parents murdered because of their dysfunctional lifestyle. Then their worlds come together.... but I can't tell you more or it will ruin the story.
Review: This is hard, because this book is a good book... it is just not my cup of tea. This book is like a Lifetime movie meets The Lottery Rose. It is too real, too painful. I read to escape from that kind of stuff! Having spent the last several years living in the South, I can tell you that I have met people that are so much like Crosby's characters, that in some ways it hurts. It hurts to know that although this book is fiction, bad stuff like this happens every day. And just like real life there are some who survive this mess, and some who don't. I do admire Olivia and her friends. I do love the message of the story, and I admire Crosby for tackling such tough subject matter. If you like Lifetime movies, then this book is definitely for you. If you don't, refer it to a friend who does!
Author: Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction--the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.
Crosby's work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since that time, she has gone on to win several more awards, including another NLAPW award, three Royal Palm Literary Awards, both the 2011 and 2012FPA President's Book Award Gold Medal and most recently the 2010 Reader's View General Fiction Literary Award, Southeast Regional Fiction Award and the Jack Eadon Best Contemporary Drama Book Award.
Born in Detroit and raised in a plethora of states scattered across the South and Northeast, Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back. "Storytelling is in my blood," Crosby laughingly admits, "My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write."
Her published works to date are: Girl Child (2007), Cracks in the Sidewalk (2009), and Spare Change (2011). She has also authored a memoir for Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as the world's longest living quadriplegic. Scheduled for release in March 2012, the book is titled "Life in the Land of IS." (Taken Directly from Amazon)
