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Paperback Details
  • 06/2023
  • 978-1947044357 B0C2LFG32N
  • 190 pages
  • $9.99
Under the Blue Moon
An automobile accident in front of a homeless shelter causes Lola, a dog trainer/groomer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to renew her battle with the grief she previously pushed below the surface of her daily life. Ben, formerly an architect in the same city, has been abandoned by his family and is currently homeless. Lola sees him on the day of her accident, trying to smuggle something into the shelter while all the people associated with the facility are outside with her, waiting for the ambulance to arrive and watching the drama unfold at the end of the street as the guy who broadsided her runs from the scene and is pursued by police. Ben, who lives on a ledge under an overpass with his 18-year-old cat and two space-mates, wants nothing more than to find a job and get back on his feet (and thereby win back both his dignity and his daughter’s love). Lola wants a second chance for a meaningful life. Their individual pursuits put them on parallel paths that offer not only chance encounters with each other but glimpses into the mysteries of luck, love, art, compassion, and what it means to be human in these times.
Plot/Idea: 7 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 7 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7.50 out of 10

Assessment:

Plot/Idea: This touching novel centers on a woman who is lonely and grieving over a lost daughter and a man who is homeless and desperate for a new start. The author effectively weaves their stories together, forming a gratifying narrative arc.

Prose: Schweighardt has a clear, polished prose style that brings the story to life.

Originality: The author writes empathetically about the experience of homelessness, adding an original element to the narrative.

Character/Execution: Lola and Ben emerge as unique and complex characters--both suffering due to circumstance beyond their control and searching for peace, solace, and dignity. Additional characters fill out the world of the story, providing authenticity and humanity. 

Date Submitted: August 22, 2023

Reviews
Editorial Reviews from other authors

 

 

“This little book is a gem of tenderness as it looks at a hard-hitting reality. It brings to mind the expression, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ Yet it never preaches. It just quietly does what it should, and I found myself wishing fervently that everyone everywhere would read it and change the world.”

Kate Niles, author of The Basket Maker, “a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year,” and other titles. 

"Hard luck, bad choices and tragedy stalk the characters of Under the Full Moon. So do love, compassion, and sometimes, a second chance. The story does not follow the cliched expectations. The characters, Lola and Ben, don't become friends or redeem one another. But the reader's appreciation of each character's journey is enhanced by the experiences of the other. This story is filled with heart, loss, and the fleeting triumph of good."

—Claudia H. Long, author of Our Lying KinNine Tenths of the Law, and other novels

“Schweighardt skillfully tackles a rarely addressed theme in fiction through the character of Ben, someone who could be any one of us, successful in one moment and living on the streets in the next. Juxtaposed is Lola, a woman overwhelmed and fragmented by a traumatic event. We are moved by the humanity and vulnerability of these characters and thus we can have hope for them.”

 

--Phyllis M Skoy, author of A Turkish Trilolgy: What Survives, As They Are, and A Coup, and the memoir, Myopia.

 

Formats
Paperback Details
  • 06/2023
  • 978-1947044357 B0C2LFG32N
  • 190 pages
  • $9.99
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