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The Hearts of Men
 | A Novel by Nickolas Butler Ecco/HarperCollins March 6, 2016 Hardcover, $26.99 ISBN: 9780062469687 An epic novel of intertwining friendships and families set in the Northwoods of Wisconsin at a beloved Boy Scout summer camp-from the bestselling author of Shotgun Lovesongs. “Like a great campfire story, The Hearts of Men is epic and hushed in the right places, simultaneously local and universal, and brilliantly, beautifully unspooled. It’s both a love letter to good men of the past and a hopeful cheer for the good men to come.” -- J. Ryan Stradal, author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest “How Nickolas Butler spans the gaps across several generations of sons and fathers (and mothers) is nothing short of a marvel of storytelling…The Hearts of Men is full of pain, joy, longing, redemption, disappointment, and beauty--in short, all the qualities that distinguish the very best novels on our shelves.” -- David Abrams, author of Fobbit “Butler demonstrates enormous command over the material and sympathy for his flawed characters. This beautiful novel might be his best yet.” -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) |
| Camp Chippewa, 1962. Nelson Doughty, age thirteen, social outcast and overachiever, is the Bugler, sounding the reveille proudly each morning. Yet this particular summer marks the beginning of an uncertain and tenuous friendship with a popular boy named Jonathan. Over the years, Nelson, irrevocably scarred from the Vietnam War, becomes Scoutmaster of Camp Chippewa, while Jonathan marries, divorces, and turns his father’s business into a highly profitable company. And when something unthinkable happens at a camp get-together with Nelson as Scoutmaster and Jonathan’s teenage grandson and daughter-in-law as campers, the aftermath demonstrates the depths—and the limits—of Nelson’s selflessness and bravery. The Hearts of Men is a sweeping, panoramic novel about the slippery definitions of good and evil, family and fidelity, the challenges and rewards of lifelong friendships, the bounds of morality—and redemption. Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of the internationally bestselling and prizewinning novel Shotgun Lovesongs and the acclaimed short-story collection Beneath the Bonfire. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and their two children. |  |
Setting Free the Kites
 | A novel by Alex George G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Random House February 21, 2017 Hardcover, $27 ISBN: 9780399162107 From the author of the “lyrical and compelling” (USA Today) novel A GOOD AMERICAN, the powerful story of the unintended consequences that friendship, hope, and obsession impose on two families in crisis. “Told with a precise poignancy that is not often articulated on the page, Setting Free the Kites is both humorous and devastating in its execution. Alex George’s Bildungsroman is an awe inspiring triumph, and a story that book clubs will embrace with a passion. Get a copy and let your spirit soar.” -- Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books (Excelsior, MN) “In Setting Free the Kites, Alex George brings us a coming of age novel full to bursting with love, loss, and music. It touched every emotion from laughter to heartbreaking tears. Young and old alike will find meaning in his character’s words and actions. The four years of waiting since George’s last book was worth every minute.” -- Kate Schlademan from The Learned Owl Book Shop (Hudson, OH) |
“Alex George has given us another wonderful book. It's funny and moving as it takes on a trip through a childhood and friendships. The bond that Robert and Nathan share will see them through so many difficult and wonderful times of their lives. A great read.” -- Anna Flynn, Watermark Books & Cafe
“A profoundly moving, charming, heart-breaking, heart-lifting portrait of childhood, parenthood, and friendship. I couldn’t love it more. With a down-on-its-heels amusement park as the perfect backdrop, Setting Free the Kites is both elegiac and comical, a celebration of adolescent stumbling-around. This book is a treasure.” -- Timothy Schaffert, author of The Swan Gondola
“I think I fell a little in love with Alex George’s Setting Free the Kites when I heard the beautiful title. Luckily, the book itself—colorful, poignant, winning and touching—does not disappoint and seduces like a spring breeze. Mr. George, please consider me one of your new and ardent admirers.” -- George Hodgman, author of Bettyville Missouri-based Alex George's new novel takes place in Haverford, Maine, a town that’s easily overlooked. So is Robert Carter, an eighth-grader in 1976 who’s a ready target for the class bully. That is, until the first day of school and a new kid appears: Nathan Tilly. Nathan is fearless, impetuous, and obsessed with kites and flying. As Robert and Nathan become friends, they’re drawn into each other’s families, where they witness unexpected tragedy and learn that all families can harbor secrets. When summer arrives, both boys work at the local amusement park owned by Robert’s family, and it’s there that Robert and Nathan begin to learn some harsh truths about family, desire and revenge. Honest and heartfelt, with echoes of novels by Wally Lamb and John Irving, Setting Free the Kites is both a poignant coming-of-age story and a moving family drama that explores the terrible costs of misplaced hope. |  |
Alex George is an Englishman who lives, works, and writes in the middle of America. He studied law at Oxford University and worked for eight years as a corporate lawyer in London and Paris before moving to the United States. He lives in Missouri with his family.
To inguire about inviting the author to your store, contact his publicist Katie Grinch at kgrinch@penguinrandomhouse.com.
The Roanoke Girls
 | A Novel b Amy Engels Crown/Penguin Random House March 7, 2017 Hardcover, $25 ISBN: 9781101906668 Vowing to discover the fate of her missing cousin, a woman returns to her family’s Kansas estate where she spent one haunting summer as a teen, and where she discovered the dark heart of the Roanoke clan that left her no choice but to run. “Gripping…[a] gothic page-turner…with revelations readers won’t soon forget.” -- Publishers Weekly “I was immediately drawn into The Roanoke Girls, a haunting and riveting look at one family’s tangled legacy. You won’t stop reading until you’ve unraveled the darkest of Roanoke’s shocking secrets.” -- Laura McHugh, award-winning author of The Weight of Blood “An emotionally compelling page turner, The Roanoke Girls takes you inside the dark world of a twisted family and one woman’s fight to break free from the chains of her own history. This is family intrigue at its very best!” -- Wendy Walker, author of All Is Not Forgotten |
| Lane Roanoke is fifteen when she comes to live with her maternal grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, at the Roanoke family estate in rural Osage Flats, Kansas, following the suicide of her mother. Lane knows little of her mother’s family, other than the fact that her mother ran away years before and cut off all contact with her parents. Allegra, abandoned by her own mother at birth and raised by her grandparents, introduces Lane to small-town life and the benefits of being one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But there is darkness at the heart of the Roanoke family, and when Lane discovers its insidious pull she has no choice but to run, as far and as fast as she can. Eleven years later, Lane is scraping by in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls with the news that Allegra has gone missing. “Come home,” he beckons. Unable to resist his pleas, Lane returns to Osage Flats, determined to find her cousin and assuage her own guilt at having left Allegra behind all those years ago. Her return might mean a second chance with Cooper, the boyfriend whom she loved and destroyed that fateful summer. But it also means facing the terrible secret that made her flee, one she may not be strong enough to run from again. As it weaves between the summer of Lane’s first arrival and the summer of her return, The Roanoke Girls shocks and tantalizes, twisting its way through revelation after mesmerizing revelation, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart. |  |
Amy Engel grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. She is the author of the YA novels The Book of Ivy and The Revolution of Ivy. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri with her family. This is her first novel for adults.
To invite Amy to your store, contact Sarah Brievogel at sbreivogel@penguinrandomhouse.com
