Barbara Chepaitis – författare

In this deliciously charming novel, Barbara Chepaitis-a new and truly one-of-a-kind voice in women''s fiction-skillfully explores the powerful camaraderie shared by four exceptional women. Reminiscent of Like Water for Chocolate and How to Make an American Quilt, this unique tale filled with unforgettable characters has a style all its own. It is a delightful ode to the special unbreakable bond that exists between women-and the crazy things true friends will do to show they care. . . .Feeding ChristineTeresa DiRosa believes that life, like fine food, is made special by mixing together the best ingredients: time, patience, and a lot of love. Owner of a thriving catering business, Bread and Roses, she has turned the feeding of stomachs and souls into her life''s work. Now, with her niece Christine, best friend and bookkeeper Delia, and baker Amberlin, Teresa is gearing up for Bread and Roses'' most important event of the year: the annual Christmas open house. But as Teresa juggles recipes and party decorations, her personal life is spinning out of control. Her divorce is barely final when a handsome acquaintance hints that he''d like to be more than just friends. Her college-age son has broken her heart by choosing to spend Christmas with his father. And her niece Christine, beautiful and artistic, is engaged to marry a prominent psychologist-but seems to be losing her own grip on sanity as her wedding draws closer. The preparty cooking marathon promises to be filled with the usual chaos and conversation, and Teresa hopes it will be a good time to talk things over with her niece. But she''s not prepared when a suicidal Christine arrives at her house-and Teresa is the only one who can save her. The radical steps she takes to stop her niece from killing herself will shock everyone-but with Delia''s and Amberlin''s help, Teresa feeds Christine a healthy dose of courage, wisdom, and pure friendship . . . all while trying to pull off a grand party for a hundred people.Witty and warmhearted, Feeding Christine is a testament to the many different kinds of friendship it takes to live a full life-and to the different kinds of wisdom each of us has to share.From the Hardcover edition.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAD ONLY A YEAR TO LIVE? When a stranger poses this question in a supermarket checkout line, Cricket Thompson is jolted out of her everyday life to face a startling revelation: She has a loving husband and two wonderful teenage daughters and feels profoundly and utterly alone. The tides of change are slowly pulling her toward something new and barely recognizable: another man. But before she can even contemplate this internal shift, an act of deadly violence erupts at the local shopping mall, causing Cricket's whole world to come crashing down. Through the prism of this surreal crisis, Cricket's life is irrevocably altered...and without her knowledge or consent, she is plunged into the kind of cataclysmic event that by its very nature breeds transformation. An exploration of the solace of dreams and the fragility of being wide awake, These Dreams is an astoundingly powerful and heart-wrenching novel that no reader will soon forget. Look for Barbara Chepaitis's wonderful new novel, Something Unpredictable -- coming soon in hardcover from Atria Books.

Delilah is thirty-one years old and doesn't know what to do with her life. Her degree in geology - with an emphasis on atmospheric science and garbology - hasn't quite paved the career path she'd always dreamed of. Though she currently has a boyfriend (who photographs her in tubs of Jell-O), post-college relationships have, overall, proven equally disappointing. Now back at home living with her wealthy, eccentric parents in Key West and working as a waitress, Delilah would love to save the world - if only it weren't such an overwhelming task. But Delilah's life begins to change when her mother discovers her own birth mother, Carla. Delilah quickly forms a relationship with Carla, who turns out to have once been a professional tiger tamer, among other things. Their friendship opens doors for Delilah, gives her a new perspective on the world around her and fresh ideas of what she can do to make it a better place for herself and for those she loves. This touching novel from a wonderful stylist is a heartfelt, romantic tale that celebrates humanity in all its eccentric glory.

"What would you do if you were going to live your life as if you only had a year to live?" When a stranger poses this question in the supermarket checkout line, Cricket Thompson is jolted out of her everyday life to face a startling revelation: after seventeen years of marriage to solid, reliable Jim, and despite her love for her teenage daughters, Janis and Grace, Cricket is lonely. The tides of change are pulling her toward something new and barely recognizableŠan internal shift that leads her to spend time with a man named Pass Christian, who offers her a special kind of acceptance and understanding. But in a single moment, Cricket''s world comes crashing down when an act of deadly violence erupts at the local shopping mall -- and she faces a devastating, heartbreaking loss. Through the prism of this surreal crisis, Cricket''s life path is irrevocably altered; without her knowledge or consent, she has been plunged into the kind of cataclysmic event that by its very nature forces transformation. For Cricket, the world of dreams and fantasy comes up against the sting of reality with relentless force. Life as she knew it has been left in the past; yet Jim refuses to acknowledge the changes that confront them both. And suddenly, for Cricket, the love that Pass has to offer just about overwhelms her.... Exploring the solace of dreams and the fragility of being wide awake, Barbara Chepaitis has written an astoundingly powerful and heartwrenching novel. These Dreams beautifully portrays the love that grows in the most desolate of circumstances, when even the very will to endure is challenged by the inexplicable design of the world we must live in.

From the author of Feeding Christine and These Dreams comes a delightful story of family, love, and life''s many unexpected pleasures. At age thirty-one, Delilah needs a plan. Still living with her parents on their Key West estate, with no career to speak of and a dull relationship with a self-involved artist, she is beginning to feel as if life is sailing swiftly past her. Her sister is living the perfect life with the perfect husband, her father con-tinues to make money off the stock market, and her mother continues to spend it on the latest social cause. Delilah would love to save the world as well -- if only it weren''t such an overwhelming task. She longs for inspiration. Little does she know that it will soon come in the shape of Carla, -- a former tiger tamer and Delilah''s long-lost biological grandmother. Long-lost, that is, until now. When Delilah''s mother unwittingly discovers the identity of the woman who put her up for adoption years ago, Delilah is enlisted to visit Carla at her dilapidated farmhouse in rural New York. The first meeting does not go well. Aside from her constant gruff commands and occasional meddling in Delilah''s love life, Carla barely says a word to her newly discovered granddaughter, who is more like her than either of them would care to admit. Slowly, however, the two are drawn together by the beauty of the land, by the good friends around them, and by a love as unpredictable as life itself. Soon Delilah discovers that saving the world requires the courage to be saved and that truly embracing life means accepting its uncertainty. "Because love was always unpredictable. And slightly out of control." With her trademark humor and warmth, Barbara Chepaitis tells a wonderful story about one woman''s stumble upon happiness in the most unlikely of places. She creates characters that are "genuinely human" (Publishers Weekly) and in so doing reflects our ability to love the world and each other despite our many flaws and failures. Smart, funny, and true, Something Unpredictable is a gem of a novel and one to be dearly treasured.