The
Plot:
Growing
up in a lush valley in the Andes mountains, sixteen-year-old Josie Wales is
mostly isolated from the turbulence brewing in 1976 Colombia. As the daughter
of missionaries, Josie feels torn between their beliefs and the need to choose
for herself. She soon begins to hide things from her parents, like her new
boyfriend and her explorations into different religions.
Josie
eventually discovers her parents’ secrets are far more insidious. When she
attempts to unravel the web of lies surrounding her family, each thread
stretches to its breaking point. Josie tries to save her family, but what
happens if they don’t want to be saved?
The
Existence of Pity is a story of flawed characters told with heart and depth
against the beautiful backdrop of Colombia.
About the Author:
Jeannie
Zokan grew up in Colombia, South America, where she read almost every book in
the American school she attended. Her love of books led her to study Library
Science at Baylor University then to attend The George Washington University in
DC. When the chance came to head south, she took her motorcycle to Florida’s
Gulf Coast to write stories for the local newspaper.
She
now lives ten minutes from the beach with her husband, two teenage daughters,
and three pets, all of whom keep her inspired and active. She enjoys aerial
yoga, tennis, and holding NICU babies as a volunteer. But there’s always
writing. Writing to relive, writing to understand, writing to remember, writing
to renew.
Review:
I
was lucky growing up. While my parents were active in our Lutheran church and
encouraged me to follow in their footsteps, they also allowed me the freedom to
explore other churches. When I spent the night with a Catholic friend and went
to Mass with her, I didn’t need to hide it. In The Existence of Pity, Josie Wales doesn’t have that freedom. Her
parents are missionaries in Columbia, and the whole family has to set an
example for the community. Adolescence is difficult enough without that kind of
pressure at home. No wonder she seeks answers elsewhere. Her parents are lucky
she chooses another church, considering the other options out there.
To
make matters worse, Columbia is in the process of switching its major import
crop from Juan Valdez’s “rich Columbian coffee” to cocaine. No one, not even a
missionary’s family, can escape the influence of the cartels. And that’s not
the only secret Jody’s family is hiding. The only people she really feels at
home with are her aunt, who lives in Arizona and the family’s Catholic maid,
who silently sees everything, and keeps everyone’s secrets.
I
swore I was done with YA books, but somehow this one sneaked in, and I’m glad
it did. In addition to the incredible descriptions of a troubled but beautiful
country, The Existence of Pity takes
us inside the life and emotions of a girl on the precipice of womanhood in a
family of missionaries. It includes intrigue, romance, philosophy, teenaged
angst, and flawed, but loving parents. And even when Jody disobeyed her
parents, I worried about her, but I didn’t really want to ground her. I just wanted
to see what happened next. So will you.
Author Website: http://jeanniezokan.com/
Warnings: None
Length: 240 Pages
Prices:
Print: $13.99
Digital: $5.99
Buy Links:
Print—Red Adepts Publishing: http://redadeptpublishing.com/#!/The-Existence-of-Pity/p/68166049/category=12051051
Digital—Amazon: https://amazon.com/dp/B01M8NDPQT
You’ll
notice we always include the publisher’s buy link when there is one. That’s
because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher.
Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty
cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is
left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there,
the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the
author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.
Download
the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve
created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing
for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.).
That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer.
Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my
kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to buy all of my books again. If you have a
Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so
buying directly from the publisher can save you money.
Moving
the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any
file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your
e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the
file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to the Documents/Books
directory on your e-reader. You can move the file by highlighting it and
dragging it to the documents directory in you Kindle you want to move it to. Or
right click on it, and then left click copy or move. Or hit Control/C for copy,
Control/X for cut, and Control/V for paste.
Your
author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.
Thanks
for visiting.
