An Apricot Year

Description:

Luli Russell never imagines the hurricanes, both figurative and literal, that will roar through her life when she turns fifty. A traditional Green Bay housewife, she has buried her artistic talent under the demands of her husband and family. For her birthday, her four children give her a trip to Santa Fe on her own, a month of painting lessons, and an enviable set of watercolors.

A hysterical call from her teenage daughter turns Luli’s dream trip into a nightmare. Minutes later, still in shock, she finds a bleeding man lying helpless in a parking lot. Adán Alire, a former medic in Vietnam, answers her call for help. He knows how to rescue the old man, and his kindhearted wife, Rosealba, knows how to help Luli rescue herself.

An Apricot Year throws together a coterie of dissimilar people who find their common humanity outweighs their differences as they meet in the shade of a bountiful apricot tree.

Awards:

An Apricot Year, Papalote’s latest fiction publication, received nine awards, both regional and national. They include an Honorable Mention from the New Mexico Press Women’s Communications Awards; a Bronze IPPY Award for West-Mountain Regional Fiction; a Bronze ForeWord Book of the Year Award for Multicultural Fiction. For design (Thanks again, Barbara Haines!) An Apricot Year won a Silver Benjamin Franklin Award for Design, from the Independent Book Publishers Association; two first place prizes in Production and Cover Design at The New Mexico Book Association Southwest Book Design Awards; and a Gold Medal for Book Design from PubWest.

Author Blurbs:

“Whether you’re into green chili and/or the Green Bay Packers, Martha Egan’s New Mexico saga, An Apricot Year, resonates for those searching for a new beginning.”
—Ana Pacheco, author of Saints and Seasons: A Guide to New Mexico’s Most Popular Saints.

“In An Apricot Year, Martha Egan has written a powerful novel of one woman’s journey. A journey that sweeps her from the flatlands of the midwest to the heart of Northern New Mexico. It is a story full of hope and promise.”
—Rick Collignon, author of Madewell Brown.

“Martha Egan weaves her Santa Fe spell into this charming story of family, friendship, community and finding love in the most unexpected places.”
—Judith Ryan Hendricks, author of Isabel’s Daughter and The Laws of Harmony.

“Though hilariously disclaiming her characters as ‘wholly the product of the author’s twisted imagination,’ Egan perfectly casts each member of her concocted quartet as someone you just know you’ve met. This laid-back blend of familiarity and fantasy makes for a read as soulful as a Santa Fe sunset and as memorable as the season’s rarest, sweetest apricot.
—Carmella Padilla, author of El Rancho de las Golondrinas: Living History in New Mexico’s La Cienega Valley.

Reviews:

 Sweet novel of a woman coming of age in her new life post divorce.
—Ruth M. Schofield on Amazon.

An Apricot Year captures the essence of life in Santa Fe from the delicacy of apricot blossoms to the blazing sunsets as seen through the eyes of an emerging artist struggling to find her new life in Santa Fe. Diversity, enchantment, adventure, sorrow and love weave throughout this touching tale of discovery.
—Melinne Owen on Amazon.