A Brief View from the Coastal Suite

by Karen Hofmann

It’s 2008 and the Lunds are a family under pressure in a city under pressure.

The reunited Lund siblings, separated as children by Social Services, find that family, whether held together by blood or by choice, can be both a curse and a blessing, an obstacle and a point of connection. Set in Vancouver during the economically turbulent year of 2008, A Brief View from the Coastal Suite explores the Lunds’ differing values in respect to relationships, money, and environment – all markers for a materialistic society that is becoming increasingly inhospitable. Cleo struggles to find time for her challenging job as an architectural designer and for the demands of her family; Mandalay, an artist and single parent, tries to raise her twin sons uncontaminated by the materialistic values of their lawyer father; and Cliff attempts to run a landscape company with his spoiled younger brother, Ben, and to accommodate the ever-increasing demands of his Estonian mailorder bride. Karen Hofmann’s brilliant sequel to her novel What is Going to Happen Next skillfully explores societal attitudes and the instability of personal and public lives in a world that values money above all else.

ADDITIONAL SALES POINTS

• For fans of novels dealing with realistic and complicated family dynamics and current events. • Previous novel won the Book Design Award and previous short- story collection won the Cover Design Award at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards.

MARKETING PLAN

• Early ARC and international press release mailout. • Announcement of book’s release by email newsletter and on the NeWest Press Facebook, Instragram, and Twitter pages. • Podcast reading/interview posted on iTunes, RSS feed, Facebook, and NeWest website. • Press releases and review mailouts to various CBC outlets across the nation, both radio and television. • Submit to all eligible awards. • Ads in subTerrain, Alberta Views, Prairie Books Now, CNQ: Canadian Notes and Queries, Glass Buffalo, PRISM international, and Prairie Fire. Trade Paperback / April 15, 2021

isbn 10: 1-77439-017-5

isbn 13: 978-177439-017-7

BISAC 1: FIC045020 BISAC 2: FIC019000 BISAC 3: FIC069000

Praise for What is Going to Happen Next: “As a family saga, the novel is empathetic, compassionate, and expertly paced.”

~ Brenda Johnston, Canadian Literature

About The Author

Karen Hofmann grew up in the Okanagan Valley and taught English and creative writing at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia for nearly three decades, and now divides her time between the BC Interior and the West Coast. A first collection of poetry, Water Strider, was published by Frontenac House in 2008 and shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay prize. Her first novel, After Alice, was published by NeWest Press in 2014, and a second novel, What is Going to Happen Next, in 2017. A short fiction collection, Echolocation, was published by NeWest in 2019. Her poetry and short fiction have won numerous recognitions. Karen is an avid walker, and her writing explores the landscapes, both rural and urban, of British Columbia, as well as the personalities and social dynamics of the inhabitants.

312 pp / 6 x 9 / $21.95 cdn $16.95 usd • In-person launch events in Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, and Edmonton, as well as online.

MARKETS

• National trade: literary fiction • US and UK trade: literary fiction • Vancouver / urban

COMPARISON TITLES

• Ellen in Pieces by Caroline Adderson (978-1-443426-78-7, Harper Collins Canada, 2014) • The Opening Sky by Joan Thomas (978-0-771083-92-1, McClelland & Stewart, 2014) • Autumn by Ali Smith (978-0-14397-89-8, Penguin Canada, 2017)