Contemporary Authors

• The Drifter ( novel) William Morrow (New York, NY), 2017

1. The drifter : a novel LCCN 2017287536 Type of material Book Personal name Lennon, Christine, author. Main title The drifter : a novel / Christine Lennon. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2017] ©2017 Description 352, 18 pages ; 21 cm ISBN 9780062457578 (paperback) 0062457578 (paperback) CALL NUMBER PS3612.E5423 D75 2017 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

• Christine Lennon - http://christinelennon.com/about-christine/

  Christine Lennon is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor. Before she moved to the West Coast to start her freelance career, she was an editor at W, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Since then, she has written for publications including T The New York Times style magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, W, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Martha Stewart Living, Sunset, C California Style, Marie Claire, Self, Net-a-Porter’s Porter and The Edit online magazine— among others.

  Her first novel, THE DRIFTER (formerly GAINESVILLE), will be published February 21, 2017: “Journalist Christine Lennon’s GAINESVILLE, alternating between 1990s Florida and present-day New York, about a group of friends on the cusp of graduating from college, whose innocence is shattered by a brutal act of violence that changes the course of their lives, to Emily Krump at William Morrow, by Brettne Bloom at The Book Group (World). [Publisher’s Weekly]”.

  Christine lives in Hancock Park with her husband, Andrew Reich, and their two children.

• One Kings Lane - https://www.onekingslane.com/live-love-home/eclectic-home-christine-lennon/

  FAMILY LIVING

  Step Inside the Eclectic Home of an L.A. Design Writer
  Step Inside the Eclectic Home of an L.A. Design Writer
  FILED UNDER: DECORATING IDEASHOME TOURSTASTEMAKERS
  Imagine being a writer and interviewing the crème de la crème of the design world: discussing what it takes to create a chic yet family-friendly home with Kelly Wearstler; mixing prints and patterns with the master, Peter Dunham; talking about the importance of the handmade with Pam Shamshiri—then taking all that knowledge and applying it to your own home. Would you be paralyzed by the wealth of choice, or would you embrace your knowledge with open arms? Such is the life of L.A.-based writer Christine Lennon, and she opted for the latter. “The best part about what I do is that I feel like an eternal student,” she says. “Every time I write a story, I learn something.” Christine lives with husband Andrew, a television writer; eight-year-old twins Millie and Louis; and their darling Wheaten-mix, Ollie, in a 1921 three-bedroom colonial in the Hancock Park neighborhood. It’s a traditional house, decorated with care, from the fresh color choices to the riot of patterns both subtle and bold, and filled with love. We were thrilled to turn the tables on Christine, for once letting her play the interviewee. Step inside her picture-perfect family home below.
  Blue, which runs throughout Christine’s house, shows up in a major way in her living room: on a pair of chairs belonging to her husband that she had reupholstered, a Kelly Lamb geodesic bowl, and a beyond-comfy denim-upholstered sofa.
  Blue, which runs throughout Christine’s house, shows up in a major way in her living room: on a pair of chairs belonging to her husband that she had reupholstered, a Kelly Lamb geodesic bowl, and a beyond-comfy denim-upholstered sofa.
  The Big Move

  Christine lived and worked for years in New York City, doing time at top-notch magazines including W and Vogue and inhabiting—as most New Yorkers do—pint-size apartments. “They were always minimally decorated, because I couldn’t stand the idea of living in a small, cluttered space,” she says. Then she headed west to Los Angeles, rented her first Cali home (an amazing one-bedroom cottage in Silver Lake), and finally had the space to flex her design muscles. “It was like I was shot out of a cannon!” she laughs. “I was at the Rose Bowl every month buying vintage, and I just immersed myself in the California design community. It felt so immediately comfortable.”
  After falling for a friend’s peach chair (“Peach gets a bad rap, but this chair was aglow with color”), Christine promptly reupholstered a club chair in similar fabric. It throws warm tones on burlap curtains, an underutilized but affordable fabric.
  After falling for a friend’s peach chair (“Peach gets a bad rap, but this chair was aglow with color”), Christine promptly reupholstered a club chair in similar fabric. It throws warm tones on burlap curtains, an underutilized but affordable fabric.
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  This Craigslist piano came with cigarette-burned keys and a saloon sound. Christine swears that no matter how many hints her kids’ piano teacher drops, she’ll never trade it in.
  This Craigslist piano came with cigarette-burned keys and a saloon sound. Christine swears that no matter how many hints her kids’ piano teacher drops, she’ll never trade it in.
  Inspiration and Influence

  With each interview she does, Christine’s design IQ grows, especially now that she’s based in L.A. with a wide range of architectural styles at her fingertips. She says: “Tamara Kaye-Honey has such a great sense of humor and finds ways to sneak it into the terribly chic spaces she designs. Amanda Masters is so confident with textures and showed me that having something lush and tactile in every room is important. Architect Barbara Bestor has so much confidence with color that you can’t help but be inspired by her eye.” But the biggest influence on her style has been Pam Shamshiri of Commune. “What I took away from Pam was that in order for a room to have a heartbeat, a sense of welcoming and comfort, at least one thing in it has to be handmade. You have to see the fingerprint of a human being on the pieces you acquire, whether it’s a custom lampshade or a hand-knotted rug.”
  Christine’s kitchen checks all the boxes for dream-kitchen status: Viking stove (inherited), butcher-block island (added), and cool pendants (from Schoolhouse Electric). But it’s the quirky touches—leather door pulls, cork floors—that make it her own.
  Christine’s kitchen checks all the boxes for dream-kitchen status: Viking stove (inherited), butcher-block island (added), and cool pendants (from Schoolhouse Electric). But it’s the quirky touches—leather door pulls, cork floors—that make it her own.
  Family Rituals

  Sundays find the clan at the Larchmont Farmers’ Market. “We walk over from our house and see our neighbors and friends along the way—it’s like our version of church,” says Christine. The kids have been going since they were babies (“scoring free apples since 2008!” says Christine), and the family will pick up fresh produce, bring it back home, gather in the kitchen, and cook. “We’ve created a couple of mini-mes, so we all like to do the same things: cooking, reading, biking, swimming, hiking, and gardening,” says Christine. If they’re not at the farmers’ market? You’ll find them at Ultrazone Laser Tag in Sherman Oaks for a birthday party. “I wish I were joking,” she laughs.
  Christine painted her dining-room walls Benjamin Moore’s Polo Blue and juxtaposed them with some of her existing furniture, a new dining table, and a modern chandelier that’s “free and open, just like you’d want your dinner conversations to be,” she says.
  Christine painted her dining-room walls Benjamin Moore’s Polo Blue and juxtaposed them with some of her existing furniture, a new dining table, and a modern chandelier that’s “free and open, just like you’d want your dinner conversations to be,” she says.
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  Favorite Thanks to a base of textured neutrals—grasscloth wallpaper, a grain-cloth armchair, and a white linen couch—Christine was able to pile on the patterns in the den, as evidenced by her floral pillows, suzani ottoman, and striped rug.
  Thanks to a base of textured neutrals—grasscloth wallpaper, a grain-cloth armchair, and a white linen couch—Christine was able to pile on the patterns in the den, as evidenced by her floral pillows, suzani ottoman, and striped rug.
  Love at First Sight

  “I was the first potential buyer to see this house,” says Christine, “and I had no game face at all. They knew right away that I wanted it.” She was taken by its classic good looks, swooned over the property’s mature trees, and was sold when she stepped into the kooky den with slanted roof, which was an addition in the 1940s. “It made the place feel a little weird and unpredictable, in a good way, and I was immediately drawn to that mix of traditional and modern,” she says. She’s a firm believer that if a house has good bones, any style of furniture will work, so faced with a home that could go formal and buttoned-up or looser and family-friendly, she and Andrew opted for the latter.
  Eight-year-old twins Louis and Millie gather often for game time in the den like this round of Jenga.
  Eight-year-old twins Louis and Millie gather often for game time in the den like this round of Jenga.
  With walls painted Benjamin Moore’s restful Wickham Gray and a Salt & Still quilt depicting the moon’s phases, the master bedroom is primed for catching Zzzs. On the bed, a John Robshaw duvet works the same neutral color scheme as the Les Indiennes pillow shams.
  With walls painted Benjamin Moore’s restful Wickham Gray and a Salt & Still quilt depicting the moon’s phases, the master bedroom is primed for catching Zzzs. On the bed, a John Robshaw duvet works the same neutral color scheme as the Les Indiennes pillow shams.
  A His-and-Hers Mash-up

  Part of any marriage is compromise, especially when it comes to combining his decor with yours. “My husband was really into Deco pieces—his place was like the ultimate bachelor pad—and I had a flea-market-bohemian thing going on,” says Christine. “When we combined our belongings—and let’s be honest, I put some of his stuff out on the curb—what emerged was a mix that’s hard to define, but I think it’s working. Well, I hope it’s working!” She integrated some of his pieces into their home as is (like the bed in the master bedroom) and slightly changed up others (reupholstering chairs) to make them gel.
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  Christine’s “me space” is her dressing area, wallpapered with GP & J Baker wallpaper. The dresser, a Rose Bowl find, is topped with vintage trays, old family photos, and sweet little found objets her kids have gifted her.
  Christine’s “me space” is her dressing area, wallpapered with GP & J Baker wallpaper. The dresser, a Rose Bowl find, is topped with vintage trays, old family photos, and sweet little found objets her kids have gifted her.

  I love mixing color and pattern, and though sometimes I feel like I’m winging it, I’m doing it with joy and confidence.
  — Christine Lennon
  Millie’s room is a sophisticated take on a typical little girl’s pink paradise. Christine had the fuchsia duvet made with thick cotton rickrack and accented it with paisley pillows, a lampshade of the same material topping a chic chinoiserie lamp, and an ombré desk from Etsy.
  Millie’s room is a sophisticated take on a typical little girl’s pink paradise. Christine had the fuchsia duvet made with thick cotton rickrack and accented it with paisley pillows, a lampshade of the same material topping a chic chinoiserie lamp, and an ombré desk from Etsy.
  Arty Party

  Christine’s favorite part of daughter Millie’s room is the Tim Barber photograph of a pink-haired girl far above Central Park. “It makes me remember what it felt like to be 20 and full of possibility,” she says. “There’s a rebelliousness there that really matches my daughter’s personality.” She dreams of starting an art collection for her kids much like her friend Karen Kimmel, the founder of Crafting Community, who buys a piece of art for her children every couple of years, so that they’ll have a ready-made collection when they’re ready to strike out on their own.
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  Also in Millie’s room is an abstract cupcake the budding artist painted herself, above a doll bed that’s one of the oldest pieces in the house. “My great-grandfather made it for my grandmother,” says Christine.
  Also in Millie’s room is an abstract cupcake the budding artist painted herself, above a doll bed that’s one of the oldest pieces in the house. “My great-grandfather made it for my grandmother,” says Christine.
  A Place for Toys

  As a design-minded mom, Christine has one tip for creating a chic, family-friendly home: “Don’t sacrifice your space to toys! When you have an infant, the baby swing, pack-and-play, and bouncy seat can totally take over, and that’s fine, but once your kids are out of that stage, take back your house!” She’s a firm believer that your home should be an inviting space for children and adults and that toys should be contained in the kids’ rooms or in a reasonable amount of storage. In her home, lidded baskets and plenty of shelving do the trick in the twins’ rooms.
  The kilim-covered stairs are the first thing you see when you step inside. Christine sourced the runners online, then with the help of friend Genevieve Carter, a former Commune designer, she cut them up, laid them out to land on a pattern, and worked with Lawrence of La Brea rugs on the install.
  The kilim-covered stairs are the first thing you see when you step inside. Christine sourced the runners online, then with the help of friend Genevieve Carter, a former Commune designer, she cut them up, laid them out to land on a pattern, and worked with Lawrence of La Brea rugs on the install.

  I wanted guests’ first impression of my home to be ‘Whoa, this is no buttoned-up colonial.’
  — Christine Lennon
  The family’s unofficial motto: Get outside. They’re often in the backyard hanging with Ollie, their Wheaten-mix terrier, and swinging on the horse tire swing that was a gift from the grandparents. “One of my favorite parts of this house are all the mature trees,” says Christine. “They provide so much shade and keep the house and yard 10 degrees cooler—crucial for L.A.”
  The family’s unofficial motto: Get outside. They’re often in the backyard hanging with Ollie, their Wheaten-mix terrier, and swinging on the horse tire swing that was a gift from the grandparents. “One of my favorite parts of this house are all the mature trees,” says Christine. “They provide so much shade and keep the house and yard 10 degrees cooler—crucial for L.A.”
  Party Time

  Christine takes her entertaining seriously. In the winter, handfuls of families will gather inside for casual dinner parties, but during warm summer nights, it’s all about the backyard, where she’ll move furniture to create lounge areas or rent long tables and chairs. “We’re really into what I can only call ‘food adventures,’” she says. She and Andrew have organized a raw bar from Oyster Boys; had parties catered by Paella Project, special round grill and all; and once, for the kids’ birthday, hired a New Orleans jazz band to lead the revelers on a parade up and down the block while the kids tooted along on kazoos. “I get pretty amped up about parties,” says Christine.
  Millie and Louis would live in the tree house—complete with a fire pole for quick, fun exits—if they could. “They pretend that it’s a condo and move furniture up there,” says Christine. Redecorating? Sounds to us like they take after their mom.
  Millie and Louis would live in the tree house—complete with a fire pole for quick, fun exits—if they could. “They pretend that it’s a condo and move furniture up there,” says Christine. Redecorating? Sounds to us like they take after their mom.

• Harper Collins - https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062457578/the-drifter

  CHRISTINE LENNON is a Los Angeles based writer. Before she moved to the West Coast and started her freelance career, she was an editor at W, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar. Since then, she has written for publications including, T, the New York Times Style Magazine; the Wall Street Journal; Town & Country; W; Vogue; Harper’s Bazaar; Martha Stewart Living; Sunset; C California Style; Marie Claire; Self; Net-a-Porter’s Porter and The Edit online magazine—among others. Christine lives in California with her husband, Andrew Reich, and their twins. The Drifter is her first book.

• Tory Burch - http://www.toryburch.com/blog-post/blog-post.html?bpid=287621

  To Read:
  Christine Lennon’s The Drifter

  Christine Lennon’s debut novel The Drifter is grounded in the real-life tale of the Gainesville Ripper, A.K.A. serial killer Danny Rolling, who terrorized the Florida college town in the Nineties. While that initial hook gives the book its suspense and uncomfortable-yet-thrilling goose-bump factor, the story continues to unravel from there, touching upon themes of friendship and reinvention and the lingering residue of guilt and time. Our protagonist is Betsy, a University of Florida coed when the killer (renamed Scottie MacRae) strikes. (Spoiler alert: a sorority sister doesn’t make it.) Decades later, Betsy becomes Elizabeth, a high-powered Manhattanite in the art world, who’s still grappling with her past. Music plays a big part throughout the book and, as we discover in our talk with the Lennon, a former magazine editor, it weighed heavy on the writing process, too — you can listen to her playlist for The Drifter here.
  The idea behind The Drifter first began with…
  My 40th birthday. I think that so many people get that “now or never” feeling when they turn 40, which leads to mid-life crisis sports cars or affairs or training for a triathlons. I used mine to motivate me to try to write something longer than 3,000 words. So first I turned 40, and then I read a book called A Visit from the Goon Squad by one of my favorite writers, Jennifer Egan. It’s a breathtaking book (it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2011) and I connected with one of the characters, Sasha, in a real, visceral way. It made me want to create a person who made bad choices and screwed up a lot, but still, ultimately, realized that she was deserving of love and happiness.
  I choose to ground the novel in the Gainsville murders because…
  I was there! It was August of 1990, and a serial killer named Danny Rolling murdered five people in my small college town. (In the book, I changed names and details because I didn’t want to be disrespectful to the families of the victims who died far too young.) I moved away right after graduation, but for years, every time I told someone I went to school at the University of Florida, I would see this flicker of recognition in their eyes, like “Wait a minute…isn’t that where…?” It happened well before our 24-hour news cycle engulfed our culture, but this was still a major national story. People still remember it pretty vividly. My friends and I were young and a little callous and of course we felt immortal, but it changed me and, I think, everyone around me. The whole world looked a little bit darker after that.
  How the theme of reinvention resonates for me…
  I have had several opportunities to reinvent myself in my life, some of which I welcomed, and some of which I dreaded. I moved from Kansas City to Florida mid-way through my freshman year of high school, and I was kind of a shy kid, so that felt like a waking nightmare. But it gave my life a kind of urgency. Suddenly, I was living this John Hughes-movie-style makeover montage, cutting my hair, ditching my Polo rugby shirts for black t-shirts. I think that’s one of the reasons why I ended up writing for fashion magazines. I understood the way changing your style could also change your life. Then, when I moved to New York after college, I felt like I had just rolled off of the citrus truck. I scrambled to fit in, not realizing that literally every other person my age on the sidewalk was going through the same thing. The protagonist in The Drifter, Betsy, goes through a similar reinvention period, because she was trying to smudge out her past. Fourteen years ago, I moved from New York to Los Angeles. I never would have had the courage to come here, where I knew exactly four people, if I hadn’t had a little practice. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.
  Favorite line in the book…
  “In the blazing afternoon sun, her eyes stung with sweat and bad memories as she got back on the bike and rode to Ginny’s, undetected, to wait for the storm.” I could use that line to describe almost every day I spent at UF. It was huge, so everyone felt a little bit anonymous. And I either got caught in the rain or was drenched in sweat every single day for four solid years. I have the bad party pictures to prove it.
  The most challenging part writing this was…
  Making the time. I started writing it when my kids were four or five, and I just couldn’t do it while they were awake. I could write my magazine stories and do all sorts of other productive things during the day, but I needed to wait until the air-traffic-control section of my brain was off, the part that was always tracking their whereabouts or managing their schedules even if they weren’t in my sight, to tune into this alternate reality and write this. I needed to know they were safe, and the dog wasn’t barking at me and the UPS guy wasn’t banging on the door. I wrote most of it between 8:30 pm and 1:00 a.m. It was exhausting, but it’s the only way I could do it. The second hardest part was learning to put it down and walk away when I hated it, not just trashing it impulsively, but waiting until I felt good about it and starting again.
  Some elements pulled from my own life…
  Oh boy, there was a lot. I wrote about my experience in a sorority in college, and most of those details were only slightly exaggerated versions of things that I witnessed or happened to me. I have complicated feelings about that time, but I don’t regret it. When I was a magazine editor in New York, I worked at W, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. I never would have walked into the building for that first interview if I hadn’t already sacrificed myself to the estrogen volcano that was a sorority in the Sunbelt in the late 1980s.
  Authors who influenced me the most while writing this…
  Anne Lamott and her book Bird by Bird really got me through it. She wrote it to help writers and creative people silence their inner critic. She is funny and frank and wise, and I talk about her concept of “KFKD” (or k-f*cked, the radio commentators in our heads that debate our self worth and ability) all the time. Stephen King’s On Writing is another book about the process of writing, which just dispels all of those weird myths about writers and their eccentricities and encourages you to sit down and treat it like a bank job, just to put in the time. As far as fiction goes, I love Kate Atkinson for her keen eye for detail, Megan Abbott and Emma Donoghue who know a thing or two about suspense, Jennifer Egan of course, Ann Patchett for her grace and brilliance, and writers who are mothers, like Edan Lepucki, who aren’t afraid to go dark and dirty and scary.
  The playlist and its influence on the book…
  The playlist informed the book in a major way. There were certain songs and moments that I just had to write about, like driving around with my friend Kari as we belted out “Voices Carry” by Til Tuesday, and driving to the lake listening to The Feelies, noticing how those songs sounded so much like the hum of the bugs and frogs in the Florida scrub. It’s also interesting, to me at least, that popular music was being reinvented at exactly the same time this story takes place. When I started college, you would hear Vanilla Ice blasting from dorm rooms. By the time I left, it was all about Nirvana. It was a total cultural 180. And I have to admit that it was fun to pick a set list of songs about murders for the band to play at Weird Bobby’s party. I’m a little twisted, I guess.
  I combat writer’s block by…
  I learned from my husband, who is a TV writer, that a nice long walk does wonders to work through a block. I would hike up Ferndell in Griffith Park, get a very strong Stumptown coffee at Trails, and then try again. Also, weed helps. Just kidding. Sorry, I live in L.A. It’s legal.
  The book I always give as a gift…
  Tiffany Table Manners for Teenagers.

The Drifter
Publishers Weekly.
263.47 (Nov. 21, 2016): p89.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text: 
The Drifter
Christine Lennon. Morrow, $14.99 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-245757-8
The prologue of Lennon's deeply felt but flawed debut, more a coming-of-age novel than a thriller, centers on Betsy
Young, who 20 years earlier "left her friend alone to die," the victim of a serial killer. In 2010, Betsy is a seemingly
successful New Yorker with a glossy job at an auction house; a supportive husband, Gavin; and a feisty four-year-old
daughter she's terrified to let out of her sight. The reason for this fear emerges exceedingly gradually as the narrative
jumps back to Gainesville, Fla., in 1990 and a very different Betsy, then a rebellious but thoughtful University of
Florida senior trying to navigate her relationships with her best friend, Ginny; demanding frenemy Caroline; and the
simpatico guy who has caught her eye, Gavin. Though Lennon hooks readers early with her dramatic premise, the
choice to focus for most of the book on the minutiae of Betsy's life over a several-day stretch and a contrived
denouement keep this from becoming the compelling read it might have been. Agent: Brettne Bloom, Book Group.
(Feb.)
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Drifter." Publishers Weekly, 21 Nov. 2016, p. 89. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471273948&it=r&asid=0bf85dfd01acf2bd71f6389976d55126.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471273948

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8/13/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1502638390438 2/3
What we're reading
Steph Opitz
Marie Claire.
24.3 (Mar. 2017): p147.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Hearst Communications. Reprinted with permission of Hearst.
http://www.hearst.com
Full Text: 
1. LUCKY YOU
by Erika Carter (Counterpoint)
Being a 20-something isn't easy. Just ask the three listless Arkansas waitresses in Lucky You. When one decides to go
off the grid, the other two go, too. Alone, they are forced to deal with their various demons--in this rich and observant
debut--for better or worse.
2. ALL GROWN UP
by Jami Attenberg
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Andrea Bern just turned 40, lives in New York, has a successful career, and is generally OK with how her life is going.
Thing is, the people around her are all doing it differently. Bravo to Attenberg, who, with hilarity and honesty, tells the
story of an adult woman who wants what she wants, not what she's supposed to want.
3. OUR SHORT HISTORY
by Lauren Grodstein
(Algonquin Books)
It's amazing how much joy and levity Grodstein infuses into this sad, sad premise: A single mother, Karen, dying of
cancer, sets out to write a book to her son, Jake, about her life and their life together. In these final months, and for good
reason, Jake asks about his absentee dad, someone Karen's not ready to bring into the fold.
4. EDGARS, LUCY
by Victor Lodato (St. Martin's Press)
This book is creepy in all senses of the word. There's an unsettling relationship between Edgar and his grandmother that
transfers to Edgar and his mom (Lucy), among other eyebrow-raising relationships in the book. Then Edgar goes
missing in the forest with a suspicious guy. See? Creepy. And addictive, and totally gripping.
5. THE DRIFTER
by Christine Lennon (William Morrow)
While this novel follows a time-tested format (young people make terrible decisions that haunt them), Lennon makes it
her own. An eerie tale that goes from sorority friendship in Florida to post-college-life escapism in Manhattan to fullblown
adulthood 20 years after graduation, this story will stick with you.
6. RABBIT CAKE
8/13/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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by Annie Hartnett (Tin House Books)
For your canon-coming-of-age-novel consideration: Meet Elvis Babbitt. A preteen whose mother recently drowned,
Elvis is trying to understand the world around her. Funny and heartfelt, Rabbit Cake manages adult questions with a
tween's sense of wonder.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
Opitz, Steph. "What we're reading." Marie Claire, Mar. 2017, p. 147. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA483930164&it=r&asid=554398212c829ab08b42b7549fe35870.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A483930164

"The Drifter." Publishers Weekly, 21 Nov. 2016, p. 89. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471273948&it=r. Accessed 13 Aug. 2017. Opitz, Steph. "What we're reading." Marie Claire, Mar. 2017, p. 147. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA483930164&it=r. Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.

• Steph The Bookworm
  http://www.stephthebookworm.com/2017/02/27/review-the-drifter-by-christine-lennon/
  Word count: 464

  Review: The Drifter by Christine Lennon
  February 27, 2017 By StephTheBookworm

  Title: The Drifterdrifter
  Author: Christine Lennon
  Genre/Audience: Fiction, adult
  Publication: William Morrow, 2017
  Source: For review, TLC Book Tours

  The Drifter is an interesting story that shows how events and tragedies can shape a life, good or bad.

  Elizabeth is a wife and mother trying to forget a painful past and the scary memories it holds. Twenty years earlier, as a college student, violence struck her quiet college town in the form of a killer. Tragedy causes Elizabeth to move away and never look back. Despite her trying to move on with her life, the events creep up on her and cause her frequent nightmares, anxiety, and pain.

  While at first glance, this book may appear to be suspense based on the plot, it’s actually not. Truth be told, it’s kind of slow moving and slow building, focusing more on Elizabeth’s life before and after the tragedy, and how exactly it changed the course of her life and shaped who she would become.

  The story is incredibly atmospheric, something I viewed as one of its strongest attributes. A good chunk of the story takes place in Gainesville, FL in 1990, and Lennon does a remarkable job of setting the scene and showcasing college and sorority life in the 90s. Elizabeth (aka Betsy) was a character I enjoyed. She had a strong personality and an independent streak, quitting the sorority when she no longer felt it was a good fit for her. I really liked learning about her past and discovering how she became the adult she would eventually be. There were dark undertones to this story with no real lightness at all; this may seem like a downer, but it really added to the atmosphere of the story and sucked me right in.

  While the story could move slowly at times and be a bit verbose, I really viewed it as a very character driven novel and an examination of Elizabeth as a whole. I enjoyed seeing her story unravel, slowly or not, and thought the build up was kind of exciting and fun. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and felt tense while reading… I was really drawn in!

  This is definitely a dark story and quite unique. The setting really stood out for me, as the author painted such a vivid picture of college life in the 90s and the darker side of human nature. I recommend this one, but with a warning that you shouldn’t expect a thriller as the plot might imply. Be prepared to settle in for a slow building yet intriguing ride!

• RT Book Reviews
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/drifter-5
  Word count: 203

  THE DRIFTER
  Author(s): Christine Lennon
  Lennon's novel is a blast from the past about college life in the early ’90s. Unfortunately, the book can't quite settle on whether it's a coming-of-age story or a mystery, and both fall a bit short in the telling. The suspenseful portrayal of the Gainesville murders would have been better had the author paid some tribute to the real victims of these horrific events, because changing the names and some of the details will only serve to puzzle those who know what truly happened. The situations dealing with friendship, betrayal and moving on from tragedy make this book a worthwhile read, if one can ignore the shortcomings.
  Elizabeth joins a sorority at the University of Florida in Gainesville in the early ’90s. She meets Caroline and Ginny, and the three are inseparable. Competition between the girls is fierce, but they remain loyal, until a tragic event separates them. Elizabeth moves to New York, reinventing her life, but never quite able to put the past completely behind her. She must confront her old demons in order to move on and become whole again. (WILLIAM MORROW, Feb., 384 pp., $14.99)
  Reviewed by:
  Melissa Parcel

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