BLOG TOUR: The Poet's House by Jean Thompson

 I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for The Poet's House by Jean Thompson! I received a free copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Algonquin Books and Jean Thompson for letting me be a part of the tour!

Title: The Poet's House

Author: Jean Thompson

Published by: Algonquin Books

Released: July 12, 2022

Source: Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Goodreads       Amazon

 

Synopsis: A warm and witty story of a young woman who gets swept up in the rivalries and love affairs of a dramatic group of writers.

Carla is stuck. In her twenties and working for a landscaper, she’s been told she’s on the wrong path by everyone—from her mom, who wants her to work at the hospital, to her boyfriend, who is dropping not-so-subtle hints that she should be doing something that matters.

Then she is hired for a job at the home of Viridian, a lauded and lovely aging poet who introduces Carla to an eccentric circle of writers. At first she is perplexed by their predilection for reciting lines in conversation, the stories of their many liaisons, their endless wine-soaked nights. Soon, though, she becomes enamored with this entire world: with Viridian, whose reputation has been defined by her infamous affair with a male poet, Mathias; with Viridian’s circle; and especially with the power of words, the “ache and hunger that can both be awakened and soothed by a poem,” a hunger that Carla feels sharply. When a fight emerges over a vital cache of poems that Mathias wrote about Viridian, Carla gets drawn in. But how much will she sacrifice for a group that may or may not see her as one of their own?

A delightfully funny look at the art world—sometimes petty, sometimes transactional, sometimes transformative— ­The Poet’s House is also a refreshingly candid story of finding one’s way, with words as our lantern in the dark. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts: This was fun. Carla experiences wisdom and advice from a group of eccentric writers. Carla is not sure what she wants to do with her life. She's getting pressure from her loved ones to do this and that. They want her have a stable job to work everyday. Carla is struggling, and then she gets hired by an aging poet named Viridian. He introduces her to people and ideas that really open her eyes.

I enjoyed Carla coming into this circle and being introduced to people that she would never have met before. They have a different worldview when it comes to life and art that was very interesting to read about.

This was a nice book to just relax and read. It was a good time.

Jean Thompson is the author of fourteen books of fiction, including the National Book Award finalist Who Do You Love, the NYT bestseller The Year We Left Home, and the NYT Notable Book Wide Blue Yonder. Her work has been published in the New Yorker, as well as dozens of other magazines, and anthologized in The Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize. She has been the recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, among other accolades, and has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Reed College, Northwestern University, and many other colleges and universities.

Thanks so much for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for The Poet's House by Jean Thompson. Thank you to Algonquin Books and Jean Thompson for letting me be a part of the tour. This is an easy add to the TBR pile.