Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday Freebie: "The Wake of Forgiveness" by Bruce Machart

Congratulations to Lynne P who won last week's Friday Freebie, copies of Gregory Maguire's The Next Queen of Heaven and Ben Greenman's Celebrity Chekhov.

This week, we're giving away a signed copy of The Wake of Forgiveness, Bruce Machart's new novel about an early-20th-century Texas family.  Regular readers of this blog already know how much I loved Machart's debut novel.  I've spouted my admiration for The Wake of Forgiveness time and time again.  For the still-skeptical and the uninitiated, however, here's this nice summary at Amazon from Hannah Tinti (author of The Good Thief and editor of One Story):
       I’ve been a fan of Bruce Machart’s work since 2004, when I read his story "What You’re Walking Around Without" for consideration at One Story magazine.  His writing bowled me over with its skill, gripping narrative and pure emotion.  At the time, Bruce said he was working on a novel.  It took six years to get here, but boy was it worth the wait.
       In The Wake of Forgiveness, Bruce Machart tells a story that stretches wide across the Texas landscape.  Set at the turn of the century, it follows Karel and his three brothers, whose father drives them hard, yoking his sons as he plows the fields until they all carry a permanent mark on their shoulders.  But their father is also a gambler, and he drops his fortune on a high-stakes horse race with Karel as rider.  This moonlit race changes their lives forever, especially Karel’s, as he loses not only his father and brothers but his first love, a dark Spanish beauty.  Now, fourteen years later, he is forced to bridge the divide with his brothers that opened on that fateful night.  This is the gritty world of horses and men, of fathers and sons.  Bruce Machart writes with a richness that completely unfolds time and place, leaving behind its own beautiful wake of remembrance, inheritance, and the unbreakable bonds of family.
If you'd like a chance at winning a signed copy of The Wake of Forgiveness, all you have to do is correctly answer this question:

What is the title of Machart's next book, a short story collection which is due in early 2011?  (The answer can be found by browsing around Machart's website.)

Email your answer to thequiveringpen@gmail.com

Put FRIDAY FREEBIE in the e-mail subject line.  One entry per person, please.  In order to give everyone a fair shake in the contest, please e-mail the answer, rather than posting it in the comments section.  The contest closes at midnight on Nov. 18, at which time I'll draw the winning name.  I'll announce the lucky reader on Nov. 19.

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