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A story with a compassionate eye, the heartwarming vibes of A Man Called Ove mixed with the high emotional stakes of Anne Tyler, Cattail Lane is an uplifting family drama about overcoming the past and the extraordinary power of second chances
Nick Ackerman's life is an aimless circuit between his uninspiring job and the local bar until a note from a stranger changes everything. He learns he has a 14-year-old son, Billy, whose grandmother can no longer look after him. Railroaded into fatherhood, Nick takes in the resentful Billy and shuffles Grandma Evie off to the nearby dementia ward at Prairie View Manor. Things get off to a rocky start: father and son are little more than strangers, and Nick struggles with his new caretaking role while Billy can't seem to let go of his. Luckily, there is Sarah, a housekeeper in the dementia ward and the single mother of an energetic and offbeat five-year-old. It is Sarah who Nick turns to as a parental role model and maybe something more.
Nick, Sarah, and Billy all carry their own betrayals and disappointments and are used to keeping others at a distance, but during the dog days of summer, they are given a chance to leave past hurts behind and find a new kind of family.
Compassionate and closely observed, Cattail Lane is a moving exploration of forgiveness, second chances, and the everyday moments where we might find our way to one another. Rudderless Nick Ackerman's life changes when he discovers he has a 14-year-old son - who also comes with a grandmother with dementia. A heartwarming tale of second chances and how families are lost, found, and built anew.
Fran Kimmel is an award-winning author of numerous short stories, plays for both theater and radio, and the novels No Good Asking and The Shore Girl. Born and raised in Calgary, Fran now lives in Lacombe, Alberta, and can be reached at frankimmel.com.
Sales and Market Bullets
• A FEEL-GOOD STORY FOR TRYING TIMES: Fran Kimmel writes compassionate stories about ordinary people struggling and ultimately coming together. When the world is a trash fire, hers are the kind of books that make you believe again in the fundamental goodness of humanity.
• HEARTWARMING MEETS HIGH EMOTIONAL STAKES: Well-written upmarket fiction with a compassionate eye, Cattail Lane has the heartwarming vibes of A Man Called Ove mixed with the family drama and high emotional stakes of Anne Tyler and Mary Lawson novels.
• PERFECT FOR BOOK CLUBS: This book will appeal to readers drawn to family dramas with high emotional stakes and rife with vulnerable characters in turmoil. The book has storylines about parenting, caregiving, and falling in love. Dementia, which touches the lives of so many people, is explored in depth.
• AWARD-WINNING AND POPULAR AUTHOR: Kimmel won the Alberta Readers' Choice Award (2013) and has been a finalist for the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction (2019), the ReLit Award (2019), and the Alberta Trade Fiction Award, as well as a nominee for the CBC Book Award (2013). In the U.S., No Good Asking was a Great Group Reads selection (2019), a hoopla Digital Book Club selection (2019), and a Reading Group Choices book selection (2019).
• INTERNATIONAL APPEAL: No Good Asking was invited to participate in the Cannes Film Festival's Shoot the Book! initiative in 2019 and was translated into German (dtv Verlagsgesellschaft) and Arabic (Dar Molhimon Publishing).
• PRAISE FOR NO GOOD ASKING:
• "Kimmel's novel has only a few characters, but they all possess presence and depth and experience honest changes. The strong sense of place serves as an additional relationship for the characters to negotiate." - Library Journal, starred review
• "Nuanced characters and attention to detail make what could have been a saccharine story a deeply moving one instead. Highly recommended." - Booklist
• "Quietly powerful … In less
Nick Ackerman's life is an aimless circuit between his uninspiring job and the local bar until a note from a stranger changes everything. He learns he has a 14-year-old son, Billy, whose grandmother can no longer look after him. Railroaded into fatherhood, Nick takes in the resentful Billy and shuffles Grandma Evie off to the nearby dementia ward at Prairie View Manor. Things get off to a rocky start: father and son are little more than strangers, and Nick struggles with his new caretaking role while Billy can't seem to let go of his. Luckily, there is Sarah, a housekeeper in the dementia ward and the single mother of an energetic and offbeat five-year-old. It is Sarah who Nick turns to as a parental role model and maybe something more.
Nick, Sarah, and Billy all carry their own betrayals and disappointments and are used to keeping others at a distance, but during the dog days of summer, they are given a chance to leave past hurts behind and find a new kind of family.
Compassionate and closely observed, Cattail Lane is a moving exploration of forgiveness, second chances, and the everyday moments where we might find our way to one another. Rudderless Nick Ackerman's life changes when he discovers he has a 14-year-old son - who also comes with a grandmother with dementia. A heartwarming tale of second chances and how families are lost, found, and built anew.
Fran Kimmel is an award-winning author of numerous short stories, plays for both theater and radio, and the novels No Good Asking and The Shore Girl. Born and raised in Calgary, Fran now lives in Lacombe, Alberta, and can be reached at frankimmel.com.
Sales and Market Bullets
• A FEEL-GOOD STORY FOR TRYING TIMES: Fran Kimmel writes compassionate stories about ordinary people struggling and ultimately coming together. When the world is a trash fire, hers are the kind of books that make you believe again in the fundamental goodness of humanity.
• HEARTWARMING MEETS HIGH EMOTIONAL STAKES: Well-written upmarket fiction with a compassionate eye, Cattail Lane has the heartwarming vibes of A Man Called Ove mixed with the family drama and high emotional stakes of Anne Tyler and Mary Lawson novels.
• PERFECT FOR BOOK CLUBS: This book will appeal to readers drawn to family dramas with high emotional stakes and rife with vulnerable characters in turmoil. The book has storylines about parenting, caregiving, and falling in love. Dementia, which touches the lives of so many people, is explored in depth.
• AWARD-WINNING AND POPULAR AUTHOR: Kimmel won the Alberta Readers' Choice Award (2013) and has been a finalist for the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction (2019), the ReLit Award (2019), and the Alberta Trade Fiction Award, as well as a nominee for the CBC Book Award (2013). In the U.S., No Good Asking was a Great Group Reads selection (2019), a hoopla Digital Book Club selection (2019), and a Reading Group Choices book selection (2019).
• INTERNATIONAL APPEAL: No Good Asking was invited to participate in the Cannes Film Festival's Shoot the Book! initiative in 2019 and was translated into German (dtv Verlagsgesellschaft) and Arabic (Dar Molhimon Publishing).
• PRAISE FOR NO GOOD ASKING:
• "Kimmel's novel has only a few characters, but they all possess presence and depth and experience honest changes. The strong sense of place serves as an additional relationship for the characters to negotiate." - Library Journal, starred review
• "Nuanced characters and attention to detail make what could have been a saccharine story a deeply moving one instead. Highly recommended." - Booklist
• "Quietly powerful … In less