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Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English

THE SHORTEST WAY HOME

Miriam Parker

THE SHORTEST WAY HOME is the delightful, smart, escapist read that we all need in today’s vitriolic times!
Hannah has her life all mapped out: she’s just completed business school in Berkeley, and accepted a high powered job with Goldman Sachs in New York City. She will marry her pragmatic boyfriend, Ben, have babies who take Mandarin classes and violin lessons.

But, while vacationing in Sonoma, she walks into the tasting room at the Bellosguardo Winery and it makes her previously laid plans feel like the worst.

It’s the most wonderful room she’s ever entered, and she feels a calling in a way she’s never experienced before. She feels at home with the eccentric husband and wife owners—Everett and Linda—and their tall, floppy-haired son, William, whom she flirts with despite herself.

She loves the winery, but immediately sees the ways her business expertise could enhance its best aspects. On a whim, she finds herself postponing her future and taking a position there. By the end of the summer, Hannah will change Bellosguardo in ways she never dreamed of—and Bellosguardo will change her too.

Miriam Parker has worked in book publishing for over sixteen years. She is currently the Associate Publisher of Ecco. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Wilmington and a BA in English from Columbia University. Her short stories have been published in The Florida Review and Fourteen Hills and she was a finalist for the AWP Intro Journals Prize in Fiction in 2008.
Available products
Book

Published 2018-06-01 by Dutton Books

Book

Published 2018-06-01 by Dutton Books

Comments

When reading a novel set in wine country, it's of utmost importance to drink wine as you go. Grab your favorite red or white and dig into The Shortest Way Home. It's a charming story about a woman named Hannah who thought she had the rest of her life figured out...

Parker's bingeable novel is perfect for those who've fantasized about their own path not taken.

Rewarding... [An] accomplished debut.

This is a fast read and a fun summer fantasy. Especially if the idea of waking up in wine country every day sounds as good to you as it does to me.

[A] delightful debut novel.

Just purely delightful and as smooth to knock back as a glass of rosé on a sticky summer day....There are unexpected challenges and a star-crossed romance and all of the things which you want in a summer book about leaving your life and starting over somewhere new (especially when it's somewhere straight out of a Nancy Meyers movie!)... Refreshing and bright, with a clean, crisp aftertaste.

This one screams smart beach read: A woman on the cusp of everything she wants in life - dream job, committed boyfriend, luxe apartment - suddenly decides to let it all go.

This debut novel about a young woman following her heart and creating her happiness is engaging and fun. Parker takes her place next to similar writers such as Laura Dave and Jane Green.

It's nearly impossible to describe this wonderful debut without summoning the language of wine country because Miriam Parker has infused every page with an appreciation for the alchemy of character and place that can transform a cluster of grapes into a beautiful glass of wine. She turns the same keen eye on matters of the heart - exploring how and where and with whom we find happiness, declare a home - with spectacular results.

Yes this is a romance, but it is also a novel about a young woman finding herself, figuring out the difference between what she wants to do with her life and what others want... the gorgeous weather, the tempting wines, the handsome son of the vintner and, yes, the resident dog all make for a charming weekend read.

Perfect to read with a glass of wine and some good cheese.

Miriam Parker's delightful novel THE SHORTEST WAY HOME reminded me of why I love champagne: it's effervescent, heady and intoxicating. She skillfully blends a captivating romance with inside oenophile references; the writing blew me away.