As part of our exclusive partnership with Orion Books, we’ve teamed up to bring you the very best Summer Tea & Book Pairings. Check back weekly for another fabulous book and Tea to try.
Kicking off the Summer Vibes we have ‘The Wakes’ by Dianne Yarwood, paired with the Lemongrass & Ginger tea. We’ve paired this tea because it’s warming and uplifting, just like this tale of what truly matters in life in this tender and moving story.
About the Book
Price: £16.99Genre
Fiction & Related Items / Modern & Contemporary Fiction (post C 1945)
It’s winter in Sydney and the lives of two strangers have fallen apart. Newly separated and in need of a distraction, Clare agrees to help her neighbour Louisa with a funeral catering business that has bitten off more than it can chew. Meanwhile, emergency doctor Chris has witnessed too many deaths but still feels compelled to attend the occasional wake.
When Clare and Chris meet, the good in their lives is slowly illuminated. After all, the thing about death is that it makes life matter.
Funny, moving, wise and hopeful, The Wakes is an irresistible debut novel about old friends, lost love, good food and new beginnings.
About the Author
Dianne Yarwood is an Australian Author, She grew up in a family of storytellers who considered a laugh at a story’s end to be fairly important. Her father was a forester, and during her early years she lived in the small country towns of Macksville and Casino in northern NSW. Her mother was, without doubt, the beautiful star of our family. She was an accomplished soprano, and when our town put on its musical – an Oklahoma or a Carousel – she was invariably given the lead.
Her father had a passion for opera and literature – he came from a family of writers and academics & Music.
Her first reading obsession was for Agatha Christie novels and it was To Kill a Mockingbird that changed everything for Dianne, showing her how truly moving and inspirational a novel could be. The dream of one day writing her own novel began forming from here.
In her 20s she worked in London and travelled extensively in Europe as an accountant, and when she returned to Australia she lived and worked in Sydney, staying in accounting for fifteen years.
She left accounting to have three children and never returned, finally letting loose her creative self. When she was forty, and came very close to dying, her dream of writing a book took force. Feeling she would regret it if she didn’t finally write a novel.
THE WAKES is her first published novel, It’s the novel she wrote to teach myself how to write, to learn how to manage the unwieldy thing a novel can be.
“I don’t think I will ever stop feeling a quiet thrill, and a deep satisfaction, when I call myself a writer. When I hold my own book in my hand.
Reviews
The Times
Yarwood's feel for character-building is unerring, and The Wakes is a light-on-its-feet exploration of big themes that takes tragedy and farce in its stride. Her book is like an embrace, kind and never cloying.
Country Style
Harper's Bazaar
Few people can write about food and heartbreak like Nora Ephron - that was until Dianne Yarwood
Who Magazine
While there is a lot of death in The Wakes - two of the main characters run a funeral catering business -this heartfelt and uplifting book is essentially about living
Jacqueline Maley
I loved it. So warm and poignant and sweetly funny
New Idea
A heartfelt and uplifting novel about failing marriages and starting over in the most unexpected ways. You won't put it down!
Marianne Levy
A funny, clever novel about love and loss and midlife, executed with the lightest touch. I can't remember when I last read a book that captures so well the sheer sensory joy of being alive.
Emily Itami
Brilliantly funny and human. A delicious reading experience with characters that feel vivid from the very first page, The Wakes is life-affirming and joyful, even as it breaks your heart.
Heat
While funerals and food seem to be an unlikely occasion to bring two singletons together, death and divorce offers the opportunity for new beginnings and an appreciation for life . . . A quietly powerful and tender read
The Sun / Fabulous
A brilliant book about life, death, love and friendship
Where to Buy
Tea:
Lemongrass & Ginger Loose Leaf Tea
E-Book:
Amazon
Hardback:
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