Nancy Chadwick
Chicago, IL
Writer, memoirist, essayist, and author of the debut novel The Wisdom of the Willow
BOOK COVER
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: May 7, 2024
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Count: 304
Format, ISBN, Price:
Paperback, 978-164742-652-1, $17.95
Kindle, ASIN: B0C9HJWKTZ, $9.95
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the backyard of Margaret and Joe Dowling’s new house in the north suburbs of Chicago, Joe plants a young willow tree as a symbol of home, belonging, and growth. As the years pass, the willow becomes a place for Margaret to share life’s wisdom with their four young daughters.
Years after leaving the nest, now in their early forties, the Dowling women find themselves faced with changes that will define their lives. Debra, the oldest, is shattered when she is asked for a divorce. Rose, who has long hidden her true self, finally begins to evaluate her pattern of being in uncommitted relationships. Linney fears losing Magnolia, the magical shop where she works. Charlotte, the youngest, is the only one who knows their mother is terminally ill, and has been charged by her with keeping it a secret. And Margaret, now faced with the greatest of challenges and struggling with whether she has done enough to help her daughters find their way in life, calls them all to the family home to reunite under the willow one last time.
A metaphorically rich and reflective tale of sisterhood and strength, The Wisdom of the Willow is a story of hope and healing, of the choices that shape our lives, and the challenges we all face as we seek to find our places in the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nancy Chadwick grew up in a northern suburb of Chicago where Deerfield was marked by four corners, and making connections to it and to home would later become subjects in her writing. Nancy got her first job at Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chicago and after working a decade in the advertising agency business, she moved to international corporate banking. Nancy’s writing inspiration comes from her years living in Chicago, and in San Francisco, and meandering through the woods of any forest. Her essays have appeared in The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey, Adelaide Literary Magazine, and blogs by the Chicago Writers Association Write City, About Write, and Brevity. Her memoir, Under the Birch Tree, and her debut novel, The Wisdom Of The Willow, are published by She Writes Press.
TALKING POINTS
- Embedding lessons from the natural world into a fictional story
- The symbolism of the willow tree and the inspiration behind it
- Why place and home are such important concepts in storytelling
- How trees can keep us, as well as our environment, healthy
- Changes to our climate and maintaining our mental health and wellbeing
- What the personal essay and our natural world have in common
TIMELY TIE-INS
April
- D.E.A.R. Month (Drop Everything And Read)
- Arbor Day – 26
- Independent Bookstore Day – 27
- Tell a Story Day – 27
- Spring Break / Summer Reads / Beach Reads
May
- Get Caught Reading Month
- Older Americans Month
- National Recommitment Month
- Pub date: May 7
- Mother’s Day gift guides – 12
- National Love A Tree Day – 16
- Memorial Day – 27
- Summer Reads (story takes from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the summer of 1998)
July
- National Tree Day – 28
- Beach Reads
August
- Sisters’ Day – 4
- Beach Reads
PRAISE
“In this enchanting story, a quartet of sisters grows into four strong and deeply individual women, rooted in the steady love of their parents and a childhood yard anchored by a weeping willow tree. The quartet needs that strength, the tree’s wisdom, and their individual talents to reweave their sisterhood when their mother is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. The Wisdom of the Willow is a satisfyingly redemptive tale, well told.”
—Susan Tweit, author of Bless the Birds, Living with Love in a Time of Dying
“Quiet, thoughtful writing pulls us into each character’s search for self and place with such elegance that we absorb the willow’s lessons deep into our own souls. Chadwick weaves four sisters’ contemporary struggles to align their lives with their evolving senses of self and home into a heartfelt, engrossing story that reminds us of the flexibility, strength, and essential connections that surround us every day, in nature and in ourselves. A lovely, engrossing book about our individual and collective search for self and place, and the wisdom nature provides.”
—Sally Cole-Misch, author of The Best Part of Us
“Tolstoy wrote that ‘All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ The Dowling family is a happy family, but as adults, the four daughters are ‘unhappy’ in their own ways. Chafing against roles established early on, needing to find personal fulfillment, each of the sisters seeks her independent path, succeeding and failing and trying again. The understanding and grievances of sisterhood, its rivalries and love, bind the women together. Interweaving the stories of Debra, the eldest, wealthy and divorced; Rose, the rolling-stone actress-turned-writer; Linney, the gentle and artful shopkeeper; and Charlotte, the caregiver, Chadwick creates a richly layered, beautifully written, and deeply satisfying novel.
—Lynn Sloan, author of Midstream, Principles of Navigation, and This Far Isn’t Far Enough: Stories
“The Wisdom of the Willow explores what keeps us together—individually, and as a family. . . . l enjoyed this gentle, compassionate story about the importance of knowing how to find our way home when we inevitably find that we’ve lost our way.”
—Meredith Walters, author of This Animal Body
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Genre: Memoir / Christian Inspirational
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Count: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1647429003
Price: $15.99
