Laurie Dick

Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society Laurie Dick New edition

Description for Sales People: * Topic: This complex but heartwarming drama explores the rich themes of secrets, love, and forgiveness. Each of the town s ladies tells her secret through her own account, creating vignettes of the past that touch on both heartbreaking subjects, such as deaths of loved ones and unfulfilled marriages, and heartwarming subjects, such as unwavering devotion to family, friends, and traditions. * Audience: Readers of women s literature and Southern novels, especially The Help, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Peyton Place, will be thrilled to add Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society to their bookshelves. * Book Club/Reader s Guide: Laurie will simultaneous release a companion reader s guide perfect for book clubs, with questions, recipes from the book, and other bonus material. * Author: As a former magazine editor, PR manager, Editor-in-Chief of TV Guide, and reporter for The Gwinnett Daily News, Laurie has many contacts from her years in the business that will be a major asset in PR and marketing."Author/Editor Comments: When the small, Southern town of Simpsonville, Alabama, loses its favorite doctor, the ladies in town give little thought to his ailing widow, Miss Adie, who also served as his trusted nurse and knew all too well the longtime secrets these women have kept hidden. When Miss Adie s faithful caretaker, Eula, has an idea for keeping her devoted Miss Adie's dwindling health and memory active again writing a book that could destroy the lives of the townspeople the Ladies Mission Society starts to take action before it's too late!With unique and engaging voices, the women personally recount their secrets they fear will be exposed in the book, touching on difficult subjects ranging from unexpected death, first heartbreaks, alcoholism, and affairs, as well as moving scenes of rekindled relationships and the importance of friends, family, and faith in their lives, past and present. Filled with poignancy, charm, and a bit of mystery not to mention somefineSouthern cooking "Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society"will have readers cheering through tears as it comes to its extraordinary conclusion."Review Quotes: Laurie Dick s poignant and very human story revealed in Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society is worth that special celebration that comes only with fine characters, a teasing, almost transparent story, and delicate, yet exuberant writing. Anyone who has ever been exposed to a small community will find themselves home again in spirit, if not in flashes of good and pleasing memory. This is the kind of happy experience that readers cherish. Terry Kay, bestselling author of "To Dance with the White Dog" and "The Book of Marie""Review Quotes: The deadliest and most enthralling secrets are the ones concealed (grinning and silent!) behind soft-spoken Southern mannerisms and polite smiles. This is a fine story about such secrets. I greatly recommend it. Augusta Trobaugh, author of "Sophie and the Rising Sun"and "The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society""Review Quotes: Laurie Rothrock Dick s wonderful first novel, "Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society," sheds a soft but penetrating light not only on individual lives but on the inner workings of a culture. At times ironic and hysterically funny, at others brutal and sere, she throws off the stereotype of our conventional wisdom concerning the South and replaces this with the complexity of the heart-felt truth. I loved this book. You will too. Deborah Johnson, author of "The Secret of Magic" and "The Air Between Us""Publisher Marketing: When the small, Southern town of Simpsonville, Alabama, loses its favorite doctor, the ladies in town give little thought to his ailing widow, Miss Adie, who also served as his trusted nurse and knew all too well the longtime secrets these women have kept hidden. When Miss Adie s faithful caretaker, Eula, has an idea for keeping her devoted Miss Adie's dwindling health and memory active again writing a book about the history of the town and its people the local Ladies Mission Society, believing Miss Adie is writing about their secrets to get revenge on them for rejecting her, starts to take action before their lives are destroyed. With unique and engaging voices, each woman of the Society personally recounts her deepest secret she fears will be exposed in the book. Together, these stories are vignettes of the past that touch on difficult subjects, recalling pain and betrayal as well as moving scenes of rekindled relationships and the importance of friends, family, and faith in the women s lives, past and present. Filled with poignancy, charm, and a bit of mystery not to mention some fine Southern cooking "Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society" will have readers cheering through tears as it comes to its extraordinary conclusion."

Contributor Bio:  Dick, Laurie Laurie Rothrock Dick is a former magazine editor, public relations/marketing manager, newspaper feature writer and copywriter. At various points in her career, she was the Editor-in-Chief of TV Guide, Southern Banker, a reporter for The Gwinnett Daily News, among other publications. She now writes full time and lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, outside Atlanta. Secrets of the Ladies Mission Society is her first novel.