THE HOUSE AT THE END OF HOPE STREET: AUTHOR GUEST POST, PREVIEW, AND GIVEAWAY

 

GIVEAWAY ENDED 
THE HOUSE AT THE END OF HOPE STREET

BY MENNA VAN PRAAG

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A magical debut about an enchanted house that offers refuge to women in their time of need

Distraught that her academic career has stalled, Alba is walking through her hometown of Cambridge, England, when she finds herself in front of a house she’s never seen before, 11 Hope Street. A beautiful older woman named Peggy greets her and invites her to stay, on the house’s usual conditions: she has ninety-nine nights to turn her life around. With nothing left to lose, Alba takes a chance and moves in.

She soon discovers that this is no ordinary house. Past residents have included Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Parker, who, after receiving the assistance they needed, hung around to help newcomers—literally, in talking portraits on the wall. As she escapes into this new world, Alba begins a journey that will heal her wounds—and maybe even save her life.

Filled with a colorful and unforgettable cast of literary figures, The House at the End of Hope Street is a charming, whimsical novel of hope and feminine wisdom that is sure to appeal to fans of Jasper Fforde and especially Sarah Addison Allen.

PRAISE FOR THE HOUSE AT THE END OF HOPE STREET:

"Van Praag's fairytale first novel features a house that can change one's life . . . Fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen should like."-- Library Journal

"This fresh, whimsical book is as full of heart as the house at its heart is full of fascinating women. We should all have such friends and such a refuge!"-- Marisa de los Santos, bestselling author of Falling Together and Love Walked In

"Menna van Praag has created a magical book about an enchanted house and the notable women who inhabit it, both living and dead. Richly atmospheric, literary, and textured, The House at the End of Hope Street casts an enthralling spell, giving both characters and readers not only what they most want, but what they ultimately need."-- Brunonia Barry, bestselling author of The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places

"An enchanting novel . . . Fans of Sarah Addison Allen will be delighted to discover the house at the end of Hope Street, a magical place where ninety-nine days is just long enough to change a life."-- Erica Bauermeister, bestselling author of The School of Essential Ingredients and The Lost Art of Mixing

"I entered The House at the End of Hope Street and was enchanted -- literally under the spell -- of Menna van Praag's tender, playful, beautiful writing.  It fulfills my book lover's dream of an English literary landscape, in the most surprising and magical way."-- Luanne Rice, bestselling author of Little Night

"This exceptional novel enchanted me from the first beautiful page. If only I could stay a spell myself at the house at the end of Hope Street."-- Melissa Senate, bestselling author of The Love Goddess' Cooking School

"The House at the End of Hope Street is a sunrise of a novel, so fresh and lovely, whimsical and original that it will enchant and surprise even the most jaded of readers."-- Barbara O'Neal, author of The Garden of Happy Endings

"The story offers a wonderful mix of all-too-real problems in a fantastical setting. And who couldn't use a Hope Street at some point in her life?"-- Juliette Fay, author of Deep Down True and The Shortest Way Home

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Menna van Praag, author of The House at the End of Hope Street, is a freelance writer, journalist and Oxford graduate. She is also the author of Men, Money and Chocolate, an international success, already translated into twenty-six languages. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her husband and son.

For more information please visit http://www.mennavanpraag.com, and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

A GUEST POST BY AUTHOR MENNA VAN PRAAG:

Life Lessons from Famous Women Who Went Before Us
By Menna van Praag

Being a writer can be a pretty lonely business. You spend so many hours inside your own head and, instead of chatting to colleagues during coffee breaks, you browse the internet or pace your office trying to solve the latest plot point problem. At least, I do. Once I'm deep into the first draft, the characters provide company and connection of sorts. But, of course, your relationship with them is rather one-sided. They might speak to you while you're writing Perhaps it was this loneliness that led me to populate my new novel, The House at the End of Hope Street, with the spirits of late, great literary heroines.

As soon as I started researching these women: Daphne du Maurier, Virginia Woolf, George Elliot, Beatrix Potter, Sylvia Plath, Dorothy Parker, Doris Lessing, Agatha Christie . . . I stopped feeling lonely. Their spirits filled my writing room. I started hearing their voices in my head. They visited me with words of wisdom at random moments. I lived with them all for a few years and learned a lot.

It doesn't matter that women a hundred years ago led such different lives from us, in so many ways, because our similarities are still much greater than our differences. When I was a young writer, just starting out on my journey, I didn't know any other writers so I read the biographies and quotes of those I admired. Last year I became a mother for the first time and, needing to know how to balance motherhood and writing, I consulted my muses again. It was very enlightening. So much so that now I have a new writing project: 99 Days to Fulfill a Dream. Every day I pick an inspiring quote and write about how it can help you to fulfill any life dream you want to fulfill!

Ten Pearls of Wisdom from Ten Great Women

• "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." -- Agatha Christie

Do one thing today that will take you closer to your dream. Write a line or two, for example. It doesn't matter if it's any good or not, the only thing that matters is that you do it.

• "Avoid looking forward or backward. Keep looking upward." -- Charlotte Brontë

Don't think about what you haven't yet done or how much you have yet to do. Stay in the moment. "Failures" of the past and fears of the future don't exist - focus on your hopes and inspiration and forget everything else.

• "No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself." -- Virginia Woolf

Don't add metaphorical glitter and bows in order to shine because you think what you're doing isn't enough. People fall in love with something when the heart that created it resonates with their own. You don't need to dress up your heart.

• "The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." -- Sylvia Plath

Self-doubt is second-guessing the outside world. It's assuming that you have to be better and/or different to succeed. But you don't have to be Shakespeare/Picasso/Mozart/Meryl Streep in order to find your niche in the world. Do what you love and it's very likely you'll find others who love what you do.

• "Never complain, never explain." -- Dorothy Parker

While you're travelling the bumpy road towards your dreams it takes discipline not to complain or explain yourself to others but it's well worth it. Complaining undermines your passion. Explaining often diminishes your self-belief. To succeed you need all the passion and self-belief you can get!

• "Starting out to make money is the greatest mistake in life. Do what you feel you have a flair for doing and, if you are good enough at it, the money will come." -- Greer Garson

It's the doing of a thing - not the results it brings - that makes you truly happy, that feeds your soul and sparks up your spirit. So, unless you'd do it anyway for free, don't do it.

• "We've got to believe in our beautiful impossible blueprints." -- Doris Lessing

While pregnant I realised how crazy it is when we don't believe in ourselves. Because, no matter how impossible your dreams may seem, it can't come close to the apparent impossibility of creating life. Compared to that, publishing a novel - or whatever you dream of - is simplicity itself!

• "I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I'm not afraid to look behind them." -- Elizabeth Taylor

Courage is the first thing. Without it nothing is possible. With it everything is possible. Things you can't yet imagine. Being afraid leads to shrunken life, being fearless leads to a magnificent life.

• "Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind." -- Daphne du Maurier

To be happy for no reason at all, to be happy with yourself just as you are, is essential. Don't be fooled into thinking that, if you're not happy now then fulfilling your dreams will suddenly bring you happiness. It doesn't work like that.

• "Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest." -- Beatrix Potter

Life is hard without faith, achieving your dreams even harder. During those dark nights of the soul, when it seems as though you'll never succeed, you need a little faith to see you through. Without it, you'll give up at the first hurdle. With it, you'll be leaping over the last.

MY THOUGHTS:
As many of you know, I am just getting over some hand surgery so am a bit behind on some posts and reviews. However, I thoroughly enjoyed THE HOUSE AT THE END OF HOPE STREET and hope that all of you will grab a copy, especially if you don't win the giveaway. What a fresh new voice in fiction and a delightful, well written book. I hope to post my review when I get caught up soon.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO LEYANE AND THE GOOD FOLKS

AT FSB ASSOCIATES FOR A COPY OF 

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF HOPE STREET

TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY WINNER

 
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GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, APRIL 14

GOOD LUCK!