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The Empty Space Between Stars
"The suspense...keep[s] the reader wanting more...then deliver[s]." - Writer's Digest
Zoey Johansen is lost. An only child and product of long-divorced parents who’d escaped to opposite coasts, she’s fallen between the cracks. Almost on a whim—really to avoid a dreadful vacation with her mother’s attempt at a new, manufactured family—Zoey escapes California to see her biological father for the first time in years. But instead of being the dad she needs, he instead asks her if she would mind pretending to be his niece for the duration of the visit.
Stuck in the ice-locked town of Hampton Beach, New Hampshire with an emotionally bankrupt man unwilling and unable to fill his role, she all but succumbs to the realization that she is just as rudderless here as she was there.
But then, while looking for emergency candles in the throes of a February blizzard, she finds a dusty storage container that will prove to be a Pandora’s Box, spilling the long-dormant secrets to her mother’s sadness, her father’s odd addiction to tattoos, and the empty space that she’s long held inside her.
sean-conway.com
Amazon Reviews:
"Sean Conway takes his time in telling this casually-paced story (in a good way) of a teen returning to visit her father in New Hampshire. The dad's a bit of a self-involved jerk, to say the least. The very first night she's there, he leaves her to go on a date (he hasn't seen his daughter in 2 years). Plus, he doesn't want his date to know he has a kid (even though he's like 40), so he gets her to agree to say she's his niece visiting. They spend a lot of time hanging around dive bars, where she gets hit on by creeps. One night she has to drive them home because he's too hammered (even though she's 15 and obviously doesn't have a license). The trick after all that is Sean Conway is still able to make the dad someone we can empathize with, maybe even root for by the end. Well, maybe not root for. But we end up caring about all these characters in a deep way."
"Like it so much I past it on to my friends. They also enjoyed it."
"Ive read some of Conway's fiction in literary journals and like what I read, so I knew I'd probably like his novel. This is an adult book, for sure, but reads kind of like YA. Probably because of the teenage main character. Her story is engaging from start to finish, with a good twist halfway through that's a game-changer. I've passed my copy around to a few people and they've all loved it."
"Wonderful book, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. My daughters both read this before me, and I'd listen to them talking about it. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I can't recommend it enough! I don't read nearly as much a they do, but if more novels were like this I think I would. Something I will probably re-read one of these days."
"I read this in one day and loved it. The characters felt real, like people we all know. And Zoey is a great main character, full of attitude but hiding deep loneliness and insecurity. The last couple chapters had me crying my eyes out."
"A poignant story, the author gives us beautiful, real characters that are subtly developed in a story with a twist that will take your breath away. A great read."
Zoey Johansen is lost. An only child and product of long-divorced parents who’d escaped to opposite coasts, she’s fallen between the cracks. Almost on a whim—really to avoid a dreadful vacation with her mother’s attempt at a new, manufactured family—Zoey escapes California to see her biological father for the first time in years. But instead of being the dad she needs, he instead asks her if she would mind pretending to be his niece for the duration of the visit.
Stuck in the ice-locked town of Hampton Beach, New Hampshire with an emotionally bankrupt man unwilling and unable to fill his role, she all but succumbs to the realization that she is just as rudderless here as she was there.
But then, while looking for emergency candles in the throes of a February blizzard, she finds a dusty storage container that will prove to be a Pandora’s Box, spilling the long-dormant secrets to her mother’s sadness, her father’s odd addiction to tattoos, and the empty space that she’s long held inside her.
sean-conway.com
Amazon Reviews:
"Sean Conway takes his time in telling this casually-paced story (in a good way) of a teen returning to visit her father in New Hampshire. The dad's a bit of a self-involved jerk, to say the least. The very first night she's there, he leaves her to go on a date (he hasn't seen his daughter in 2 years). Plus, he doesn't want his date to know he has a kid (even though he's like 40), so he gets her to agree to say she's his niece visiting. They spend a lot of time hanging around dive bars, where she gets hit on by creeps. One night she has to drive them home because he's too hammered (even though she's 15 and obviously doesn't have a license). The trick after all that is Sean Conway is still able to make the dad someone we can empathize with, maybe even root for by the end. Well, maybe not root for. But we end up caring about all these characters in a deep way."
"Like it so much I past it on to my friends. They also enjoyed it."
"Ive read some of Conway's fiction in literary journals and like what I read, so I knew I'd probably like his novel. This is an adult book, for sure, but reads kind of like YA. Probably because of the teenage main character. Her story is engaging from start to finish, with a good twist halfway through that's a game-changer. I've passed my copy around to a few people and they've all loved it."
"Wonderful book, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. My daughters both read this before me, and I'd listen to them talking about it. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I can't recommend it enough! I don't read nearly as much a they do, but if more novels were like this I think I would. Something I will probably re-read one of these days."
"I read this in one day and loved it. The characters felt real, like people we all know. And Zoey is a great main character, full of attitude but hiding deep loneliness and insecurity. The last couple chapters had me crying my eyes out."
"A poignant story, the author gives us beautiful, real characters that are subtly developed in a story with a twist that will take your breath away. A great read."
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 13, 2011
1 person is currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
Sean Conway
3 books15 followersSean Conway earned his MFA in Montpellier, France and Madrid, Spain through the University of New Orleans. His short fiction has appeared in various print and online journals, including Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, Digital Americana, Glassworks, Five Quarterly Review, and fwriction: review,as well as the anthology Mental Ward: Stories from the Asylum (Sirens Call Publications, 2013). He has been nominated for the Million Writers Award (celebrating the best in online fiction), a Jack Kerouac Award (funded by the Kerouac Estate), and most recently received a Norman Mailer Center fellowship.
He lives north of Boston, and teaches writing and literature at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
He lives north of Boston, and teaches writing and literature at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 19, 2015
smelled pretty bad if you ask me
August 16, 2014
First off I won this as a First-Reads giveaway; so here is my honest review:
The book it's self is a great story, but the main characters to me were unlikeable until 3/4 the way thru the book. I understand why they are like they are, because of what happened in the past, but I still did not care for them until after they changed. I loved the side characters.
Great description, almost felt like I was in that stinky apartment.
And I love the texture of the book! Weird thing to like but true :)
All in all I recommend giving this a read.
The book it's self is a great story, but the main characters to me were unlikeable until 3/4 the way thru the book. I understand why they are like they are, because of what happened in the past, but I still did not care for them until after they changed. I loved the side characters.
Great description, almost felt like I was in that stinky apartment.
And I love the texture of the book! Weird thing to like but true :)
All in all I recommend giving this a read.
July 6, 2017
I just have to say that I hate quick endings or endings that leave the reader to imagine the ending, and this was close! I really felt Zoey's pain, along with her Mom and Dad too. I could really connect because In some ways my own life has played out similar, so the characters were spot on in their choices.. not meaning bad or good, but how someone would if they had a survived a horrible tragedy! I nearly cried so many times!! This is as real to life as an author can get! I feel like I just lived through the story myself.. (pause for now, I will come back to write more.. it's 1am and I couldn't sleep till I finished it!)
I received a copy from Goodreads Giveaways and my review is honest!
I received a copy from Goodreads Giveaways and my review is honest!
February 7, 2015
The book is so incredibly descriptive and tells an amazing story! It is definitely worth the read.
August 31, 2014
All I have to is the ending is supperr depressing...... be ready..
Read
April 13, 2015This seems very suspenseful
October 19, 2015
i thought it was pretty good until it offered me expired chicken like holy moley i cannot believe this even had the guts to even think about that hlylyylyllblglblbglbglb
December 20, 2015
Amazing
have-and-have-not-read
August 12, 2014Im hoping I get my hand on this book so I can read and review!!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews