<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br><p><strong>From Brooklyn to the island of Jamaica, <em>Tea by the Sea</em> traces a mother's circuitous route to find the daughter taken from her at birth.</strong></p><p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p><strong>*Featured in <em>O, the Oprah Magazine</em>*</strong></p> <p><strong>*Selected as one of the Best Books of the Week by the <em>New York Post</em>*</strong></p> <p>A seventeen-year-old taken from her mother at birth; an Episcopal priest with a daughter whose face he cannot bear to see; a mother weary of searching for her lost child: <em>Tea by the Sea</em> is their story--that of a family uniting and unraveling. To find the daughter taken from her, Plum Valentine must find the child's father who walked out of a hospital with the day-old baby girl without explanation. Seventeen years later, weary of her unfruitful search, Plum sees an article in a community newspaper with a photo of the man for whom she has spent half her life searching. He has become an Episcopal priest. Her plan: confront him and walk away with the daughter he took from her. From Brooklyn to the island of Jamaica, <em>Tea by the Sea</em> traces Plum's circuitous route to find her daughter and how Plum's and the priest's love came apart.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"<em>Tea By the Sea</em> is a powder keg of a novel, where secrets and lies explode into truth and consequences, all told with spellbinding, shattering power. Hemans doesn't just fulfill the promise of her debut-- she soars past it.<br /><strong>--Marlon James, Man Booker Prize Winning author of <em>Black Leopard, Red Wolf</em></strong></p> <p>Op-ed in <em>Electric Literature</em></p> <p>The forbidden love story of Plum and Lenworth comes alive in this heart-rending novel, <em>Tea by the Sea</em>. Hemans has a stunning ability to give words to that elusive feeling of emptiness, and the longing for redemption is palpable. In Hemans's deft hands, regrets are explored with precision and compassion so that the reader finds herself unable to turn against even characters who have committed the most wretched betrayals. <em>Tea by the Sea</em> is like the story told in a grandmother's kitchen with the odors of fried dumplings and saltfish wafting into mouths that are set agape at the heady twists and turns delivered in an urgent and beautiful prose.<br /><strong>--Lauren Francis-Sharma, author of <em>'Til the Well Runs Dry</em></strong></p> <p><em>Tea by the Sea</em> is an insightful and illuminating prism of a novel, deftly examining familial identity and personal transformation. Hemans turns the kaleidoscope, catching light at different angles, to show us how one person's act of honor and responsibility can also be an act of unspeakable betrayal.<br /><strong>--Carolyn Parkhurst, author of <em>The Dogs of Babel </em>and <em>Harmony</em></strong></p> <p><em>Tea by the Sea</em> is a well-written novel exploring the themes of agency, love, and loss.--LynnDee Wathen, <em>Booklist</em></p> <p>A deftly crafted and entertaining work of impressive literary nuance, <em>Tea by the Sea</em> by Donna Hemans is an extraordinary, original, and inherently fascinating novel.--<em>Midwest Book Review</em></p> <p>A Conversation in the <em>Washington Independent Review of Books</em></p> <p>An interview with Aimee Liu in <em>The Rumpus</em></p> <p>An interview in <em> New York State Writers Institute</em></p> <p>Spring 2020 Blog Tour (Reviews, interviews, and more) Week 1 <ul> The Livre Café 6/1</li> Jessica Belmont 6/2</li> Fiction Matters 6/3</li> Everyday I Write The Book 6/4</li> Rebel Women Lit 6/5</li> Never Without A Book 6/6</li> The Book Decoder 6/7</li> </ul> </p> Week 2 <ul> Book of Cinz 6/8</li> Nurse Bookie 6/9</li> This Brown Girl Reads 6/10</li> Jennifer Tarheel Reader 6/11</li> Book Reviews and More by Kathy 6/12</li> Girl Who Reads 6/13</li> </ul> <p> </p> Week 3 <ul> Suzy Approved Book Reviews 6/14</li> Blunt Scissors Book Review 6/15</li> Syllables of Swathi 6/16</li> Collector of Book Boyfriends 6/17</li> Gimme The Scoop Reviews 6/18</li> Audio Killed the Bookmark 6/19</li> Miss Bibliofancy 6/20</li> </ul> </p> Week 4 <ul> Gail Renatta 6/21</li> Chocolate Covered Pages 6/22</li> Storybook Reviews 6/23</li> Long and Short Reviews 6/24</li> BNJ Reads 6/25</li> What Is That Book About 6/26</li> Eno Books 6/27</li> </ul> </p> Week 5 <ul> Beth's Book Nook Blog 6/28</li> Reading Between the Wines Book Club 6/29</li> Amy's Booket List 6/30</li> Book and Pen In Hand 7/1</li> Bree McIvor 7/2</li> Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More 7/3</li> Karukerament 7/4</li> Suzanne Bhagan 7/6</li> </ul></p> <p>In beautiful, wrenching prose, Hemans' <em>Tea by the Sea</em> tells an unforgettably moving story of family love, identity, and betrayal.<br /><strong>--G.P. Gottlieb, author of <em>' Whipped and Sipped</em> mystery series.</strong></p> <p>Don't expect a facile morality play: Hemans writes with precision about the most private bacchanals of the heart, the utter vexations of the spirit. Read with a rum-soaked handkerchief.<strong>--Shivanee Ramlochan</strong>, <em>Caribbean Beat</em></p> <p>Podcast interview featured by <em>LitHub</em>.</p> <p>Featured in the <em>Manhattan Book Review</em>.</p> <p>Featured by <em>Without Books</em></p> <p>A <em>Poets and Writers</em> and <em>Bare Life Review </em>featured author.</p> <p>Featured in Literary Hub's 5 Books You May Have Missed in June</p> <p>Featured in Matt Witt's Blog</p> <p>Featured in Women's National Book Association 2020 Great Group Reads Selections</p> <p>Essay featured in The Millions</p> <p> Personal essay in Ploughshares</p> <p> Featured on Fordham Magazine</p> <p> Winner of Rebel Women Lit Caribbean Readers' Award</p> <p>Shortlisted for the Story Circle's Women's Book Awards</p> <p>Featured on Electric Lit</p><br>