The April 2023 issue of Midwest Book Review’s online “Reviewer’s Bookwatch” features a review of “The Lockhart Women.” Scroll down on the link to read the review on Suanne Schaefer’s book shelf. Suanne is an incredibly generous literary citizen and author and she said all kinds of wonderful things about my novel like this:
The Lockhart Women by Mary Camarillo doesn’t read as a debut novel. She captures the epitome of a modern dysfunctional family. Stranded through the novel is the television coverage of the 1994-1995 O.J. Simpson murder and later his robbery trials, and each woman becomes obsessed in her own way with the televised legal morass. The reader can see the parallels between the high-and-mighty Simpson and the lives of this commonplace family and realize that domestic abuse crosses all classes.
More about Suanne below.
What is the Midwest Book Review? Established in 1976, the MBR is an organization committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. The MBR publishes monthly book review magazines specifically designed for community and academic librarians, booksellers, and the general reading public. The Midwest Book Review has contracted with Gale Cengage Learning to provide them with electronic copies of their book reviews, which are then made available to library systems.
One thing I particularly loved was the suggestion (not obligation) for authors and publishers who want to make a gesture of support and appreciation for what the Midwest Book Review does is to donate postage stamps. If you’ve read “The Lockhart Women” and know anything about me, you can imagine how much I love this idea. I’m sending them the Post Office Murals stamps pictured above.
More about Suanne Schafer. Her website calls her a “writer, author, travel photographer, and fire-starter.” She calls herself “a Texas girl who’s seen the world. She’s published two novels, Hunting the Devil and A Different Kind of Fire.
Suanne interviewed me in September of 2021 and we discovered we have a great deal in common. We met in a class at Stanford Continuing Ed, we both almost got kicked out of high school and we both used The OJ Simpson moment in time in our novels. You can read the full interview here. If you love literature, art, photography, exclusive sneek peaks, author giveaways, and things that light up the soul, you will want to sign up for Suanne’s low-volume newsletter.
