Exciting news from M. Allen Cunningham's Atelier26 Books!
(July 18, 2013, Portland, Oregon) Atelier26 Books announces the acquisition
of acclaimed author Harriet Scott Chessman’s new novel, The Beauty of Ordinary Things, for publication November, 2013.Chessman is the author of three previous novels, including the #1 Indie Next Pick and book-club favorite Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper as well as the Good Morning America Book Club selection and San Francisco Chronicle top pick Someone Not Really Her Mother. Her fiction has been translated into ten languages.
With The Beauty of Ordinary Things,
Chessman has fashioned a powerful new story about our yearning for
wholeness and the enduring weight of our briefest encounters.
Back from a tour of duty in Vietnam, Benny Finn, eldest son in a large Irish-American family, strives to find his bearings amid the everyday life of 1973 New England. At a Benedictine abbey in rural New Hampshire, Sister Clare, a young novice, confronts the day-to-day realities of a cloistered existence. Linking these two is Isabel Howell, a college student soon to discover that she must chart the course of her own life in a way she could not have imagined.
Deeply felt, often luminously moving, The Beauty of Ordinary Things
carries forward the promise of Harriet Scott Chessman’s earlier work,
revealing a writer richly aware of the range of human tragedy and
tenderness.
Atelier26
Books, an independent press in Portland, Oregon, was founded in autumn
2011 with the aim to publish fiction by contemporary writers in fine
paperback editions showcasing the highest design standards. At the core
of the Atelier26 publishing philosophy are five beliefs the house seeks
to boldly embody: “1) Idiosyncratic works of quiet merit have an
integral place in literary culture; 2) Literary history is largely built
upon such works; 3) Print books remain relevant and irreplaceable; 4)
Dynamic independent booksellers across the nation are essential to a
healthy publishing climate; 5) Authors deserve liberating rights
agreements and royalty structures.”
The first Atelier26 title, Date of Disappearance: Assorted Stories
by M. Allen Cunningham, appeared spring 2012 in an illustrated
limited-edition of 300 copies, each signed and numbered by the author.
That title and a subsequent nonfiction book were offered exclusively to
independent bookstores for retail. While the house plans to widen its
distribution with the release of Chessman’s novel, Atelier26 will retain
its vision of “shining a light on the nation’s best indie bookstores.”
About
her partnership with the unconventional micro-press, Chessman said, “I
am honored and thrilled to be part of this new venture, Atelier26, whose
mission is unsurpassed in integrity and vision.”
For more information, please contact:
Atelier26 publisher M. Allen Cunningham
atelier26books [at] gmail [dot] com
