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Interviews | January 3, 2012

Jill Owens: IMG Naomi Benaron: The Powells.com Interview

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Naomi BenaronRunning the Rift is the most recent winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, as awarded by Barbara Kingsolver. It's also an... Continue »
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Todos Santos

by Deborah Clearman

Todos Santos Cover

ISBN13: 9780982520406
ISBN10: 0982520409
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

“Clearman paints a vivid picture of the gritty and graceful sights of Guatemala as well as of the human heart, while touching upon the universal instinct to protect our children from real and imagined threats.”Holly MacArthur, managing editor of Tin House

Review:

"Humiliated by her husband's recent infidelities, Iowan artist Catherine Barnes journeys to exotic, politically tumultuous Guatemala to get some space and begin work on a new picture book, accompanied by her troubled teenage son, Isaac, who recently flunked out of eighth grade. The plan is for Isaac to work at his aunt's handicrafts store--a kind of 'tough-love boot camp'--while Catherine explores the mountainous Mayan village of Todos Santos for painting subjects; the plan hits a snag after Isaac makes a series of bad decisions that lead to his abduction. As Isaac tries to get himself out of trouble, Catherine finds herself the target of local superstitions regarding foreigners and baby snatching. With the help of a handsome, warmhearted tour guide, Catherine draws on forgotten reserves of strength and independence to cope with the town's animosity and her son's disappearance. Clearman (The Goose's Tale) has a fluid, readable style, but her characters can lack emotional credibility and her stranger-ina-strange-land plot line fails to surprise. Nevertheless, Catherine and Isaac reach some satisfying conclusions about themselves and their future, making this a worthwhile read. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)

Synopsis:

For Catherine, an escape to provincial Guatemala galvanizes her as a mother, woman, artist, and survivor.
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About the Author

Deborah Clearman wrote and illustrated The Goose's Tale for children. Her short stories for adults have appeared in Connecticut Review, Ginger Hill, Oasis, and other literary magazines and anthologies. Her paintings and prints have been widely exhibited in galleries and museums. She is Program Director for NY Writers Coalition, a nonprofit organization that provides free and low-cost creative writing workshops.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
silversolara, August 16, 2011 (view all comments by silversolara)
Guatemala, a mother's love, summer, painting, having fun, fear, daily life, superstitions......

A summer in Guatemala....this definitely sounded exciting to Isaac and much better than spending it in summer school in Iowa. Isaac accompanied his mother to Guatemala and stayed with his aunt while his mother made a trip to Todos Santos to do some painting.

While his mother was away, Issac met another American boy who was bad news, but whom Isaac continued to befriend. The boys planned a trip of their own without actually telling anyone the truth about their destination. Their adventures as well as the adventures of Catherine made up most of the book...Catherine found things she wasn't expecting and Isaac did as well. The trip Issac and Bernie took was frightening to me....seeing the risks they took in a foreign country made my heart race.

Meanwhile, Catherine was enjoying herself and learning many things about the culture of Guatemala...both good and bad aspects. The book had vivid descriptions of the beautiful landscape of Guatemala and the lifestyles of its people. The characters were interesting and colorful.

The book took me a while to read not because it was difficult, but because I was afraid to see what was going to happen to Catherine and her son. It also was heart wrenching to learn how the citizens of Guatemala actually lived on a daily basis and how the leaders were so self-centered, corrupt, controlling, and superstitious.

Deborah Clearman is a very talented author...she has fantastic descriptions of characters, scenery, and emotions. You could feel the emotions of each character as they were dealing with the situation occurring at the moment......the well-described scenes and emotions made the book unique for me.

I truly enjoyed the book except for the fear factor that I brought on myself. :)

Also stop at Black Lawrence Press to view Ms. Clearman's video of the background for her novel...quite intriguing.

blacklawrencepress.com - go to the side bar and choose Authors.
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Suzanne Kamata, September 5, 2010 (view all comments by Suzanne Kamata)
Children's book illustrator Catherine Barnes has just found out about her art professor husband's infidelities and her son has recently flunked out of eighth grade. To get away from her problems and gain perspective, she and her son venture to Guatemala, where her firm-but-fun sister-in-law Zelda lives.

Catherine figures her son Isaac will be fine staying with his aunt in Antigua for a few days while she goes to the village of Todos Santos with sexy native guide, Oswaldo, to paint. Somewhat predictably (but satisfying so), Catherine falls for her guide and sort of forgets to worry about Isaac. She also strikes up a friendship with a local innkeeper and her German husband, and incurs the wrath of an Evangelical-type priest who tells the villagers that they are about to be set upon by child-stealing devil-worshippers from abroad. Meanwhile, Isaac gets into trouble. Big trouble.

In this lyrical debut, Clearman uses her rich pallette to present a story of suspense, romance, Mayan mysticism and motherhood.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780982520406
Author:
Clearman, Deborah
Publisher:
Black Lawrence Press
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
Mothers and sons
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
Trade Paper
Publication Date:
20100831
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Pages:
236
Dimensions:
8.40x5.40x.90 in. .70 lbs.
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Todos Santos New Trade Paper
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Product details 236 pages Black Lawrence Press - English 9780982520406 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Humiliated by her husband's recent infidelities, Iowan artist Catherine Barnes journeys to exotic, politically tumultuous Guatemala to get some space and begin work on a new picture book, accompanied by her troubled teenage son, Isaac, who recently flunked out of eighth grade. The plan is for Isaac to work at his aunt's handicrafts store--a kind of 'tough-love boot camp'--while Catherine explores the mountainous Mayan village of Todos Santos for painting subjects; the plan hits a snag after Isaac makes a series of bad decisions that lead to his abduction. As Isaac tries to get himself out of trouble, Catherine finds herself the target of local superstitions regarding foreigners and baby snatching. With the help of a handsome, warmhearted tour guide, Catherine draws on forgotten reserves of strength and independence to cope with the town's animosity and her son's disappearance. Clearman (The Goose's Tale) has a fluid, readable style, but her characters can lack emotional credibility and her stranger-ina-strange-land plot line fails to surprise. Nevertheless, Catherine and Isaac reach some satisfying conclusions about themselves and their future, making this a worthwhile read. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)
"Synopsis" by ,
For Catherine, an escape to provincial Guatemala galvanizes her as a mother, woman, artist, and survivor.
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