Our guest today: Roberta Gately
Why we love her: Her debut, Lipstick in Afghanistan, was AWESOME.
Her latest: The Bracelet
The scoop: Newly heartbroken and searching for purpose in her life, Abby Monroe is determined to make her mark as a UN worker in one of the world’s most unstable cities: Peshawar, Pakistan. But after witnessing the brutal murder of a woman thrown from a building, she is haunted by the memory of an intricate and sparkling bracelet that adorned the victim’s wrist.
At a local women’s shelter, Abby meets former sex slaves who have miraculously escaped their captors. As she gains the girls’ trust and documents their horrifying accounts of unspeakable pain and betrayal, she joins forces with a dashing New York Times reporter who believes he can incriminate the shadowy leader of the vicious human trafficking ring. Inspired by the women’s remarkable bravery—and the mysterious reappearance of the bracelet— the duo traces evidence that spreads from remote villages of South Asia to the most powerful corners of the West, risking their lives to offer a voice to the countless innocents in bondage.
Our thoughts: One of our FAVES of 2012. It's got it all--timely issues, mystery and a little love story. We promise you'll devour it!
Giveaway: 5 Copies(Sorry, US only!). Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win! We'll choose the winners November 11th after 3pm PST.
Fun fact: She knows what she's talking about, yo! A nurse, humanitarian aid worker, and writer, Roberta has served in 3rd world war zones ranging from Africa to Afghanistan.
Where to read more about Roberta: Her website, Facebook and Twitter.
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...ROBERTA GATELY'S 5 BEST EVERS
1. BEST SONG: “Somewhere” from West Side Story – a song about finding your place and your purpose amidst the angst and chaos of life. I just love the hopefulness it conveys, the sense that we are all one, and that everything will be okay.
2. BEST BOOK: I don’t think I could ever choose just one. My first favorite was “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. As a little girl, I read it over and over, and as an adult, I have a copy on my bookshelf and another always ready to give to another budding young reader. As an adult – my favorite - “To Kill A Mockingbird” – the story, the characters, the scenes – are all so deftly drawn, each time I read it, I find something new to love.
3. BEST MOVIE: I love old movies and when I first saw “An Affair To Remember” with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, I was hooked. To do this day, it is my feel good movie, my refuge from a harried world. I know every line in the movie and I still cry at the end.
4. LIFE MOMENT: Each time, I work with refugees in one remote spot or another, I am humbled and grateful to be allowed into their world, and when I’ve helped to save a life or make things better in a place where some days, it seems there will never be anything better, my heart soars with the pure joy of it. Though I’ll never be rich, and I will always be counting my pennies, when a refugee child whose days have been filled with hunger and disease and hopelessness, smiles at me, I am the richest person I know.
5. BEST ADVICE: Appreciate everything – the good and the bad. Every moment makes us who we are and someday, we’ll look back and cherish even the memory of that too tight, too sparkly, sequined dress (what was I thinking?), and the man who loved me in it.
Thanks Roberta! xoxo, L&L