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Blog Tour: The Life and Deaths of Blanche Nero by Ken Brigham

The Life and Deaths of Blanche Nero by Ken Brigham

Publication Date: August 1, 2016
Secant Publishing
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback & eBook
Genre: Thriller & Suspense/Historical Fiction/Mystery



At fifteen, Blanche Nero watches the electrocution of her Italian immigrant father, punishment for the inexplicable brutal murder of his recently acquired friend Old Man Flaherty. She resolves to do something with her life that values humanity over justice, mercy over sacrifice. But she is forever haunted by the mystery of her father. She is also drawn irresistibly to the bigger human mysteries of violence and death.

After a grueling but successful academic career at some of the nation’s finest university hospitals, Blanche is almost sixty. Her long career as a trauma surgeon at Charity Hospital in New Orleans has been abruptly ended by Hurricane Katrina. She takes a year sabbatical from the medical school and leases a small flat in Venice, seeking an understanding of her father in the place where he lived his formative years—and of herself by reliving and recording her own remarkable life.

On a cold morning in Piazza San Marco, Blanche meets Count Lorenzo Ludovici (Ludo) an aging, elegant, and charming Venetian who is dying of AIDS. Blanche is drawn to him and is uncharacteristically self-revealing as he introduces her to his beautiful city. As their relationship develops and his health deteriorates, Blanche becomes ever more fond of the count.

As she relives her past by writing down what she remembers, she sees the girl she was and the woman she became with new eyes: the mystery of her father’s death; her distant mother; her sometimes misguided adolescent efforts to grow up. And then discovering the thrill of medicine, especially the sensual thrill of trauma surgery and losing herself in that career, immersed in violence. She recalls her attempts at relationships, especially with Jesse Pinto, the one man whom she has ever loved, and how she ended that. She remembers her love affair with the Big Easy and Charity Hospital (the Big Free) that came suddenly to a violent end.

Through a series of painful and revealing conversations, Blanche and Ludo discover that each of them has private knowledge of interlocking pieces of their history.

Available on Amazon

About the Author

     Ken Brigham is emeritus professor of medicine at Emory University. He is widely published in the scientific literature and has authored or coauthored two previous novels and two nonfiction books. He lives with his wife, Arlene Stecenko, in midtown Atlanta.  

     For more information see www.kenbrigham.com. You can also follow Ken on Twitter.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, June 12 
Kick Off at Passages to the Past 

Tuesday, June 13 
Review at 100 Pages a Day 

Wednesday, June 14 
Spotlight at History From a Woman's Perspective 

Thursday, June 15 
Review at Turning the Pages 
Spotlight at Laura's Interests 

Friday, June 16 
Interview at Author Dianne Ascroft's Blog 

Monday, June 19 
Review at Creating Herstory 

Tuesday, June 20 
Interview at Creating Herstory 

Wednesday, June 21 
Spotlight at The Book Junkie Reads 

Friday, June 23 
Review at Back Porchervations 

Monday, June 26 
Review at Trisha Jenn Reads 

Tuesday, June 27 
Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews 

Friday, June 30 
Tour Wrap-Up at Passages to the Past

Giveaway

To win a paperback copy of The Life and Deaths of Blanche Nero, please enter via the Gleam form below.

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on June 30th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.


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