Peek beneath the surface of an extraordinary small-town opera company, and get to know a fabulous cast of characters: determined flirts, a lusty singing gaucho, ingenious manipulators, a bipolar ketchup heiress, devious lovers, and some very determined ghosts. Delve into high society in Hankey, PA-a world of simmering seductions, convoluted mysteries and entertaining intrigues. You may laugh out loud. You may cheer for the gang of misfits trying to save their opera house from foreclosure by improbably staging a world-class production of Mozart's masterpiece. You may feel a tug at your heartstrings as lonely lovers look for new romance. Gale Martin's new novel, DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA, will delight readers everywhere.
Praise for DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA:
"A fast, fun read with wit, charm, and can-do optimism at its heart. DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA is a tale of longing, lust, and love in small-town USA, featuring a sympathetic rake, a bipolar ketchup heiress, a desperate divorcée, a spurned society matron, a pimping balloon entrepreneur, and one plucky ghost. Some authors write comedy with aplomb. Others excel at infusing stories with emotional warmth. Martin combines both in a debut novel that will have you doubled over, laughing, that deserves to be welcomed with a hearty brava." – Kaylie Jones, author of LIES MY MOTHER NEVER TOLD ME and A SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER NEVER CRIES
"Gale Martin has achieved an unlikely feat: an opera buffa in prose. Martin paints her characters in primary colours and whirls them through a series of improbable events and operatic in-jokes, at a pace worthy of the closing stages of a Rossini overture. And to help us along the way, of course, there's a very particular phantom...." – David Karlin, founder of BACHTRACK
“Gale Martin has written a clever and enchanting story that sings from the first page to its last. Opera buffs and novices will enjoy the juicy drama and intrigue that happens both on and behind the stage. What a treat!” – Margo Candela, author of GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT,
LIFE OBSERVED, and THE BRENDA DIARIES
"Like a fabulous production, DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA seethes with wild jealousies, convoluted mysteries, wry comic turns, resident ghosts, mysterious assailants, bold intrigues, longing, love, lust, and – of course – plenty of opera. Gale Martin's novel is 'meraviglioso!'"
– Lenore Hart, author of BECKY and THE RAVEN'S BRIDE
"Hold onto your libretti! Gale Martin takes opera, and mayhem, to new heights in her laugh-out-loud, rollicking, confection of a novel. One part romance, one part mystery, DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA will sweep you off your feet. You won't want to put it down!" – Nina Solomon, author of THE SINGLE WIFE
"With a subtle humor and tenacious wit, Martin brings alive the world of Hankey, Pennsylvania, and its struggling opera house. By the end of the first chapter, we are already rooting for Deanna and her gang of dysfunctional dreamers. DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA has grace, snark, intelligence, but more importantly, it has heart. Within her cast of misfits, Martin manages to strike a familiar chord in the center of all of us, and with her melodious prose provides one beautiful libretto." – Amye Archer, author of A SHOTGUN LIFE
"A lively romp about a dysfunctional, small-town opera guild. Martin writes about the Pennsylvania Dutch and opera fanatics with the same verve that Garrison Keillor writes about Minnesota Lutherans and public radio." – Richard Fellinger, author of THEY HOVER OVER US
"A pleasingly coloratura tale of romance and intrigue set in a small-town opera house with big ideas." – Jonathan Pinnock, author of
MRS. DARCY VERSUS THE ALIENS
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