Media
SARTON AWARD WINNERS
historical fiction writing
BLUE DESERT joins the Women’s History Month Panel discussion
https://youtu.be/CYSisKi8ss0
BLUE DESERT named
EDITOR’S CHOICE
by Historical Novel Society, February 2023
Celia Jeffries’ prose is lyrical, almost like poetry, and she makes you feel the heat of the desert, see the colors of the sand, and even taste the Moroccan food. You feel as if you are in the Sahara with Alice. Alice is a strong, independent heroine who rebels against conventional society as a young girl and embraces the freedom of the desert. Abu, her Tuareg lover, is an enigmatic figure, obviously drawn to Alice, and yet he has a violent side, which you glimpse in one shocking moment. I was fascinated by the Tuareg society, where the women hold power and property, and the men wear blue veils, from which they earn their nickname “the blue men of the desert,” and travel across the Sahara in caravans. I highly recommend this book.
read full review: https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/blue-desert/
BLUE DESERT Reviewed in
Midwest Book Review, October 2022
Jeffries weaves a tale of colliding cultures with collisions reverberating though individual cultures as well with undercurrents of "progress" coming to the Tuaregs. She contrasts the free nomadic life of the Tuaregs and the colonialism espoused by the British. Alice is unabashedly feminist in an age when women are bound to strict societal roles. Be prepared to root for an exceptional protagonist.
read full review: http://www.midweshttp://www.midwestbookreview.com/rbw/oct_22.
BLUE DESERT wins Silver Award
May Sarton SNC Women’s Book Awards 1/31/22:
The Sarton Awards are presented in four categories (memoir, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, nonfiction). The award program is named in honor of May Sarton, who is remembered for her outstanding contributions to women's literature as a memoirist, novelist, and poet. Sarton memoirs, novels, and nonfiction books are distinguished by the compelling ways they honor the lives of women and are limited to books published by independent authors and publishers.
BLUE DESERT featured on Lesley University Podcast:
“Why We Write”
Listen here: https://lesley.edu/article/a-journey-into-the-blue-desert-with-celia-jeffries
BLUE DESERT chosen as finalist in the
2021 IPNE Book Awards
Blue Desert was chosen as one of five finalists in the literary fiction category of Independent Publishers of New England Book Awards.
NPR/NEPM chooses BLUE DESERT for Summer Fiction series
Interview with Karen Brown 7/30/21
https://www.nepm.org/post/blue-desert-woman-kidnapped-1910-finds-her-independence
BLUE DESERT discussion with Elli Meeropol
Odyssey Books 7/29/21
watch here
Great discussion and insights! —”a happy listener’
The Writer’s Voice 7/17/21
Thank you Francesca Rheannon for such a rich discussion of BLUE DESERT !
Listen here:
https://www.writersvoice.net/.../nina-burleigh-virus.../
“This remarkable debut novel is about freedom and limits, secrets and what happens when a young British woman falls in love with the chieftain of a Tuareg tribe in Morocco in the early years of the 20th century. “ Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.
Boston Globe 6/29/21
Thank you Teresa Hanafin for including BLUE DESERT in ‘Fast Forward ‘ list of reader-recommended books!
"Blue Desert" by Celia Jeffries
This beautifully written book with lyrical prose transported me via enthralling descriptions to Morocco and the Sahara Desert. The engaging story is about Alice's 60-year secret of her time as a young woman living with the Tuareg nomadic tribe crisscrossing the Sahara Desert during the 1910s. Alice's secret unfolds in the story during the 1970s in London, where she is now living with her husband. I didn't want this book and Alice's story to end! - A. McGrath of Duxbury
Rose City Reader 5/26/21
Thank you Rose City Reader for such engaging Questions!
“I have been fascinated by readers’ responses—so many time readers have found things in the novel that surprise me, and quite frankly humble me.”
Read the full Q&A here:
Cambridge Common Writers Reading 5/18/21
My Lesley University MFA Reading is now available on Utube
Michael Mercurio, Virginia Hoeck, and I discussed BLUE DESERT, the art (and pain) of revision, and all sorts of writerly things.
Watch the reading here:
Daily Hampshire Gazette article 4/28/21
A Desert Awakening:
Steve Pfarrer says BLUE DESERT blends historical fiction and adventure with a close study of its central character.
“Blue Desert also looks at the damage that can be done to families by keeping secrets and … offers a feminist theme in its examination of the choices one woman makes at a time when few were open to her.” Read the full story here:
Deborah Kalb Books Q & A, 4/22/21
Deborah Kalb asks: Did you learn anything surprising while writing Blue Desert?
Yes, I did. Read about it here:
Women Writers, Women Books, 4/20/21
Although I did not time travel to 1910, I did follow my character into her story, managed to research her world, experienced what I could, and let imagination loose on the rest.
Celia Jeffries writes about how research and imagination worked together in writing her novel BLUE DESERT
MY BOOK BEGINNINGS
From Blue Desert by Celia Jeffries:
"I wish for once the post would land upright in the box."
Alice George lived in the Sahara desert with the nomadic Tuareg tribe during the years of World War One. 60 years later, she gets a telegram telling her that her former lover from her time in the Sahara has died. The story braids the two narratives of Alice's time spent with Abu in the desert and 1970s London, during the week she tells her secrets to her husband for the first time. If you like historical fiction with a feminist bent, Blue Desert is the book for you.
Ellen Meeropol reviews BLUE DESERT:
Jeffries manages to take the reader far away for an unusual adventure while shining a light on the universal questions we share as human beings, as mothers: Where is home? What is family? How do we know what is best for our children, and how do we make an impossibly painful decision? Despite these big questions, Blue Desert offers a surprising and deeply satisfying ending in which the world turns on itself and becomes smaller. We need this conclusion in 2021, as much as Alice and her family needs it in 1970. Read the full review here.
FIVE NEW INDIE BOOKS TO PRE-ORDER FOR THE NEW YEAR
We can all hope that the new year brings many things to celebrate! One thing for sure is the release of new books. These five new indie books are coming soon, ready to pre-order now, and are sure to entertain.