A Brief View from the Coastal Suite

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Read Excerpt

A Brief View from the Coastal Suite

By (author): Karen Hofmann

Includes Author-Curated Discussion Questions!

The reunited Lund siblings, separated as children by Social Services, find that family, whether held together by blood or by choice, can be both a curse and a blessing, an obstacle and a point of connection.

Set in Vancouver during the economically turbulent year of 2008, A Brief View from the Coastal Suite explores the Lunds’ differing values in respect to relationships, money, and environment – all markers for a materialistic society that is becoming increasingly inhospitable. Cleo struggles to find time for her challenging job as an architectural designer and for the demands of her family; Mandalay, an artist and single parent, tries to raise her twin sons uncontaminated by the materialistic values of their lawyer father; and Cliff attempts to run a landscape company with his spoiled younger brother, Ben, and to accommodate the ever-increasing demands of his Estonian mail-order bride.

Karen Hofmann’s brilliant sequel to her novel What is Going to Happen Next skillfully explores societal attitudes and the instability of personal and public lives in a world that values money above all else.

AUTHOR

Karen Hofmann

Karen Hofmann lives in Kamloops, B.C. She has been published in Arc, Prairie Fire, The Malahat Review, and The Fiddlehead. Her book Water Strider was shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Prize at the 2009 BC Book Awards, and “The Burgess Shale” was shortlisted at the 2012 CBC Short Fiction Contest. Her first novel After Alice was released in Spring 2014.

Reviews

Praise for A Brief View from the Coastal Suite:

“Hofmann’s prose is captivating. She excels at writing everyday scenes. Some thrum with tension; others are characterized by warmth. Her characters’ reflections are variously evocative and familiar.”
~ John J. Murray, Foreword Reviews

“Karen Hofmann’s novels deserve a place on the shelves of discerning readers across the country…. A Brief View from the Coastal Suite … [is] a rich and vivid read capturing a place in time that serves to illuminate the present moment.”
~ Kerry Clare, Quill & Quire

“Bringing to the Canadian literary landscape a story of family, loss, devotion, devastation, and parenthood, [A Brief View from the Coastal Suite] is the perfect continuation to a beloved and quintessentially Canadian story. I hope we’ll get to see more in the future.”
~ Worn Pages and Ink

“In A Brief View from the Coastal Suite, Karen Hofmann’s richly drawn characters spin in a changing world, tangled up in the messiness of love and family, the pressures of work and success, and the unending search for a sense of self as age and experience shape their lives. This is a novel of stunning elegance, sensitivity, and compassion that revels in the enthralling complexity of everyday life.”
~ Corinna Chong, author of Belinda’s Rings