Reviews for HAVEN LAKE
“Family, secrets, and how to love each other. No one does it better than Holly Robinson.” Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist and author of Between Heaven and Here
“Haven Lake is an emotionally charged novel about love, loss, and the intricacies of modern family. Robinson weaves a plot so poignant you won’t be able to put it down.” — Emily Liebert, author of When We Fall
“Holly Robinson’s spicy yet tender Haven Lake will have you crushing on Hannah, cheering for Dylan, and keeping your fingers crossed for Sydney. It’s an absorbing read about trust and taking chances that will keep you up well past your bedtime.” — Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, author of The Art of Floating
“In HAVEN LAKE, a mother and daughter are estranged for twenty years, until a troubled boy forces them to re-examine the past and the tragedies that drove them apart. Dark secrets come into the light, revealing grieving hearts–strong enough for love, forgiveness, and second chances. In Haven Lake Holly Robinson expertly depicts the ways in which we hurt the ones we love most, and our propensity for forgiveness. Real and raw, the characters stayed with me long after the last page was turned.” — Lorrie Thomson, author of What’s Left Behind
Child psychologist Sydney Bishop was raised on a farm-commune in the 1970s, but she abandoned that life—and her mother—after a series of tragic events. Now Sydney is engaged to a workaholic surgeon, and she’s struggling to develop a relationship with his teenage son, Dylan. When Dylan runs away from home to escape from a bully, he winds up at Sydney’s childhood home, Haven Lake. Sydney’s mother, Hannah, takes Dylan in, and Sydney is drawn back into her mother’s life—and forced to confront the reasons she left and never returned. Robinson (The Wishing Hill, 2013) handles numerous plot threads deftly, alternating between her characters with finesse. The emotional turmoil that Sydney, Dylan, and Hannah face is realistic, and although there’s a lot of territory covered (including prescription-drug addiction, PTSD, bullying, and child abuse), the story doesn’t descend into melodrama. The ending provides an enjoyable, but not pat, resolution to many of the issues faced by the characters. Fans of Barbara Delinsky and Diane Chamberlain will enjoy this moving family drama. — Nanette Donohue, Booklist
This is a thoughtful, well-written novel that examines the bonds of family and loyalty in the midst of tragedy. Sydney and Dylan both quickly become characters who readers care for as they deal with life, loss, disappointment and disaster. The relationships in this story are multifaceted and deep, and readers are continually engaged as the layers are revealed. This is a poignant novel that leaves readers thinking.
When Sydney Bishop’s almost stepson ends up at her estranged mother’s farm, Sydney has to return to her childhood home after decades of being away. As she and her mother begin to unravel the past tragedies that have occurred there, they are brought together in a way neither of them sees coming. As Dylan’s life continues to fall apart, they all must find a way to band together and overcome the obstacles that try to destroy them. –Sarah Frobisherr, Romance Times Book Review
Reviews for BEACH PLUM ISLAND
“Beach Plum Island is the story of three sisters whose search to uncover a dark family secret forces each of them to examine their own lives as well as their relationships with each other. Robinson masterfully paints the portrait of a damaged family in the quake of a tragedy, struggling to put the pieces back together again. Each sister is sensitively drawn, their individual dramas meticulously rendered. This novel is a thoughtful exploration of the fragility, and the tenacity, of the ties that bind.” –T. Greenwood, author of Bodies of Water
“Holly Robinson is a natural-born storyteller and her tale of three mismatched sisters and the lost brother they search for will keep you turning those pages as she quietly but deftly breaks your heart. I loved every single one of her characters and you will too; here is a novel to savor and share. –Yona McDonough, author of Two of a Kind
“In Beach Plum Island, Holly Robinson’s rich details transport you to picturesque New England and right into the core of the conflicted Barrett family. Robinson tugs at your emotions from the viewpoint of the three complex and very different Barrett sisters: Ava, Elaine, and Gigi, through whom the author deftly explores grief, secrets, and shunned family ties. This story reveals the way people become stronger when they are together rather than apart, and proves that it is never to late to become a family. Beach Plum Island is a triumphant family saga filled with heart and hope. I couldn’t put it down!” –Amy Sue Nathan, author of The Glass Wives
“In this absorbing, big-hearted novel, Holly Robinson explores sibling bonds, love in middle age, and the intricate dance of a blended family. The painful past is everywhere in Beach Plum Island, but the present moment shines through.” –Elizabeth Graver, author of The End of the Point
Reviews for THE WISHING HILL
“Robinson’s first novel sparkles with warmth and wit while tackling the prickly sides of a mother-daughter relationship…With deeply emotional passages tempered by humor and some surprising romance, Robinson’s portrayal of family members striving to forge deeper connections after self-imposed absences is compelling. Fans of Martha Southgate and Heidi W. Durrow will enjoy this tender, full-hearted tale of quiet triumphs, mended fences, and new connections.” – Booklist
“One of the deep pleasures of The Wishing Hill is Holly Robinson’s keen sense of story. Another is her willingness to give all her characters, young and old, second chances. I loved reading about Juliet and how she and her family invent and re-invent themselves as they struggle to reconcile past and present. Many readers will surely glimpse themselves in this vivid, compassionate novel.” — Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy
“A novel that sings of love for a child, loss and regret for a life, and the quiet triumphs of survival and finding each other again.”
–Susan Straight, National Book Award nominee and author of Between Heaven and Here
“Who and what make us who we really are? In Robinson’s luminous novel of buried secrets, she explores how the past can jumpstart the future, how motherhood can be more than genetics, and why finding yourself sometimes depends on discovering the truth in others.”
–Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You
“The Wishing Hill is a story about love, loss, secrets, and finding out where we’re really supposed to be in our lives. As Juliet navigates the terrain of divorce, pregnancy, and exploring new love, her greatest gift comes from a place she never expected to find it: revisiting her unsettled past.”
–Maddie Dawson, author of The Stuff that Never Happened
“With equal parts compassion and honesty, THE WISHING HILL explores love, redemption and forgiveness through a cast of female leads, all of whom are incredibly strong in their own way… An easy and engaging read, THE WISHING HILL is an excellent choice for book lovers who can relate to the sometimes thorny aspects of family life.” —Michelle Xiarhos Curran, Merrimack Valley Magazine
THE WISHING HILL: A SYNOPSIS
What if everything you knew about your life was wrong?
Years ago, Juliet Clark gave up her life in California to follow the man she loved to Mexico and pursue her dream of being an artist. Now her marriage is over and she’s alone, selling watercolors to tourists on the Puerto Vallarta boardwalk.
When her brother asks her to come home and care for their ailing mother, a flamboyant actress with a storied past, Juliet goes reluctantly. She and her self-absorbed mother have always clashed. Plus, nobody back home knows about her divorce—or the fact that she’s pregnant and her ex-husband is not the father.
Juliet intends to get her mother back on her feet and return to Mexico fast, but nothing goes as planned. Instead she meets a man who makes her question every choice and reawakens her spirit, even as she is being drawn into an ancient feud between her mother and a reclusive neighbor. Little does she know that these relationships hold the key to shocking secrets about herself and her family that have been hiding in plain sight in her small New England town.
What Readers Are Saying about Sleeping Tigers:
Best Indie Books of 2012 Semifinalist, Kindle Book Review
2011 Book of the Year Fiction Finalist, ForeWord Reviews
“Sleeping Tigers is the kind of book you wish didn’t have to end. Fast-moving and funny, loaded with sex, adventure, and characters who feel like your oldest friends, it takes the reader through fabulous, keenly-observed settings as it follows one woman on a brave journey of self-discovery. Robinson’s prose crackles with wit and humanity.” –Elisabeth Brink, author of Save Your Own
“Be prepared to be surprised and delighted.” –Toby Neal, author of Blood Orchids and Torch Ginger
“Ms. Robinson is a captivating story teller who knows how to add the right ingredients to create a page turner that you don’t want to put down. Sleeping Tigers is a must read.” — Kathryn Hamilton, Chick Lit Central
What Readers Are Saying about The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter: A Memoir
“Wacky and tender, The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter is as much a social history of the ’60s as an intensely personal family memoir. Holly Robinson handles the heavy issues of longing and belonging with wonderful honesty and a light touch.”
–Stewart O’Nan, author of Songs for the Missing
“Journalist Robinson cheerfully recalls growing up with a closeted gerbil-breeder….It’s a scenario that could have been lifted from a 1960s sitcom, but Robinson invests the narrative with pathos, good-natured moments of absurdity and plenty of keen humor….Daffy yet sweet and affecting.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“Robinson writes with humor and honesty, creating a charming story, a reminder of how all the love and care in the world may not be enough, and a moving tribute to a father who, nonetheless, never stopped trying.”
–Booklist
“Robinson…wryly narrates this memoir about growing up with a stern navy father who abruptly takes up breeding the then little-known gerbil in the late 1960s….interspers[ing] her compelling narrative with accounts of gerbil mayhem.”
–Publishers Weekly
“A delightful memoir about an unusual childhood, complete with a cast of characters led by an eccentric, forward-thinking father and his incredulous, rebellious kids. Think Cheaper by the Dozen–but with cute, furry rodents thrown in. I loved it!”
–Sandi Shelton, author of A Piece of Normal and What Comes After Crazy
“What a delightful, delicious coming-of-age story–filled with a cast of enchanting, eccentric, utterly memorable characters, and with what is most endearing: the author’s affection for them. This is an engrossing tale of family life, and of the extraordinary menagerie that lies at the heart of their adventures. It is as if E. B. White, Gerald Durrell, and Calvin Trillin had conspired to write the funniest, most charming and unlikely of tales.
–Jay Neugeboren, author of Imagining Robert and The Stolen Jew
“What does one military man do when he retires from commanding a ship? Why not build the world’s largest gerbil farm? Holly Robinson’s memoir vividly tells of her life growing up in a military family, and of her teenage years as one of the ‘employees’ in her dad’s oddly successful, sometimes exasperating, often humorous livestock venture.”
–Douglas Whynott, author of Following the Bloom and A Country Practice
“In the long parade of memoirs American readers have seen in recent years, have you noticed how few make you laugh out loud? Holly Robinson’s book made me laugh so many times my cheeks were a little sore. Her portrait of a little-explored and often-comic landscape, along with the sure and funny narrative voice which is our tour-guide through family, gerbils, and love, is one of the best memoirs around. And her prose is sparkling, very particular, and always vivid.”
–Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist and author of A Million Nightingales and Highwire Moon
“As improbable as it was that Holly Robinson’s crisp and buttoned down Navy Commander of a dad would give it all up for the dream of becoming a gerbil guru, it is not at all surprising that his daughter would craft a memoir that captures his odd and sometimes embarrassing passion so well. Her spirited account is equal parts quirky, funny, heartwarming, and even heartbreaking.”
–Madeleine Blais, author of Uphill Walkers: A Memoir of a Family