What You Don’t Know Now
by Marci DiehlPublished by Merge Publishing
ISBN PRINT: 978-0-9904432-0-9 - EBOOK: 978-0-9904432-1-6
About the Book
An 18-year-old American girl travels in Europe on a 7-country, 21-day bustour during the tumultuous summer of 1967, to find fate has a surprising,
unusual itinerary in store for her in family, love and womanhood. In the summer
before college, it’s the education of a lifetime.
Description:
It’s the summer of 1967, and 18-year-old American Bridey McKennais in Europe for the first time. It’s supposed to be the ultimate motherdaughter
vacation, but nothing about it is working out that way. Chances
for adventure, romance and enlightenment look slim-to-none until Bridey
arrives in Umbria and meets Alessandro -- someone who could change
everything about her future. Alessandro is no ordinary singing waiter, and
he’s the last person on earth Bridey’s mother wants in her daughter’s life.
Bridey’s only hope is to connect in Rome with her worldly aunt and uncle
-- a man who holds a position at the British embassy in Jordan that no
one ever quite defines. When an emergency takes Bridey off the tour, on
to Athens and further into her aunt and uncle’s world than Bridey ever
dreamed, the complex terrain of family, love and womanhood holds a
surprising itinerary.
Advanced Praise
“Against the backdrop of Germany, Italy, and Greece, Bridey McKenna’ssummer adventure plays out in ways she could have never imagined.
Marci Diehl’s magical storytelling invites us to smell the sea, bask in the
Mediterranean sunshine and join Bridey on an emotional journey that is
an intricate blend of intrigue, sexual awakening, romance, and selfdiscovery.”
-Kathy Johncox, author of What a Kiss Can Do
“My mouth was literally agape as I read certain sections of this fun and
engrossing story.”
-Cynthia Kolko, author of Fruit of the Vine
“Reawaken your sense of adventure! Have you ever read a book that
gave you the feeling of packing your bags and just going where your feet
will take you? What You Don’t Know Now is definitely a book to read this
summer.”
-GoodReads review by Scribes23
My Review:
What You Don't Know NowSounded like a good book from the summary, especially all the travel that I've yet to get to the places mentioned.
Venice, 18 and she's supposed to be happy. Bridey was part of the tour, 4 hour walking tour and some older ones couldn't keep up. Raised in Catholic all girl school and she's just graduated. She leaves the states with family members and other Pilgrims to visit the cities of Europe. Some plans don't go as expected...
Love part of the glass blowing as I've seen it done and it's magic. They are getting robbed and Bridey holds strong and not give in.
She makes a move and they get away. Like the parts of the specific places they visit: gardens.
They meet Brian and he's approved to take her to the beer gardens where she finds out he's on his way to Vietnam-strange others are avoiding going there by entering college.
The sisters Sarah and Bridey meet the waiter and he's infatuated, Alexjandro and he's going to sing as a tenor in Rome some day. His family supports him while he studies and works as a waiter.
Their one night could be the night her life changes...story continues on as the Pilgrims make it to Rome with a disabled bus and her mother very sickly....their hotel reservations had been canceled several months ago.
Between mishaps along the journey there are other devastating emergencies, disappointments, schedules not met, a death and adventure into the world they know nothing of. All the new places to learn about and descriptions that are so detailed you feel as if you are there yourself.
What I like is the travel, descriptions of places, bit of sex, following different age groups of a family and their troubles and goals in life.
Their goals, together can they make it work or are they better as singles?
I received this book from Merge Publishing in exchange for my honest review
Author Bio
While Marci Diehl is best known as an essayist, writer and editor for national, regional and local magazines, Diehl has written fiction since she was a child, and kept a “log” of her experiences as an 18-year-old on an ill-fated bus tour of Europe. That log developed into her debut novel, What You Don’t Know Now. She lives in the Finger Lakes region of New
York State.
Question and Answer:
What Genre is Your Book?
What You Don’t Know Now is a coming-of-age novel. This is women’s
fiction (a commercial novel with a female on the brink of life change and
personal growth, and includes a hopeful/upbeat ending to her romantic
relationship). It also crosses into a new genre – New Adult (a genre of
fiction with protagonists in the 18-25 age bracket, with a focus on issues
such as leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education
and career choices).
Describe The Main Character?
Overprotected, raised to follow the rules and longing for even a hint of
adventure to experience, Bridey McKenna is an 18-year-old American
touring Europe in the summer of 1967 with her mother, aunt and 14-yearold
cousin on a 21-day, 7-country bus tour. The tour is loaded with nuns,
widows, a priest and an elderly man, and worse, is inauspiciously named
the Summer Vacation Pilgrimage. Smart, flippant, and self-absorbed,
Bridey is a ‘60s girl with her long hair, mini dresses, and Twiggy eye
makeup but she’s no hippie. She’s just graduated from an all-girls school,
college-bound for Georgetown University. “She wasn’t about to follow
What You Don’t Know Now is a coming-of-age novel. This is women’s
fiction (a commercial novel with a female on the brink of life change and
personal growth, and includes a hopeful/upbeat ending to her romantic
relationship). It also crosses into a new genre – New Adult (a genre of
fiction with protagonists in the 18-25 age bracket, with a focus on issues
such as leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education
and career choices).
Describe The Main Character?
Overprotected, raised to follow the rules and longing for even a hint of
adventure to experience, Bridey McKenna is an 18-year-old American
touring Europe in the summer of 1967 with her mother, aunt and 14-yearold
cousin on a 21-day, 7-country bus tour. The tour is loaded with nuns,
widows, a priest and an elderly man, and worse, is inauspiciously named
the Summer Vacation Pilgrimage. Smart, flippant, and self-absorbed,
Bridey is a ‘60s girl with her long hair, mini dresses, and Twiggy eye
makeup but she’s no hippie. She’s just graduated from an all-girls school,
college-bound for Georgetown University. “She wasn’t about to follow
some priest around all day. She planned on finding enlightenment in
other ways.”
Bridey comes from a small town in western New York State where her
father is a carpenter and her mother stays at home, raising Bridey and her
two brothers. But Bridey has an aunt and uncle who have lived most of
her life in Pakistan, Lebanon and Jordan. Bridey idolizes her glamorous,
worldly Aunt Maura while feeling intimidated by her mysterious and
distant Uncle Hugh, who has a job with the British government no one
talks about. Bridey’s journey causes her to question old rules and roles,
and stirs her rebellion, her blossoming sexuality, and her awakened sense
of miraculous possibility in life and the world around her.
What Made You Write This Story?
When I was 18, I took a similar trip in Europe and kept a travel journal.
Turning 18 is a threshold for girls – a step into early womanhood, and
most 18-year-olds think they know all they need to at that stage. I think I
certainly felt that way. The tour I took was so terrible I knew it would make
a great (possibly funny) book someday. It wasn’t until I was grown and reread
the journal that I saw myself as an 18-year-old complaining endlessly
about the misadventures of the tour, not appreciating what was before
me. I did see how much I loved my family for keeping their sense of
humor and bond despite separation.
I imagined a different story unfolding. It was a story about the love
between mothers and daughters, aunts who were like “second mothers,”
and the bond of sisters. I also wanted to write about the idea of the
lightning-strike of love during a summer holiday, and the question of
whether you fall in love with someone because of his charisma and talent.
The push-pull of love.
other ways.”
Bridey comes from a small town in western New York State where her
father is a carpenter and her mother stays at home, raising Bridey and her
two brothers. But Bridey has an aunt and uncle who have lived most of
her life in Pakistan, Lebanon and Jordan. Bridey idolizes her glamorous,
worldly Aunt Maura while feeling intimidated by her mysterious and
distant Uncle Hugh, who has a job with the British government no one
talks about. Bridey’s journey causes her to question old rules and roles,
and stirs her rebellion, her blossoming sexuality, and her awakened sense
of miraculous possibility in life and the world around her.
What Made You Write This Story?
When I was 18, I took a similar trip in Europe and kept a travel journal.
Turning 18 is a threshold for girls – a step into early womanhood, and
most 18-year-olds think they know all they need to at that stage. I think I
certainly felt that way. The tour I took was so terrible I knew it would make
a great (possibly funny) book someday. It wasn’t until I was grown and reread
the journal that I saw myself as an 18-year-old complaining endlessly
about the misadventures of the tour, not appreciating what was before
me. I did see how much I loved my family for keeping their sense of
humor and bond despite separation.
I imagined a different story unfolding. It was a story about the love
between mothers and daughters, aunts who were like “second mothers,”
and the bond of sisters. I also wanted to write about the idea of the
lightning-strike of love during a summer holiday, and the question of
whether you fall in love with someone because of his charisma and talent.
The push-pull of love.
Our trip also included dumping that tour and heading to Athens, where
my aunt, uncle and cousins were staying after being evacuated out of
Jordan during wartime. The uncle character in the novel is based upon
my own uncle, who was a spy for the U.S. – but I had no idea as a teen
that he was an important intelligence officer. I thought the idea of writing
about the “normal” side of a spy’s family life was intriguing and lent an
unusual element to Bridey’s story.
Who should read your book?
It’s definitely for adults at least over 18, due to the sexual content of a
couple of scenes. Who should read it? Mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts,
cousins, grandmothers, nieces; women who lived through the 1960’s;
anyone who took a trip to Italy or Europe and found a romance (there are
more women out there that did than you may imagine!). People who are
interested in history, travel, operatic tenors and their incubation, Italy, the
Vietnam War era, life in the 1960’s, or Greece. Or anyone who has faced
the choice of giving up what you most want to keep.
Download Sample Chapters
This author is available for interviews, speaking engagements, book signings, etc.
Contact: Don Stevens at Merge Publishing
info@mergepublishing.com .com - 585-694-8108
And if you offer giveaway
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