The Page Turner by Viola
Shipman
Published: April 8,
2025 by Graydon House
Genre: Contemporary
Fiction, Books about Books
Emma Page grew up the black sheep in a bookish household, raised to believe fine literature is the only worthy type of fiction. Her parents, self-proclaimed “serious” authors who run their own vanity press, The Mighty Pages, mingle in highbrow social circles that look down on anything too popular or mainstream, while her sister, Jess, is a powerful social-media influencer whose stylish reviews can make or break a novel.
Hiding her own romance manuscript from her disapproving
parents, Emma finds inspiration at the family cottage among the “fluff” they
despise: the juicy summer romances that belonged to her late grandmother. But a
chance discovery unearthed from her Gigi’s belongings reveals a secret that has
the power to ruin her parents’ business and destroy their reputation in the
industry—a secret that has already fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous
publishing insider with a grudge to settle. Now Emma must decide: As much as
she’s dreamed of the day her parents are forced to confront their own egos, can
she really just sit back and watch The Mighty Pages be exposed and their legacy
destroyed?
My Thoughts: Viola Shipman is a new to me
author. I had heard so much about him
and was so excited to finally be reading one of his books. The hopes I had for this book were so high. I started this book, got about 15% into it
and had to stop. I had no clue what was
happening and just could not follow the book.
About 1 month later, I picked up the book again and I devoured it. I could not wait to have time to read, I
stayed up late, got up early, and read at every chance I could.
I love Emma. She
respects her parents and sister but still wants to be her own person, her own
author. She understands that there are
different types of books and readers.
What her parents write is not what she wants to write. Emma stands up for herself while being
respectful of those around her, unless they are named Marcus. I love her grit, her fearlessness, her
strong opinions, her belief in herself, and most of all her love of
family.
The Page Turner is a wonderful book. I am excited to continue reading Viola
Shipman’s books.
Thank you Graydon House for a copy of the book via NetGalley
in exchange for my honest review.
Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
Purchase your own copy on Amazon
Meet theauthor (taken from his website): Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and #1 internationally bestselling author of 20 books, including five memoirs, 12 novels and three holiday novellas. 2025 will be a big year with three books being published, including his latest Viola Shipman novel, The Page Turner.
Wade’s books have been translated into nearly 30 languages
and have been bestsellers across the world. His novel, The Secret of
Snow, was recently optioned for a TV movie.
Wade chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen
name to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his
family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction.
Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads
by NBC’s Today Show as well as Michigan Notable Books of the
Year. His memoirs and novels have been featured in the Washington Post, USA
Today and on Chelsea Lately and chosen three times as
Indie Next Picks by the nation’s independent booksellers. Wade was a finalist
for the Goodreads Choice Awards in Humor (he lost to Tina Fey) and was named
by Writer’s Digest as “The #2 Writer, Dead or Alive, We’d Like
to Have Drinks With” (Wade was sandwiched between Ernest Hemingway and Hunter
Thompson).
His new novel, The Page Turner, (April 8 from
HarperCollins) – a book that celebrates how books and reading change and save
us – takes readers inside the world of publishing today and asks why we judge
one another and the books we read by our collective covers. The Page
Turner has received praise from Mary Kay Andrews, Steven Rowley,
Annabel Monaghan and selected as the Book of the Month for Brenda Novak’s 2025
Book Box.
Wade’s first published book, America’s Boy: A Memoir –
an Indie Next Pick when it was published in 2006 – is being reissued this year
by Open Road Media’s Re-Discovery Lit.
His most recent memoir, Magic Season, which
details how the love of baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals was the only thing
to bond him and his conservative Ozarks father, was a Michigan Notable Book of
the Year, a Barnes & Noble Father’s Day selection, a USA Today summer
reading selection, and a Best Book of Summer by the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It will
publish in paperback in October.
Wade’s recent novels, The Wishing Bridge and Famous
in A Small Town, were both instant national bestsellers as well as summer
and winter book picks by Good Morning America, Reader’s
Digest and Katie Couric.
Wade is a noted humorist, whose nonfiction has been selected
as part of the American Library Association’s inaugural “Rainbow List”
recognizing outstanding books with significant and authentic LGBTQIA+ content
for readers.
A former journalist, magazine writer and People reporter,
his writing has appeared in a diverse range of publications and media,
including Coastal Living, Time, All Things
Considered, Good Housekeeping, Parade, Salon, Forbes, Writer’s
Digest and Publisher’s Weekly.
Wade earned his B.A. from Drury University and his master’s
in journalism from Northwestern University. He divides his time between
Saugatuck, Michigan, and Palm Springs, California, and is also an acclaimed
writing teacher who has mentored numerous students to become published authors.
Wade hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour,
“Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST on the Viola
Shipman author page where he talks writing, inspiration and hope, takes readers
on tours of the places that inspire his novels, throws costumed monthly office
parties, and welcomes bestselling authors and publishing insiders.
For more, please visit www.violashipman.com or www.waderouse.com
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