“Frances Grote, Senior Director, Clinical Outsourcing at Millennium Pharmaceuticalsis currently and has been one of our authors for years. She is a highly respected member of the pharmaceutical community and a frequent speaker and moderators at industry events. Aside from all of this, she is an accomplished writer and has just released a novel: “Fire in the Henhouse”.
Between raising four children and working full-time as a pharmaceutical executive, what was left for Doylestown author Frances Grote to do in her spare time? Pursue her dream of writing a novel. Fire In The Henhouse, which Publishers Weekly calls, “A debut novel brewing with tension, lightened by warm humor,” takes place in a quirky small town where the local car dealer dresses up like a chipmunk and the police chief had to get his own juvenile record expunged. Widowed Maggie Rifkin shows up here with her fourteen-year-old son and her New York attitude, looking only to leave her past behind. But there is no such thing as anonymity in the fictional town of Dooleysburg, and when sudden tragedy strikes, the thread of destruction might well unravel all the way back to Maggie's childhood secret.
Grote’s memorable cast of flawed characters say and do whatever they want, miring themselves in hilarious situations. But the outrageous fun brightens a landscape that contains struggle, transition and finally, proof that life can be both flawed and lovely at the same time.
Readers have taken Fire in the Henhouse to heart, giving five star reviews: "Full of great lines and laughs out loud. I felt a genuine affinity for these characters and their lives;" “A gripping story rich with insight. You will find this one hard to put down;” "The mystery woven through this story is so unconventional it makes this a book you have to get back to the minute you walk in the door."
Publishers Weekly went on to say: "Fans of large casts replete with eccentric and memorable locals will appreciate Grote's novel with its overlapping subplots, the strongest of which emphasize the importance of forgiveness and embracing the flaws of others. Clever banter and a flair for over-the-top scenarios.”
Book Information:
Fire in the Henhouse
Author: Frances Grote
Publisher: Rule Bender Press
ISBN: 9780983334101
Pages: 474
Published: February 2011
About The Author
Frances Grote, from Doylestown, PA, is a psychologist with an MBA who has written award winning memoir and fiction. She is a Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers Finalist and her work has appeared in The Del Sol Review and First Person Arts. A graduate of Boston's Grub Street Master Fiction Workshop and the San Juan Writers Workshop, Fire in the Henhouse is her first novel.
Frances supports her writing habit with a day job where she contributes to the effort to cure cancer. She has four amazing kids, one of whom is a writer for the hit TV series “SMASH”. When she finally realized she was never going to be able to achieve her goal of having a clean house she stopped trying and finally got around to writing some of those stories she was always talking about.
For more information, review copies, or interviews please contact the author at:
Frances Grote
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.fireinthehenhouse.com
Fire in the Henhouse is available for purchase through http://IndieBound.org, Amazon.com, BN.com and other
retailers. Bookstores should contact Ingram for wholesale orders.