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Los Angeles, California: Clem Jasper is a twenty-seven-year-old trust funder with a world-famous rock musician for a father. Unsure what do with her life, she spends her time just floating, a cynical observer of the Hollywood scene around her. But when her dad suddenly dies, Clem discovers he's left her something—a series of letters that take her on a strange and revelatory road trip across the iconic Californian terrain. Ignoring her aunt's suggestion to pitch the trip as a reality show, she embarks on her own to discover just what it was that her father meant her to find—a secret he couldn't tell her until now.
With a voice reminiscent of Rainbow Rowell, Dutton's Driftwood is a surprising, poignant, and funny debut. Dutton deftly captures the mythology of California with a bright and unusual take on the freedom of the open road, the power of music, and what it means, even in the midst of grief, to be a family.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 7, 2016 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781629149288
- File size: 1443 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781629149288
- File size: 1441 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 15, 2014
Rich girl Clem Jasper is drifting through life with no plan or purpose until her rock-singer father dies, leaving her a mysterious pack of letters that will take her on a road trip through California and a journey into his past. Facing strong opposition from her mother, who fears digging up the past will unearth dark secrets, Clem follows her late father's instructions, determined to make good on his last gift to her. Along the way, she grieves, ruminates on the nature of family and realizes some startling truths. While she doesn't find any easy answers and uncovers more than she wants to know about her father's past, she discovers that sometimes in order to find yourself you have to get lost in mind, body and spirit. Dutton (1,033 Reasons to Smile, 2011) tells an old tale but doctors it with fresh surprises that keep the reader turning the pages. Clem's epiphanies are often cliched, but her voice springs off the page as if she's speaking aloud. A little short on originality but so full of heart and humor that you keep reading anyway.A road-trip novel that will make readers want to hop into the car alongside Clem and keep driving, even if they've already seen all the sights and sounds before and know exactly how the journey ends.COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from October 1, 2014
Clem (Clementine) Jasper is a 27-year-old trust fund kid whose father is rock music royalty. A middle child, Clem drifts aimlessly through her days. When her dad dies at 58 of complications from a heart attack, her life takes an unexpected turn. Little sister, Dena, gets the Matisse, big brother, Simon, gets the guitars, and Clem gets...a stack of sealed letters that will take her on a road trip through California, visiting places her father wants her to see. He reveals his reasons for each destination in the missives, instructing Clem to open them on a specific schedule. Against her mother's wishes, Clem embarks on the life-changing journey and learns more about her father than she ever knew--or ever wanted to know. VERDICT Dutton's fiction debut is a stellar, thought-provoking novel about life, death, California, music, and more. Clem is a wry narrator, and the dialog is sharp and refreshingly realistic (F-bombs!). Born and raised in California, Dutton is well qualified to describe the various locales, and her renderings are poetically descriptive without being overdone or cloying. If you've never been to California, you might feel like you have visited after reading this creative and unforgettable story. For connoisseurs of singular fiction.--Samantha Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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