A DEEPLY FLAWED & DELICIOUSLY ENTERTAINING IMMIGRANT FAMILY SAGA
INSPIRED BY TRUE STORIES ABOUT THE GILLIS FAMILY
AWARD WINNING 1950s IMMIGRANT FAMILY SAGA NOVEL
LITERARY GLOBAL BOOK AWARD - HISTORICAL FICTION
AMERICAN WRITING AWARD FINALIST - FICTION & WOMEN'S FICTION
LITERARY TITAN BOOK AWARD - LITERARY FICTION
READERS FAVORITE BOOK AWARD - FIVE STARS
ALL 5 STARS REVIEWS FROM READERS FAVORITE
After reading The Landlady of Maple Avenue, I’m left with a mix of admiration and empathy for the complex family tapestry the book presents. It tells the story of Marceline Gillis and her family, taking us through decades of emotional highs and lows in their lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Marceline, a stubborn yet caring matriarch, navigates the trials of raising her children, managing her properties, and dealing with losses that force her to reckon with her past. The book touches on family loyalty, the bittersweet passage of time, and the undercurrents of pride and generational conflict within a family that can be both loving and tumultuous. The writing shines when it captures Marceline’s fierce and unbending personality. There’s a scene where she argues with her bank manager about an overdraft, refusing to admit her error until the last minute. Her interactions with the bank manager and her stubbornness felt all too real, showing her pride and aversion to appearing vulnerable or mistaken. But these moments of rigidity are balanced by glimpses of her care for her family, though expressed in non-traditional ways. Marceline’s relationship with her children, especially Bernie and Johnny, is complicated by her own personal struggles and regrets, making her both an imposing figure and a woman weighed down by her choices. The Landlady of Maple Avenue is a heartfelt and thought-provoking family fiction novel that would appeal to readers who enjoy family dramas with intricate but flawed characters. While Marceline’s sternness can be off-putting, her journey through motherhood, loss, and self-reflection creates a powerful story that will resonate with readers. FIVE STARS - Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite The Landlady of Maple Avenue by Suzanne Elizabeth Gillis is a poignant and humorous literary family saga inspired by true events. Set in the 1950s, it follows the aging Marceline Gillis, an immigrant mother of seven, as she plots to reclaim her position as the matriarch and rightful landlady of a Victorian house on Maple Avenue. Battling family tensions, disappointments, and the grief of losing loved ones, Marceline navigates the complexities of power, ownership, and legacy within her tight-knit Catholic family. Her journey is filled with heartache and determination as she seeks validation after a lifetime of hardship. Gillis demonstrates remarkable skill in bringing the complex dynamics of a mid-20th century immigrant family to life in a way that modern readers can easily connect with. Her sharp wit shines through in the dialogue between family members, creating moments of levity that balance perfectly with the more poignant aspects of the story, and every character felt so real like they'd jumped straight out of a time machine. Overall, The Landlady of Maple Avenue is a must-read for anyone who appreciates a well-crafted family saga that tackles complex emotional terrain with both humor and heart, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it FIVE STARS - Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite THE LANDLADY OF MAPLE AVENUE is a historical fiction family saga inspired by true stories about the Gillis family. It centers around a multi-family Victorian home purchased in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1951 for the elderly and illiterate Marceline Gillis to live in while caring for her alcoholic husband and disabled WWII veteran son. Marceline assumes she will be the property's new landlady, fulfilling her lifelong dream of homeownership while ending her days of abject poverty -- only to discover that her two sons and their wives have other plans for the property’s management, feeling she is ill-equipped for the job. This sets off a small war within the tight-knit Catholic immigrant family from Nova Scotia, Canada, where Marceline has always been the undisputed, unchallenged matriarch of the entire Gillis clan--up till now! FIVE STARS - Thomas Anderson, Editor In Chief Literary Titan
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