I’m thrilled to say that after nearly five years, Celadon is here and available anywhere great books are sold. I’d love for you to grab a signed copy from me, but I understand that sometimes your online retailer or local bookshop might be your preferred option — go for it, I’m just happy to think the book is getting into your hands and keeping you interested for a few days this fall.
If you do want the book signed, grab it from me directly and I’ll get it out to you asap. Thrilled.
If you’ve wondered what people are thinking about it, here’s a very nice review that was published in the BookLife section of Publisher’s Weekly:
“Bartlett’s stunning novel is a poignant, elegiac mid-20th-century tragedy of wanderlust, loss, obsession, art, and redemption. Neil Chase has been caring for his blind father since he was a teenager, while longing to travel to distant shores. In 1964, 20-something Neil falls in love with both Marinne, a kind French girl, and Japanese ceramics. Marinne, knowing Neil is still compelled to travel, offers to care for his father while he embarks on a yearlong voyage to Japan. A chain of unlikely events lead Neil to the hidden pottery town of Moon Island, where he feels a soul-deep connection to the landscape, the spectacular local celadon-glazed pottery, and the angry, beautiful Miyū, who makes the ceramics along with her father. As Neil learns their craft, he is drawn into their family’s tragic story, in which one act will irreversibly alter all their lives. Will Neil go back to what he was before?
Bartlett answers these looming questions with lyrical prose and an elegiac sensibility. He treats characters’ desires and griefs with delicacy; their sometimes dark impulses animate the pages with yearning, desolation, and fleeting moments of warmth. Neil Chase is a flawed, believable protagonist with a wry sense of humor and a passion for transcendent beauty.
Bartlett’s unhurried account of an imperfect world and its complex inhabitants will grip readers. This deeply affecting and well-constructed novel, with its memorable characters and evocative brilliance, will leave readers with a lingering sense of mournful beauty after they’ve turned the last page.“
It’s a great book, especially if you’ve any interest in Japan or ceramics, and the dark love story is one I hope will resonate with readers the way it did with Sunsets of Tulum.
With that, I’ll wish you all a wonderful remainder of the fall. 2020 has sure been a crazy year. And again, thank you in advance for supporting me. Each sale counts, especially this year, when the travel industry (usually my main source of income) has so spectacularly vaporized. I really appreciate each and every sale, and am so grateful to all of you for your enthusiasm, comments, and insightful readings.
Very best, and stay healthy.
–Ray