Books with author Haven Kimmell

SSOMETHING RISING (LIGHT AND SWIFT), Haven Kimmel's second novel, is the heart-wrenching story of a female pool hustler who takes care of her family after her rakish father abandons them. Cassie waits for her gambling father to return home, her mother to move away from her position at the kitchen sink, for her fragile older sister to blossom out of her oddness, and for her own chance at a different life. Effortlessly living up to her BOOK MAGAZINE moniker, "the New Carson McCullers," Kimmel deftly handles this coming of age story and proves herself a master of genre.

Picking up where A Girl Named Zippy left off, Haven Kimmel crafts a tender portrait of her mother, a modestly heroic woman who took the odds that life gave her and somehow managed to win.When we last saw Zippy, she was oblivious to the storm that was brewing in her home. Her mother, Delonda, had literally just gotten up off the couch and ridden her rickety bicycle down the road. Her dad was off somewhere, gambling or "working." And Zippy was lost in her own fabulous world of exploring the fringes of Moorland, Indiana.Increasingly frustrated with the limitations of her small-town, married-with-children life, Delonda decides first to learn how to drive a car, even though she won’t have access to one. Next, she applies to the local college, eventually graduating with honors at age 40. We happily follow Zippy from one story to another, but we know this is really her mother’s book: the poignant tale of a strong woman who found a way to save herself and set a proud example for her daughter.

In her rich and nuanced debut novel, Haven Kimmel brings to life two irresistible people at odds with their small-town lives and with each other. Langston Braverman does not come home to Haddington, Indiana, because she is searching for a simpler life. Having just walked out of her Ph.D. oral exams and abandoned the remains of a disastrous affair, she has retreated to her parents’ attic to nurse a bruised heart and maybe even write a great American novel. It does not escape her attention that the town is abuzz with the death of her childhood friend, Alice, but not even this morsel of intrigue can rouse Langston from her self-imposed existential dilemma.A few houses down Plum Street, Amos Townsend is obsessed with Alice's murder and his inability to stop it from happening. A preacher struggling with his role as a spiritual leader after suffering a profound crisis of faith, he finds comfort in helping Alice's two small girls, who have renamed themselves Immaculata and Epiphany. When the children claim to speak to the Virgin Mary in the backyard tree, Amos and Langston become adversaries in their attempts to protect the girls, failing to recognize that they are on the same side.Told with remarkable wit and sweeping empathy, The Solace of Leaving Early is the story of finding our better selves through accepting the shortcomings of others. With gentle humor, beautiful prose, and a warm empathy for the buried wounds of the human heart, Haven Kimmel has created an unforgettable and wise debut.

Nicknamed Zippy for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed with big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was still caught in the amber of the innocent post-war period - people helped their neighbours, went to church on Sunday and kept barnyard animals in their barnyards. Zippy, according to her kindergarten report is 'disruptive in class. Colours outside the lines. Talks out of turn.' Her parents read it out loud to her. 'Good for you, sweetheart,' her mother says. Her dad gives her a pat on the back.

SSOMETHING RISING (LIGHT AND SWIFT), Haven Kimmel's second novel, is the heart-wrenching story of a female pool hustler who takes care of her family after her rakish father abandons them. Cassie waits for her gambling father to return home, her mother to move away from her position at the kitchen sink, for her fragile older sister to blossom out of her oddness, and for her own chance at a different life. Effortlessly living up to her BOOK MAGAZINE moniker, "the New Carson McCullers," Kimmel deftly handles this coming of age story and proves herself a master of genre.

SSOMETHING RISING (LIGHT AND SWIFT), Haven Kimmel's second novel, is the heart-wrenching story of a female pool hustler who takes care of her family after her rakish father abandons them. Cassie waits for her gambling father to return home, her mother to move away from her position at the kitchen sink, for her fragile older sister to blossom out of her oddness, and for her own chance at a different life. Effortlessly living up to her BOOK MAGAZINE moniker, "the New Carson McCullers," Kimmel deftly handles this coming of age story and proves herself a master of genre.