Best-selling British novelist Susan Lewis is set to return to Culver, but this time — around a year after her first visit here, to gather information and inspiration for her next book — she’ll have her brand-new, Culver-set novel in hand, and will celebrate its U.S. launch with the community which inspired its backdrop.
A launch party for NO PLACE TO HIDE by Susan Lewis (Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original, On sale July 28, 2015) will take place Saturday, Aug. 1, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Cafe Max, 113 South Main Street in downtown Culver. Lewis will also speak at the Culver-Union Township Public Library at 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 3.
Lewis (www.susanlewis.com) spent around a week last September in the Culver area, getting to know the various facets of the Culver, Culver Academies, and Lake Maxinkuckee communities; interviewing some local business owners, police officers, and even the local newspaper editor, and aiming to ensure that as many details as possible about life not only in America, but on the shores of Lake Maxinkuckee, are as accurate as possible.
Lewis has written more than 30 books — including two memoirs — many of which regularly turn up on the London Times bestseller list; her books have been translated into multiple languages, and she has a loyal fan-base in her native country. She affirms that it wouldn’t, in fact, be a stretch to call her a “quasi-household name” in England. Once Susan Lewis and her husband, James, arrived, Culver turned out not to be a run-of-the-mill American burg. “I didn’t expect anything like this jewel of a community,” she told the Culver Citizen newspaper last year. “I was pleasantly surprised and intrigued by the immense wealth that’s here, as opposed to the kind of normal people, so I certainly wasn’t expecting that. It makes it an interesting place to write about, because it’s not all one thing.”
NO PLACE TO HIDE has already received a rave review from Romantic Times: “Lewis’ first novel set in the United States is a compelling story covering the full spectrum of human emotion. This touching, haunting tale will keep you up, unable o put the book down, and be the first thing you think about in the morning.” The lead (fictional) character in Lewis’ new novel is a young woman with a three-year-old daughter, who is fleeing a troubled situation in England to return to Lake Maxinkuckee, of which she has distant but compelling childhood memories, having spent younger years visiting her grandmother’s house here. “One of the best surprises has been how inspired I felt here by the people (in the Culver area),” she noted, “by the whole look and feel of the place. I found it incredibly inspiring. I’ve now learned it’s quite a popular destination for writers. It has its tranquility, but also its traveled paths.” In fact, that connection to place somewhat altered Lewis’ conception of the novel, in the days since she arrived. “For my character, I feel the whole place may be home for her. I feel that will be quite powerful. Hopefully, it will be a kind of haunting part of the book.”
Place is an important factor in Lewis’ stories, and the Culver area was no exception. The narrative, while entirely fictional, is chock full of actual business and place names area readers will recognize. It also reflects the beauty and allure of the area. “My intention is that people will love it and want to come here and find it for themselves,” she said. “I’ve done that in several places in England and New Zealand, and I’ve had readers turning up at these places. They say, ‘It sounds so gorgeous and beautiful!'”
