Yvonne
This is a meme for all you ‘Page Surfers’ out there!
‘THE BIRD THAT SANG IN COLOR‘ by GRACE MATTIOLI
TEASER EXTRACT – PAGE 201 (PDF)
CHAPTER EIGHT: 1996
Frank was in the kitchen losing his mind as I sat in our bedroom, holding little Vincie close to my chest, trying to shield him from the sounds of slamming cabinet doors and screaming rage:
‘F**k this Goddamned place!’ Shit’s always disappearing on me here! I can’t find anything in this f***ing place!’
I shook from the inside, like a dying lightbulb crazily flickering, as I held Vincie, and feared he might have been intuiting my anxiety, soaking it in through his thin, delicate baby skin. My mind stirred with indecision about staying put or going in the kitchen to try to calm Frank down, and I remained as frozen as a mannequin until I heard the sound of shattering glass. I put Vincie down, which started him crying, loud and automatic, and ran in the kitchen to see every cabinet door open with Frank searching inside of them like a starving raccoon.
‘Can I help you find something?’ I tried to sound like a calm, composed salesclerk, but my voice crumbled in fear, and my stomach flipped like an acrobat.
‘What the hell happened to that bottle of vodka I had in the liquor cabinet?!’ His eyes were bottomless black, dark and hollow like tunnels that go nowhere.
‘I’m sure you just misplaced it somewhere Frank.’
‘What are you kidding or something?! I never misplace anything! I bet you that Cosmo is doing something with it. One of his Goddamned science experiments or something!’ His arms were flailing in all directions like an orangutan. He continued on his search, sidestepping the broken glass, with his heavy feet pounding the floor from one side of the kitchen to the other.
‘Maybe you drank it all and forgot about it.’ I regretted saying this the minute my words hit the air, but I couldn’t think straight being one big tremble with my head feeling disconnected from my body.
If you still need to know more, check out those all important opening lines at:-
Just to help you get all those words into some context – check out the premise below.
‘THE BIRD THAT SANG IN COLOR‘ by GRACE MATTIOLI
Part family drama and part self-actualization story, this is about Donna Greco, who in her teens, subscribes to a conventional view of success in life—and pushes her freewheeling, artistic brother, Vincent to do the same. However, he remains single, childless, and subsists in cramped apartments. She harbors guilt for her supposed failure until she discovers a sketch-book he’d made of his life, which prompts her own journey to live authentically.
While this textured story combines serious issues such as alcoholism, death, and family conflict, it’s balanced with wit and humor and is filled with endearing, unforgettable characters. The story spans decades, beginning in 1970 and ending in the present.
Readers will be immersed in this tale as it poses an intriguing question:
“What pictures will you have of yourself by the end of your life?”
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia at:-
Each week she shares her own teaser lines and invites other bloggers to do the same.
So if you have a few moments, why not stop by and see what’s on offer this time, after all, you never know where that next great read is going to come from!
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