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Diane Wald’s novel Gillyflower was published in April 2019 by She Writes Press. Gillyflower won first place in the novella category from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and a bronze medal from Reader’s Favorite. You can read about Gillyflower at www.gillyflowernovel.com. Diane has also published more than 250 poems in literary magazines since 1966. She the recipient of a two-year fellowship in poetry from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and has been awarded the Grolier Poetry Prize, the Denny Award, the Open Voice Award, the Anne Halley Award, the Green Lake Chapbook Award, and a state grant from the Artists Foundation. She has published five chapbooks and three volumes of poetry, including, most recently, Wonderbender.
Reviewed by Kristy Vee for Readers' Favorite
Gillyflower by Diane Wald is a tender and magical story about two sensitive souls who cross a unique kind of path. When Nora Forrest, a talented artist, learns that her longtime crush, Irish actor Hugh Sheenan, will be in Manhattan for the production of The Lion’s Share, she cannot believe her luck. At the theatre, something peculiar occurs and touches them both in a way they can’t begin to explain. Nora decides to mail Hugh the hauntingly beautiful scene she captured in her mind, attached with a letter. Her only hope was that he’d frame the drawing and it would be a lovely reminder of his days in New York so Nora is taken by surprise when Graves, Sheenan’s personal secretary, reaches out to invite her to lunch with Hugh. She’s both nervous and excited, having no idea what to expect, but what she didn’t see coming was his blatant rudeness, and things take a turn in a way neither could've imagined.
Gillyflower is an intriguing, romantic, mysterious tale told from Hugh, Nora, and Leon’s perspectives. The perfect combination of suspense, romance, mysticism, and fantasy make this unique plot that much better. Gillyflower starts off strong and stays that way the entire way through, making it the kind of easy-to-read, well-paced story you won’t soon forget. Diane Wald does an excellent job of giving each character their own personality and viewpoint with just the right amount of back story to understand them well. I really enjoyed this book and am quite certain that any reader will feel like they’ve walked right into a dream with this one. Great job. Five stars!
