A Clean Slate (Red Dress Ink Novels) [Paperback]

Laura Caldwell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Red Dress Ink Novels | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

A Clean Slate chronicles the days of Kelly McGraw, a Chicago woman who suddenly can't remember the last five months of her life, a time when she was dumped by her soon-to-be fiance and laid off by the company she thought would make her partner. Overwhelmed and confused but otherwise feeling wonderful, she begins to realize that she has a clean slate in life. She can do anything she wants, go anywhere she wants, be anything she wants. But what, exactly, does she want?

Follow Kelly on a journey that includes her search to discover what caused her memory loss, an internship with a bad-boy British photographer, a Caribbean photo shoot, her boyfriend's desire to come crawling back and, eventually, a brutal discovery that will cause her to reevaluate both her old and new lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Caldwell's follow-up to Burning the Map [BKL N 15 02] introduces Kelly McGraw, who discovers that she has inexplicably forgotten five months of her life, during which her boyfriend dumped her and she was fired from her job. Something else happened, too, something that sent Kelly spiraling into depression, but she told none of her friends, so no one can fill her in. Kelly looks at the memory loss as a chance to start over and gets herself a new job working as a photographer's assistant to the mercurial Cole, who is trying to break back into the industry after a fall from grace. At first Cole is difficult, and Kelly fears she is wasting her time, but then he softens and gives her a chance to shoot some pictures herself. As Kelly grows comfortable in her new life, flashes of the forgotten five months haunt her, and she fears that if her memories return, they could derail her newfound happiness. Weightier than the usual fare, Caldwell's winning second novel puts an appealing heroine in a tough situation and relays her struggles with empathy. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Caldwell is the new Chick-Lit champ. Her prose is sharp, witty and thought-provoking . . ." -- Jerry Cleaver, author of Immediate Fiction and creator of the Writer's Loft.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Red Dress Ink; First edition. edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037325038X
• ISBN-13: 978-0373250387
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,473,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Caldwell: Former civil trial lawyer, now Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Director of Life After Innocence, published author of 10 novels, 1 nonfiction book, public speaker, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend.

Caldwell, lawyer, turned author who left the law behind, or so she thought. With 10 novels published in over 22 countries and translated into more than 13 languages, research on her 6th novel led her to the criminal case of Jovan Mosley, a young man sitting in a Cook County holding cell without a trial. After hearing about his case, Caldwell joined a renowned criminal defense attorney to defend him, ultimately proving his innocence and inspiring her first nonfiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him (Free Press, Simon & Schuster).

Due to the Mosley case, she founded 'Life After Innocence' at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, a innovative program which aids exonerees--people who have been wrongful convicted and later found completely innocent--to start their lives over.

Her fictional works, began as chick-lit now turned mystery, includes a returning character, Izzy McNeil. Izzy a Chicago lawyer finds her way into a myriad of situations she must use her wit and legal skill to work through. Three books published the fourth due out March 2011, with at least three more on the horizon. Pick up an Izzy book now and travel through the streets of Chicago while solving crimes with her.

Laura is also a freelance magazine writer and has been published in Chicago Magazine, Woman's Own, The Young Lawyer, Lake Magazine, Australia Woman's Weekly, Shore Magazine and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Clean Slate, October 30, 2003

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Clean Slate (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

Kelly has stars in her eyes about the future as she goes home one day, but they fall to the ground with a resounding bang when she arrives to find her key will not work and some idiot has replaced her name with someone else's on the mailbox. Her irratation turns to shock when a stranger opens the door and treats her like a visitor. This woman and her family now live in Kelly's home, and have for months. Scared, she goes in search of her boyfriend, who tells her to quit acting like a stalker and leave him and his new girlfriend alone. When Kelly finally finds her best friend, Laney tells her things that make her realize that five months of her life have been erased from her mind. She now lives somewhere else, is jobless, and her boyfriend broke up with her months ago. She is also keeping a pscyhologist in business.

Disconcerted, Kelly is not sure what bothers her more, losing five months or finding out what kind of person she has become in that length of time. Determined to change the latter, she begins an odyssey that will lead her to following a dream and getting a job working with a photographer she has long admired, changing her image in a way that draws men to her, including her former boyfriend who now wants a second chance, and generally reshaping her life.

**** Kelly is a heroine that shows us the truth of such Bible passages as Romans 8 28, that all things work out for the good. Losing one's lifestyle might be the way to really find one's life. This unusual book will get you to think, intriguing you with what it really takes to start one's life anew. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking and poignant..., October 25, 2003

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Clean Slate (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

Red Dress Ink has ventured into darker, thought-provoking novels with serious subject matters. I find this new venture refreshing. Lindsay Faith Rech's Losing It floored me in a profound level, and Laura Caldwell's A Clean Slate has done the exact same thing.

Kelly McGraw's life is no longer the same. She suddenly has no recollection of events that occurred during the last five months. Strangely enough, those were the most difficult months of her life. Her boyfriend had dumped her on her birthday, she'd lost her corporate job, and a deep depression had befallen her. Kelly sees her loss of memory as a clean slate. Now she can pursue all the things she's always wanted. However, starting over isn't as simple as she had hoped...

As previously said, this is quite an impressing Red Dress Ink offering. This imprint offers books that are above the typical looking-for-love-in-the-big-city novels. A Clean Slate is a wonderful and poignant novel. Laura Caldwell is a talented writer and I look forward to her next project.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different type of chick lit, July 2, 2004

By 

Janice (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Clean Slate (Red Dress Ink Novels) (Paperback)

I loved Laura Caldwell's first novel, "Burning the Map" and have been looking forward to her second book. "A Clean Slate" deals with Kelly who discovers that she has some memory loss problems had a chance to "do it all over again." The only thing Kelly remembered was that she was dumped by her longtime boyfriend Ben on her 30th birthday, retrenched by her company and was basically alone. Thankfully, her best friend, Laney was at her side to give her all the encouragement and support that she needed but despite that, Kelly was still not able to remember the events between her birthday and now. However, Kelly felt that something important happened during those months but she was at the same time too afraid to find out. Putting it behind her, Kelly was eager to start a new life and pursuing her interest in photography full time.

I think this is one of Red Dress Ink better books. It is definitely a lot more thought provoking than your regular chick lit. The author did a fantasic job of characterizing Kelly and is able to bring her to life. In addition, I like the relationship between Kelly and Laney which I thought was well developed. In addition, the book was very well-written, great secondary characters, and good plot. The whole "thing" that Kelly forgot but knew it was important was quite intriguing and the author was able to keep her readers guessing. This is a more serious chick lit compared to the rest and it is definitely worth your money. Laura Caldwell is certainly a promising writer in this genre.