Cranberry Queen [Hardcover]

Kathleen DeMarco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2001

Diana Moore, a thirty-something professional in New York City, is brooding over rumors about her ex-lovers beautiful new girlfriend, when the unimaginable happens: a terrible car accident in which her entire family is killed. Seeking refuge from her well-meaning friends, Diana heads out of the city and ends up in the Pine Barrens, an oasis of simple living in New Jersey where cranberry bogs abound. There, in a place where no one knows her history, Diana is free to take a hard look at her life and to begin to explore avenues of change and renewal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dominated by dialogue in the form of verbal jousting, film producer and television writer DeMarco's first novel reads a lot like a screenplay for the film it's already slated to become, optioned by Miramax Films. At 33, Diana Moore, good-looking, bold and sassy, is the marketing manager for a successful Internet company. She still broods, however, about the "Monster" who dumped her three years ago and now dates a younger woman. She blames herself. As she tells her therapist, "No wonder I have no boyfriend; I say awful things." But her life is otherwise enviable: she has loving parents, a brother she cherishes and a hefty 401(k) until a devastating accident destroys everything that makes her life worth living. Well-meaning friends and sympathetic co-workers become smothering. She quits her job, leaves the city and ends up in rural New Jersey, her Volvo disabled after a collision with an elderly woman riding a motorcycle who turns out to be a major cranberry farm owner named Rosie. Rosie and her granddaughter, Louisa, take Diana in for a few days, and Diana vacillates between enjoyment of a jolly situation and her familiar self-criticism. Meantime, Louisa's former-but-not-forgotten boyfriend finds Diana attractive. She proves receptive, infuriating Louisa; and an older man named Sam turns up with a business proposal, assuming that Diana recognizes him he was best man at her parents' wedding. This is a quick and easy evening's read, but Diana's self-absorption doesn't inspire much empathy. In the film treatment, perhaps Julia Roberts could make this heroine lovable, but it'll be a stretch. Agent, Laura Dail. 11-city author tour; rights sold in Germany, Holland and the U.K.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Diana Moore's biggest problem is "The Monster," the ex-boyfriend who left her for another woman. Then the unthinkable happens: Diana's entire family, her parents and brother, are killed by a drunk driver. Diana can barely cope and drives off from her New York City home, headed for nowhere. A fluke leads her to the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, a rural enclave where forests and cranberry bogs are as common as skyscrapers in New York. Quirky new friends who don't know of her past enable Diana first to deny her pain and then to come to terms with it. The descriptions of cranberry farming and the landscapes of this little-known part of the country are fascinating. The story, however, is not as interesting as the setting. DeMarco is a film producer, so her debut novel is, of course, already headed for the silver screen. Its visual storytelling may work better in that format. Recommended for public libraries. Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Miramax Books; 1 edition (May 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786867655
• ISBN-13: 978-0786867653
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,528,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Berry Good Read, August 2, 2001

By 

Haley Parnham (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cranberry Queen (Hardcover)

I don't like cranberries, and I always thought New Jersey was just a turnpike, but I did like CRANBERRY QUEEN by Kathleen DeMarco. Although Ms. DeMarco is a screenwriter, a seasoned writer, I believe this is her first novel. I like first novels because they seem to be written in a more carefree, heartfelt voice. They seem more personal. This book does not deviate from my opinion of first novels.

Diana's life has taken a few bad turns and she's looking for an out. Her boyfriend has run off with a younger girl and she's not real happy about that. But when her entire family is killed in a car accident in South Jersey she knows she has more than she can handle in her life. Diana escapes her well-meaning friends, aunt, and uncle in New York and drives her Volvo to the Pine Barrens of South Jersey where she meets Louisa when she hits Louisa's grandmother. Diana is thrown into an uneasy and unsteady friendship with the brash and brainy Louisa over the course of a few days. Both truths and untruths are revealed about their pasts.

This isn't a great book in the sense that I will always remember it, but it's a good book in the sense that I enjoyed reading it. I liked learning a little bit more about the mystical state of New Jersey. Yes, I said, "mystical." DeMarco takes us into the wilds of New Jersey (yes, I said, "wilds of New Jersey" - aren't you listening?) creating an entirely different image for a state that most of us know only through watching The Sopranos or hurrying through it in an attempt to get to some place more exciting.

If this is made into a movie, as I understand it will be, I will go see it and will enjoy watching the tug of war between Diana and Louisa as well as discovering the beauty of New Jersey in scenes I hope are filmed on location.

If you want something new and different, read CRANBERRY QUEEN. It's berry good. (Yes, I said, "berry!)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Story, June 23, 2001

By 

Susan A. Smith (Barnegat, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cranberry Queen (Hardcover)

This is the best book I have ever read. Maybe because I am from South Jersey and live near the Cranberry bogs where much of the story takes place. Diana whose story it is has recently lost both of her parents in a car accident. I love how the author knows that losing ones parents becomes more and more difficult as time goes on, not easier and has Diana respond appropriately. Reading about the scenery as Diana sees it in the Pine Barrens is inspiring! I highly recommend this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny, but deeply moving too., May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Cranberry Queen (Hardcover)

Such a profound and funny story of embracing life after loss. So many insights into love and friendship. Such an endearing, human protagonist. Such soaring language. I don't have the words to describe the beauty and emotion of this sensational, gorgeous novel. You have to read this. And she has to write more.