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![Whiskey & Ribbons: A Novel by [Leesa Cross-Smith]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jTHsOh09L._SY346_.jpg)
Whiskey & Ribbons: A Novel Kindle Edition
Leesa Cross-Smith (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith’s mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called “a consummate storyteller.”
Evi—a classically-trained ballerina—was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon's adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah.
Whiskey & Ribbons is told in three intertwining, melodic voices: Evi in present day, as she’s snowed in with Dalton during a freak blizzard; Eamon before his murder, as he prepares for impending fatherhood and grapples with the danger of his profession; and Dalton, as he struggles to make sense of his life next to Eamon’s, and as he decides to track down the biological father he’s never known.
In the vein of Jojo Moyes’ After You, Whiskey & Ribbons explores the life that continues beyond loss, with a complicated brotherly dynamic reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout’s The Burgess Boys. It’s a meditation on grief, hope, motherhood, brotherhood and surrogate fatherhood. Above all, it’s a novel about what it means—and whether it’s possible—to heal.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHub City Press
- Publication dateMarch 6, 2018
- File size1066 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Cross-Smith's thrilling debut novel, Whiskey and Ribbons, is as immediate and compelling as music. Her three lovers tell their stories, each turning over what we think we know, creating a moving triptych on love, desire, and grief, and the unexpected families life makes for us." ―Alexander Chee, author of The Queen of the Night
"Leesa Cross-Smith's Whiskey & Ribbons is an unforgettable debut. The death of a police officer is at the heart of this powerful, moving polyphonic saga, and the stunning lyricism of the style only matches the heartbreaking poetry of its substance. Cross-Smith examines lovers, brothers, mothers, fathers and sons with such mammoth empathy that this is one of those books I find essential for making sense of our world today." ―Porochista Khakpour, author of the novels Sons & Other Flammable Objects and The Last Illusion
"In Whiskey & Ribbons, Leesa Cross Smith has given us a story of decent, ardent-hearted friends thrust into an unimaginable situation, and its survivors respond with equally surprising grace to impossibly difficult circumstances. Here is a slim, elegant novel that is brilliantly defiant in what it refuses to mention, and clear-eyed in its focus on something we all need more of: a close look at good people navigating unthinkable tragedy." ―Bonnie Nadzam, author of Lion: a Novel
"Written with the emotional impact of Ayobami Adebayo's Stay with Me, this work will appeal to lovers of literary fiction." ―Library Journal
"Whiskey & Ribbons is the kind of book you cancel everything to curl up with. Don’t even try to put it down; you won’t be able to. Leesa Cross-Smith writes with an open heart and a deft touch, crafting a beautiful meditation on marriage, family, and the hope within loss. I fell in love with these characters. I joined them in their heartbreak, their lust, their yearning, and I missed them after the last page." ―Lindsay Hunter, author of Eat Only When You're Hungry
“Leesa Cross-Smith is a consummate storyteller who uses her formidable talents to tell the oft-overlooked stories of people living in that great swath of place between the left and right coasts." ―Roxane Gay, author Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body and Bad Femininst --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
A PEN Open Book Award Nominee, Leesa Cross-Smith has been a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and Iowa Short Fiction Award. She is the author of the short story collection Every Kiss a War and lives in Louisville, KY.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Product details
- ASIN : B0793LD71L
- Publisher : Hub City Press (March 6, 2018)
- Publication date : March 6, 2018
- Language : English
- File size : 1066 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 272 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #494,448 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Leesa Cross-Smith is a homemaker and writer from Kentucky. She is the author of THIS CLOSE TO OKAY, SO WE CAN GLOW, WHISKEY & RIBBONS, EVERY KISS A WAR, and the forthcoming novel HALF-BLOWN ROSE. THIS CLOSE TO OKAY was a Goodreads Choice 2021 Nominee for Best Fiction, a Book of the Month Book of the Year 2021 Nominee, a Book of the Month Early Release Pick for December 2020, the Good Housekeeping Book Club Pick for February 2021, and the Marie Claire Book Club Pick for March 2021. SO WE CAN GLOW was listed as one of NPR’s Best Books of 2020 and was longlisted for the 2021 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. WHISKEY & RIBBONS won the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Gold Medal in Literary Fiction, was longlisted for the 2018 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and was one of O Magazine's 2018 Top Books of Summer. EVERY KISS A WAR was nominated for the PEN Open Book Award (2014) and was a finalist for both the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction (2012) and the Iowa Short Fiction Award (2012). Find more @ LeesaCrossSmith.com
Customer reviews
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Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018
Top reviews from the United States
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🎼 Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet and that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please. 🎼
{David Tyson & Christopher Ward}
The verse flowed slow & smokey and tart & sweet. I don't think I could have loved it more. Leesa Cross-Smith takes the reader through one of the most complex dramas you can imagine. She does it so completely well, that I am still reeling.
Eamon dies in the line of duty. Evi & Dalton are in place to pick up the pieces. Loss is scattered throughout this novel. It feels deeply. The grief portrayed in this story is overwhelming. It is in everything. But so is color. And hope. And love. At the end we are reminded
"Endings were as important as beginnings." Yes they were Leesa, yes they were.
Y'all I'm going to put it out there. This will be one of my favorites of 2018. I am giving it so many stars ✨ and I am on my knees begging. Read. This. Book. My review can never do it justice. The fact that this is a debut novel is baffling to me. Cross-Smith writes like a seasoned veteran. I am in awe. I will be for a while.
🥃 & 🎀 you have my heart.
This book begins with the death of Evangeline's police officer husband, Eamon, in the line of duty. Evangeline is 9 months pregnant at the time of his death. Their story, their beginning and their ending, is told from the point of view of Evangeline, Eamon, before he died, and Eamon's, adopted brother, Dalton, in alternating chapters.
This story will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. And they will be genuine. Real smiles, real laughter, real tears. Honestly, the title threw me off and almost deterred my purchase. I saw more posts on social media about this book and decided to see what people were talking about. I am so glad I did not let this book go unread (?)... I actually listened to it on Audible (twice, via the Kindle app) which was such a treat. The narrators brought the characters to life for me.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. I can't say enough without giving too much away. I can say this though: I can feel how much Evangeline and Dalton love and miss Eamon.
I have questions, which is a good thing. I want to know about other chatacters' stories and their relationships and interactions with one another. I want to see Kentucky, the bike shop, the church, the Royce's home. I believe this is the first book I read that was based in Kentucky.
This book is so just powerful. So many themes. So many what if situations to consider for yourself. I found myself wondering what if Penelope was my best friend, what would I have done? (Gotta read it to find out who Penelope is😊) Thank you Leesa Cross-Smith for this wonderful novel.
(Sidenote: One of the characters has the same birthday as me!)
Top reviews from other countries

The pace of the book for me was a bit slow it took a long time for me to get into it. I also struggled with the relationship between Dalton and Evi. I was waiting for the elephant in the room to be discussed in more detail but in my opinion it never was. The book skirted around it a bit. I guess i felt uncomfortable with the relationship progressing and wanted someone in the book to actually say why too. I don’t want to say too much for those who haven’t read this yet. There was more emphasis on the internal thoughts of each character rather than the actual dialogue between the characters.
An easy read for a lazy weekend but not enough wow factor for me.