The Blog

Marie Bostwick – Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly

Aug 26, 2024 | Featured Book

from the author’s website

When not curled up with a good book, Marie Bostwick can usually be found in her office, trying to write one. A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nineteen uplifting works of historical and contemporary fiction, Marie’s books are beloved by readers across the globe.

Drawing on her lifelong love of quilting and her unshakable belief in the power of sisterhood, Marie’s popular Cobbled Court Quilt series has been embraced by quilters and non-sewers alike. Her standalone books have also found a passionate following among lovers of women’s fiction. Marie’s novel, “The Second Sister” was adapted into the 2018 Hallmark Hall of Fame feature film “Christmas Everlasting”, starring Patti LaBelle. Marie’s novel, Hope on the Inside, was published in March 2019 and was chosen as a Reader’s Digest “Select Editions” book.

Her latest novel, “Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly”, was published by William Morrow on May 30th, 2023.

ABOUT Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly:

If you love “southern summer” fiction authors like Mary Alice Monroe and Kristy Woodson Harvey you’ll love Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly – a novel about family, friendship, and finding your true path in life.

Esme Cahill thinks she has failed spectacularly: fired from her New York City publishing job, divorced from her husband, and possessing little more than a broken-down car and a pile of unfinished manuscripts, she drives home to Asheville at the request of her late grandmother, Adele, who had begged her, just before she died, to return to the place she grew up.

There she discovers the once-charming lakeside retreat run by her family is sliding toward financial ruin, so with the help of her grandfather, George; estranged mother, Robyn; and a travelling chef Dawes (maker of the world’s best grilled cheese sandwich) they set to work. In the attic, Esme unearths a trove of museum-worthy art quilts, sewn by Adele. Piecing together the inspiration behind them, Esme discovers a forgotten chapter in her family history and her grandmother’s untold story, that of a gifted artist who never received her due.

This is an always-emotional, sometimes humorous, very human novel of what it means to be family—the ties that bind us together and the unintentional hurts that can rend us apart. And, along the way, Esme learns that failure can be the first step toward the life you’re meant to find.

Order your copy here.

Praise for Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly:

“Marie Bostwick wows with this wise, warm-hearted novel about taking risks, chasing dreams, and finding solace in the places you love most. Set in an idyllic North Carolina mountain resort, it is a vacation in words that I did not want to leave and absolutely could not put down. Esme Cahill is a protagonist to root for who will ultimately uncover the true meaning of family, the power of ancestral memory, and how, sometimes, failing spectacularly is the only way to begin again. This is Marie Bostwick at her storytelling finest!” — Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil

“Marie Bostwick’s latest, Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly, has everything I love: a funny, brave heroine who knows how to rock failure so well that she’s writing a book after receiving 268 previous rejections, women helping each other, a lakeside resort in need of some BIG repairs, a loving and dysfunctional family–and caramel cake! And quilts! I read this wise, loving book in one sitting because I simply couldn’t stop. And now I want a sequel!” — Maddie Dawson, bestselling author of Snap Out of It

VERDICT Readers will love this feel-good novel that embraces the idea of family and small-town living while it extols the unexpected benefits of veering off the path from a perfectly mapped life.” — Library Journal

“Bostwick once again expertly writes on themes of finding your own path, healing relationships, and living a life you love.” — Booklist, LynnDee Wathen

Author Visits:

Author visits with Marie Bostwick are available via Adventures by the Book.