{"title":"Christine Grillo","description":"\u003cp\u003eChristine Grillo's writing offers a thoughtful exploration of ordinary lives touched by subtle, yet profound, moments of change. Her work, including titles like \u003cem\u003eHestia Strikes a Match\u003c\/em\u003e, weaves rich character studies with a gentle narrative style, inviting readers into intimate, quietly powerful stories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRooted in general fiction, Grillo's novels capture the nuances of human relationships and the understated dramas that shape our everyday worlds. Her prose balances warmth and insight, making each book a reflective and rewarding read.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"hestia-strikes-a-match-by-christine-grillo-9781250321817","title":"Hestia Strikes a Match","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHestia Strikes a Match\u003c\/em\u003e by Christine Grillo has been chosen as a Best Book of the Year at NPR and a Must-Read by The Washington Post, Oprah Daily, and The Orange County Register.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOprah Daily\u003c\/em\u003e describes it as \"Steamy, smart, and hilarious,\" while The Boston Globe calls it \"Effervescent . . . Acerbically funny and tender . . . [A] supremely layered, emotionally and intellectually resonant novel for our time,\" according to Lauren LeBlanc.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChristine Grillo's \u003cem\u003eHestia Strikes a Match\u003c\/em\u003e is the slyly funny story of a woman looking for love and friendship amidst a new American civil war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe year is 2023, and things are bad-bad, but still not as bad as they could be. Hestia Harris is forty-two, abandoned by her husband (he left to fight for the Union cause), and estranged from her parents (they're leaving for the Confederacy). Yes, the United States has collapsed into a second civil war, and again it's Unionists against Confederates, children against parents, friends against friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHestia has left journalism (too much war reporting) for a job at a Baltimore retirement village on the Inner Harbor (lots of security). She's single and adrift, save for her coworkers and Mildred, an eighty-four-year-old, thrice-happily-married resident who gleefully supports Hestia's half-hearted but hopeful attempts to find love again in a time of chaos and disunion. She reckons with the big questions (How do we live in the midst of political collapse? How do we love people who believe terrible things?) and the little ones (How do I decorate a nonworking fireplace? Can I hook up with a mime?), all while wrestling with that simmering, roiling, occasionally boiling feeling that things are decidedly not okay. But we have to keep going, one foot in front of the other, because maybe, just maybe, we can still find the kinds of relationships that sustain a person through anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChristine Grillo's \u003cem\u003eHestia Strikes a Match\u003c\/em\u003e is an irreverent, incisive, laugh-out-loud interrogation of modern love of all kinds, in all its messy beauty. Equal parts wise and hilarious, it fills the heart, fortifies the spirit, and will surely help to fend off despair. In the face of the everyday wildness of our times, it asks and answers that newly constant question: How do we make a full, wonderfully ordinary life when the whole mad world is clattering down around us?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48242290032876,"sku":"9781250321817","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781250321817-hestia-strikes-a-match-1.jpg?v=1787970354"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/christine-grillo.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}