NEW YORK, June 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hannover House has set an August 25th release date for "Boardinghouse Stew," a semi-autobiographical novel by Evelyn Eileen Smith about characters and incidents occurring in a Sacramento, California boardinghouse during World War II. Inspired by the turmoil and drama of the era, the book transports the reader into a warm and safe place in an otherwise dangerous world, as seen through the eyes of a young girl working at the boardinghouse.
"You can't help but love this book," said Eric Parkinson, CEO of Hannover House. "Evelyn Smith has captured and recreated a moment in time when simple pleasures were meaningful and our common, national goals were clear. I think it's fair to say that she has written the literary equivalent of a Norman Rockwell painting. This is a terrific debut novel that should earn her a loyal readership."
Mitchell Edwards of Booknotes describes the book as "an enchanting and delightful debut. Author E.E. Smith skillfully delivers a nostalgic recollection of enlightened and inspiring relationships during one of our nation's darker times."
"Boardinghouse Stew" will be released in a 6 by 9-inch hardcover edition at $24.95 suggested retail. The book is 160 pages, and the retail categories are fiction, Americana-World War II. The title's UPC Code is 7-61450-65432-7 and the ISBN numbers are (ISBN-13) 0-9798599-1-5 and (ISBN-10) 0-9798599-1-3.
Hannover House is a respected independent publisher founded in 1993 and acquired in 2008 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Film Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:EFGU) (http://www.empirefilmgroup.com), a full-service independent film and media distributor servicing the North American markets for theatrical, video, television and book releases. Other top-selling book titles for the Hannover House label include the former #1 national best-seller, "Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K." by Barr McClellan, and the Vivian Schilling thrillers "Quietus" and "Sacred Prey."
Learn more about Empire Film Group at www.empirefilmgroup.com
SYNOPSIS:
"Times like these are about as unpredictable as boardinghouse stew!" observes Teddy, one of the six boarders in Mrs. Mumson's seedy, down-at-heel boardinghouse in Sacramento. It was certainly an apt description of the early days of World War II, when no one knew what would happen next.
In June of 1943, due to an acute labor shortage caused by the evacuation of all Japanese from the area, as well as many domestic workers preferring war work to house work, Mrs. Mumson is forced to hire a young schoolgirl named Eileen as a maid and cook for the summer. Through one crisis after another -- some more comic than tragic -- the people who live in the house manage to pull together and become a kind of family. In the center of it all is Eileen, narrating their stories which she is able to observe from her unique vantage point behind the swinging kitchen door that never quite closes on its rusty hinges.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Evelyn Eileen Smith (aka "E.E. Smith") resides in the San Francisco Bay area and is an acclaimed and award-winning playwright of more than a dozen plays. Her debut novel, "Boardinghouse Stew," was inspired by her own real-life experiences working in a Boardinghouse in Sacramento during World War II.