When you publish as few books as we do, every one needs to be more or less fan-fucking-tastic. That’s my philosophy, at least. There have been some “fantastics” that have come our way in the last year. But none of them reached out and grabbed us until I received Sandra Miller’s debut, Trove.
Trove had me hooked on page one.
A lifelong treasure-hunter, Sandra’s often dysfunctional upbringing and Catholic roots saw her searching for signs and clues (and escape routes) everywhere growing up. She had a shoebox full of found objects in her closet by the time she was ten.
Here, she tells the story of her middle-age foray into “armchair” treasure hunting. You know what I’m talking about? It’s a whole subculture of curious humans who comb the internet for clues and then dig for various treasures that have been intentionally buried by fun-loving, independently wealthy folks with some time on their hands. They’re like scavenger hunts for grownups. And Sandra? Well, for a lot of reasons that readers will find fascinating, she got obsessed.
This book is the first we’ve published that I’ve thought: “Ooooh, my book club ladies are going to love this.” It’s short (my ladies like short, dammit) and very funny. Sandra is an incredibly personable and relatable narrator, and her story of searching and longing and hoping is all of us.
Brown Paper Press will release Trove in September 2019.
Also, if you have a chance, please check out Sandra’s beautiful little piece on Brevity. It’s called the “Anatomy of a Book Deal,” and is about finding a home for Trove. The road to publication was lengthy and not always pleasant for Sandra — it rarely is! There were twists and turns and clues and signs and times when she thought she would never see the end. But she followed her hunches, as she always does, and she persevered.
We couldn’t be more honored or proud to be her pot of gold.