A Cup of Redemption: A Novel

by Carole Bumpus

Overview

Like the braiding of three strands of brioche, the lives of three women—Sophie Zabél Sullivan, Marcelle Pourrette Zabél, and Kate Barrington—become inextricably intertwined as each struggles to resolve issues from past wars that have profoundly impacted their lives. Sophie believed her childhood nightmares were safely behind her once she married and moved to the U.S. from France —until she is called to her mother, Marcelle’s, deathbed to honor one final request: “Search for my father! Search for Pourrette!” Born on the last day of World War I, Marcelle, whose life epitomizes the human cost of war, never knew her father, yet carried the Pourrette name, along with the shame of illegitimacy, as did her two oldest sons born during World War II. Enlisting the expertise of a friend and family therapist, Sophie encourages Kate to join her in France to help find her grandfather scour the stain of illegitimacy from her family’s name. Unbeknownst to Sophie, Kate’s 34-year-old illegitimate daughter, given up for adoption during the Vietnam War, has recently reappeared. Kate, struggling with her own shame and guilt, pushes aside her feelings to join Sophie in France. Rising out of the collateral damage wrought by war, A Cup of Redemption is a touching story about love, loss, and the search for identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938314919
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	10/27/2014
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	322
Sales rank:	749,467
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Carole Bumpus, a retired family therapist, is the author of the historical novel A Cup of Redemption, published October 2014 through She Writes Press. She is a state board and branch member of the California Writers Club’s San Francisco/Peninsula Branch and has been published in three CWC short-story anthologies: Fault Zone: Words from the Edge, Fault Zone: Stepping up to the Edge, and Fault Zone: Over the Edge. She continues to write a travel blog taken from excerpts of her interviews with French and Italian families, Savoring the Olde Ways, and her articles on both food and US WWII veterans in France have been published in both the US and in France.

Editorial Reviews

"Spanning the decades from WWI France to 9/11, this historical novel explores the untold stories of women who find themselves alone and pregnant during wartime. Carefully crafted and emotionally powerful, A Cup of Redemption is a must read."
—Lucy Ann Murray, Correspondent, Fra Noi

“Beautifully researched, this story brings to life three generations in France, including the havoc caused by World War II. A delicious tale of love, betrayal, grief and restoration.”
—Harriet Scott Chessman, author of The Beauty of Ordinary Things

“A family mystery, a dash of history, an epic cast of characters and an enticing setting give A Cup of Redemption all the elements needed for a delightful ‘armchair travel’ read.”
—Patricia V. Davis, author of Harlot’s Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss, and Greece

“What Jung Chang’s Wild Swans did for China, Carole Bumpus has done for 20th century France—recreated the epic story of three generations of women, whose family secrets went undercover during the struggle for love and survival in times of war and political chaos.”
—Elise Frances Miller, author of A Time to Cast Away Stones

From the Publisher

2015-07-23
In this debut novel, a woman undertakes a road trip around France in an attempt to shed light on her family's mysterious, troubled past. In 2001, Sophie Zabél Sullivan, a Frenchwoman living in California, gets word that her mother, Marcelle, is near death. Upon arriving back in France, Sophie only has a few moments with her mother, who encourages her to seek out the identity of her grandfather—the father that Marcelle never knew. However, this is far from the only mystery in the family: Sophie's two brothers, Thierry and Gérard, were both born out of wedlock during the World War II era. Sophie, meanwhile, is haunted by a sexual assault that she suffered at the hands of an elderly relative, suffers from depression, and is troubled by a recurring nightmare she doesn't understand. Aided by her American friend, Kate, and using some of her mother's old journals and family correspondence, she traverses France, interviewing family members and old acquaintances, looking for the answers that she and her siblings need in order to heal. As this multigenerational family saga of war, violence, and betrayal plays itself out, the two friends offer each other emotional support, and the trip proves cathartic for all involved. Along the way, the friends indulge in the French foodie obsessions that first brought them together while also taking in the history and folklore of the regions they visit. Bumpus does a remarkable job of capturing the nuances of the French landscapes and culture and of evoking the wartime occupation of France ("Beaten-down women with exhaustion etched into their eyes carried infants swaddled in mud and blood-spattered blankets"). Although the narrative can be a bit sentimental at times—even inducing compassion fatigue on occasion—Bumpus still manages time and again to strike at the emotional hearts of her characters to reveal their weaknesses and niggling vulnerabilities, as when Kate meets the grown daughter she gave up for adoption and later worries that she might have been disappointed with Kate's weight. A robust, entrancing debut.

Kirkus Reviews