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    31 Paradiso: A Novel
    31 Paradiso: A Novel
    31 Paradiso: A Novel
    Ebook338 pages5 hours

    31 Paradiso: A Novel

    By Rhoda Huffey

    3/5

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A woman flees her evangelical family to settle in quirky Venice Beach—but a homecoming awaits—in this glorious new novel by the author of The Hallelujah Side.
     
    Francine Ephesians Didwell has been living two separate lives: one with her evangelical, charismatic family, and another with her lover in a state of emancipation and rebellion. Now, after she loses the love of her life, a bereaved Francine relocates to Venice Beach, California, to start her life over. She struggles to make a living working as a masseuse and managing low-end properties, while gradually reconnecting with her family, whose estate lies just fifty miles inland.
     
    As this painfully hilarious novel progresses, moving back and forth between these two very different settings, Francine discovers she must confront the truth about her family’s dark secrets or lose herself in the suicidal world of drugs. But thanks to her good fortune, throughout her journey, she is assisted and supported by her other, found family: the yodeler, the sex worker, the local burglar who has taken up residence outside her window, and all the imperfect characters from the mean streets of Venice Beach.
     
    “Huffey’s empathy for her protagonist is tangible.” —Kirkus Reviews
     
    Acclaim for The Hallelujah Side
     
    “A funny, heart-warming novel . . . Remarkable . . . Poignantly humorous.” —Publishers Weekly
     
    “Brimming with humor and wisdom . . . An infinitely fascinating and memorable novel.” —Connie May Fowler, author of Remembering Blue
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDelphinium Books
    Release dateMay 10, 2022
    ISBN9781504076241
    31 Paradiso: A Novel
    Author

    Rhoda Huffey

    The daughter of two Pentecostal preachers, Rhoda Huffey lives in Venice Beach, California. She is a magazine writer and a tap dancer who teaches and performs extensively. She also holds an MFA from the University of California at Irvine, and has been published in Ploughshares. The Hallelujah Side is her first novel.

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    Reviews for 31 Paradiso

    3/5

    16 ratings6 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Received the book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers. The writing style jumped around quite a bit and at times was hard to follow. The description of sexual and drug abuse was quite graphic. I did finish the book, but at times it was rough going trying to follow the storyline. I wanted to like the book, but found that it just wasn't for me.
    • 2/5

      This is going to be a DNF review. If I can manage to get back to the novel I will update my review.

      Francine comes from a charismatic evangelical family with many gifts: healing via hands, intuition about people's characters, and a keen eye for investing in real estate. She ran off with her partner Cyrus and left that life. He is now dead and Francine is adrift with all her inherited gifts.

      That's how Francine ends up in Venice Beach a landlord for a set of apartments after selling the house she had with Cyrus. She gives massages out of her living room and sizes up her new tenants/the unconventional members of her adopted community. She is also a tap dancer with notable shoes and a pet owner.

      There is a lot going on in this novel and I'm not sure if it all works. The reader is dropped into the story or Francine is dropped on you with her houses. I couldn't stick with it- either due to the style or everything that's crammed into the plot. I wanted to like it but I feel no pull to pick up the novel when I glance at it.

      The promotion material about the author and her previous novel (being re-released) make it seem like a lot of her writing is pulled from her own life experience. I'm okay with that but this novel might not be for me. However, it may be interesting to a person who has had similar experiences as the author.


    • 3/5
      31 Paradiso by Rhoda Huffey is the story of Francine Didwell. Trying to recover from the death of her husband Cyrus, Francine buys some real estate in Venice Beach California, where she struggles to get by renting apartments to a colorful group of eccentrics, while also making money giving message’s out of her apartment. She’s also trying to reconnect with her very religious evangelical family that lives about fifty miles away. Based on the description, I really wanted to like this better than I did. The writing style was a sort of stream of consciousness from the main character. In the middle of scenes it would jump to a past memory. The cuts back and forth in time weren’t very smooth in my opinion. I think it’s a good story with interesting characters, I just wish it were told in a more straightforward way. There’s some good stuff in here, it just feels a bit disabled. Sometimes a story just needs to be told from beginning to end.
    • 2/5
      I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I didn’t like the writing style, and even though I was interested in the story line I didn’t enjoy the journey. I stuck it out to the end to see what would happen to the characters, but I felt unfulfilled by the conclusion. I hope others found it more enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      This story was a bit stream-of-consciousness writing. Jumped around quite a bit, but when she stayed in a scene, it was well-written, The jumping around lost me a few times. Overall, it was an okay story without much of a plot. Just a lot of scenes in the life of Francine and the characters around her.
    • 4/5
      31 Paradiso by Rhoda HuffeyAfter the death of her boyfriend, Francine moves back to California and purchases an Apartment building in Venice Beach. The apartment is how she will try to make make a living, along with working as a massage therapist.She also tries to reestablish a relationship with her devout Evangelical family. Juggling her new responsibilities, (new) life and family will not be an easy task. She will have to do some deep soul searching to achieve the best life possible for herself.The story moves at a fast pace with interesting characters and a unique plot. Francine is living a life she is not accustom to, meeting eccentric people and trying to move on while living with grief. Her family (is) disproving, judgmental and very religious, making her reevaluate all of her life choices.Francine is likable though flawed. I wanted her to find inner peace and happiness. Overall I found 31 Paradiso compelling and intriguing I recommend to those who like stories with a (heavy) religious theme.

    Book preview

    31 Paradiso - Rhoda Huffey

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