Connie Schultz

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Hidden desires, long-held secrets, and the sacrifices people make for family are at the heart of this powerful first novel by the popular Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist. “A moving, unforgettable story about time, progress, and how the mistakes of one generation get repeated or repaired by the next.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of Saints for All Occasions NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND NEW YORK POST 1957, Clayton Valley, Ohio. Ellie has the best grades in her class. Her dream is to go to nursing school and marry Brick McGinty. A basketball star, Brick has the chance to escape his abusive father and become the first person in his blue-collar family to attend college. But when Ellie learns that she is pregnant, everything changes. Just as Brick and Ellie revise their plans and build a family, a knock on the front door threatens to destroy their lives. The evolution of women’s lives spanning the second half of the twentieth century is at the center of this beautiful novel that richly portrays how much people know—and pretend not to know—about the secrets at the heart of a town, and a family.

A Novel

The Daughters of Erietown

"In the 1950s, Ellie and Brick are teenagers in love. A basketball star, Brick could escape his abusive father and be the first person in his working-class family to go to college. But when Ellie becomes pregnant, they marry, she gives up her dream of nursing school, and Brick gets a union card instead. This ... novel tells the story of three generations in a working-class family--especially Brick and Ellie's daughter, Samantha"--

Bringing together a wise and witty collection of observations on modern life, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist shares her thoughts on the nation's political and social issues, family, love, marriage, gay rights, feminism, and other aspects of the world around her. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

And Other Unavoidable Truths

Life Happens

From the 2005 Pulitzer Prize—winning columnist Connie Schultz comes fresh, clever, insightful commentary on life today: love, politics, social issues, family, and much, much more. In the tradition of Anna Quindlen, Molly Ivins, and Erma Bombeck, but with a distinctive voice and sensibility all her own, Connie Schultz comes out of the heartland of America to get you seeing, feeling, and thinking more deeply about the lives we lead today. “You might spot someone you know in the stories here,” writes Connie. “Maybe you’ll even find a glimpse of yourself. Yes, each of us is unique, but life happens in ways that bind us like Gorilla Glue.” In Life Happens, Connie shares sharp, passionate observations, winning our hearts with personal thoughts on a wide range of topics, from finding love in middle age to the meaning behind her father’s lunch pail, from single motherhood, to who really gets the tips you leave and why as the war in Iraq, race relations, gay marriage, and wwhy women don’t vote. In a more humorous vein, Connie shares her mother’s advice on men (“Don’t marry him until you see how he treats the waitress”) and warns men everywhere against using the dreaded f-word (it’s not the one you think). Along the way, Connie introduces us to the heroic people who populate our world and shows us how just one person can make a difference. Charming, provocative, funny, and perceptive, Life Happens gives us, for the first time, Connie Schultz’s celebrated commentary in one irresistible volume. Life Happens challenges us to be more open and alive to others and to the world around us.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and author of Life Happens draws on her own experiences as wife of Ohio congressman Sherrod Brown to describe what it is like to be married to a political candidate, as well as the realities of political life, from what really goes on during a campaign, to dealing with political intrigues and betrayals, to avoiding smear campaigns. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man

And His Lovely Wife

Writing with warmth and humor, Connie Schultz reveals the rigors, joys, and absolute madness of a new marriage at midlife and campaigning with her husband, Sherrod Brown, now the junior senator from Ohio. She describes the chain of events leading up to Sherrod’s decision to run for the Senate (he would not enter the fray without his wife’s unequivocal support), and her own decision to step down from writing her Pulitzer Prize-winning column during the course of one of the nation’s most intensely watched races. She writes about the moment her friends in the press became not so friendly, the constant campaign demands on her marriage and family life, and a personal tragedy that came out of the blue. Schultz also shares insight into the challenges of political life: dealing with audacious bloggers, ruthless adversaries, and political divas; battling expectations of a political wife; and the shock of having staffers young enough to be her children suddenly directing her every move. Connie Schultz is passionate and outspoken about her opinions–in other words, every political consultant’s nightmare, and every reader’s dream. “[Schultz is] a Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist with a mordant wit. . . . The [campaign memoir] genre takes on new life.” –The Washington Post Book World “With her characteristic wit and reportorial thoroughness, [Schultz] describes the behind-the-scenes chaos, frustration and excitement of a political campaign and the impact it has on a candidate’s family.” –Minneapolis Star Tribune “Witty and anecdotal, whether read by a Democrat or a Republican.” –Deseret Morning News “Frank and feisty . . . a spunky tribute to the survival of one woman’s spirit under conditions in which it might have been squelched.” –The Columbus Dispatch

Connie Schultz

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