"Becoming Olive W." Wins Reader Views Best Historical Fiction AwardS. Lee Fisher's new novel, Becoming Olive W., captures life on a farm in Pennsylvania for a strong female protagonist as World War I erupts.
By: Reader Views 
Becoming Olive W Becoming Olive W. has won the Tyler R. Tichelaar Award for Best Historical Fiction in this year's Reader Views Literary Awards. The novel depicts life on a farm in Pennsylvania in the first two decades of the twentieth century. At its center is Olive Westchester, whose mother dies while she is small, leaving her to find love in her large and often distant family. Her intelligence soon wins her father's approval, but her dreams of college seem impossible when her father discounts her for being only a female. Olive must navigate life in a male-dominated society and learn to speak up for herself if she will ever have her dreams fulfilled. Becoming Olive W. is the first volume in Fisher's 'The Women of Campbell County.' Winning the Best Historical Fiction Award is a sign that realistic fiction is still prized, especially when it offers unique historical perspectives on the times. Fisher shows the darker side of World War I; her characters are against the war, and Olive is against letting men make decisions for her. The novel reflects many of the conflicts within American society for both women and men, and consequently, it has gained attention not just in the Reader Views Literary Awards, but has garnered several other awards, including the NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards, NIEA Indie Excellence Book Awards, Literary Titan Book Awards, CIPA EVVY Awards, Reader's Favorite Book Awards, and American Fiction Awards. Tyler R. Tichelaar, winner of the 2009 Reader Views Best Historical Fiction Award for his novel Narrow Lives and the award sponsor since 2010, says, "I am delighted that S. Lee Fisher's novel has won this year. She writes in the tradition of great American female authors of the past like Willa Cather and Edna Ferber. The creation of strong female protagonists is just as important today as it was a century ago in our literature, and Olive Westchester is destined to hold her own when America's favorite literary characters are recalled in years to come." Reader Views reviews thousands of books per year by self-published and small press authors. Its Annual Literary Awards recognize the very best of these up-and-coming authors. Becoming Olive W. joins a series of previous historical fiction winners on such diverse topics as eighteenth century pirates, opera composers, the Civil War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the founding of Louisiana. Reader Views praises S. Lee Fisher's "multi-faceted approach," and says, "The drama, conflict, suspense, triumph, and tragedies are as realistic as they are entertaining— About the Author S. Lee Fisher began writing about emotionally charged relationships as a tool to channel her personal grief over losing her father. As a retired clinical pharmacist, Fisher finds that writing novels allows her to use her right brain to pursue more creative endeavors. Previously a resident of Pennsylvania, where her Women of Campbell County historical fiction series is set, today she lives in Venice, Florida, with her husband Ralph. Becoming Olive W. (ISBN: 978-1-7367526- Photo: https://www.prlog.org/ End
|
Account Phone Number