FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: Jennifer Richards, Jen@otrpr.com
For fans of Emma Straub, Camille Perri, and J. Courtney Sullivan comes a darkly funny novel from a fresh new voice in fiction about brides, lovers, friends, and family, and all the secrets that come with them.
“A dramatic and darkly funny dose of WASP culture. Liz Parker takes on dysfunctional families, destination weddings, and the fact that sometimes the most difficult person to accept is yourself.” ―Laura Hankin, author of Happy & You Know It
“In her buoyant, sharply observed, and painfully hilarious debut novel, All Are Welcome, Liz Parker tells the big story of a small lesbian wedding. Over a meticulously planned weekend at a sunstruck Bermuda beach club, the hard-packed, jovial WASP surfaces of two seemingly similar Connecticut families come loose to expose long-buried secrets, uncomfortable truths, and a monsoon of dysfunction. By the time the clouds part, Parker has illustrated with blistering wisdom how, for many of us, finding happiness―alone or with another―begins with first seeing who we’ve been in, and to, our families, and then deciding who it is we will be.” ―Bill Clegg, author of The End of the Day
“In All Are Welcome, Liz Parker vividly describes a young couple on the brink of their future who must also face their past when their destination beach wedding goes somewhat awry. Over the course of a tumultuous, rum-punch-fueled weekend, secrets are revealed and love is tested. Parker’s keen eye for detail and sense of humor had me both laughing and tearing up, and her sharp plot twists kept me guessing until the last page. With equal parts heart, drama, comedy, and emotion, All Are Welcome is a classic destination-wedding story turned on its head for a discernible modern reader.” ―Julia Spiro, author of Someone Else’s Secret
As head of Publishing at Verve Talent & Literary, Liz Parker has brokered deals for some of the most exciting names in publishing today, including Susan Fowler (Whistleblower), Emmy-Award winner and bestselling author Leah Remini (Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath), internationally bestselling author Suzanne Rindell (The Other Typist), and NYT bestselling author and screenwriter Mikki Daughtry (Five Feet Apart, All This Time). She has an innate sense for spotting compelling narratives.
It turns out she also has a natural talent for writing them. In her debut novel, ALL ARE WELCOME (Lake Union Publishing; August 1, 2021), Parker has written a fabulously funny and keenly perceptive lesbian romantic comedy about a Bermuda destination wedding on the brink of disaster.
“The story started when two elements collided: the story’s opening line, ‘Tiny was actually tiny,’ and my own small lesbian wedding,” says Liz Parker. “I come from a long line of WASPs, and while my own family is not like the McAllisters, there is inevitable humor in challenging the status quo. I wanted to write a book that featured gay characters who weren’t coming out – it was the characters around them who were still struggling. But I also think there is a spectrum of acceptance and growth that comes with a family’s first gay child, and I wanted to shine a light on that process – a process that is challenging, at times frustrating, and often very funny.“
Tiny McAllister never thought she’d get married. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t think girls from Connecticut married other girls. Yet here she is with Caroline, the love of her life, at their destination wedding on the Bermuda coast. In attendance―their respective families and a few choice friends. The conflict-phobic Tiny hopes for a beautiful weekend with her bride-to-be. But as the weekend unfolds, it starts to feel like there’s a skeleton in every closet of the resort.
From Tiny’s family members, who find the world is changing at an uncomfortable speed, to Caroline’s parents, who are engaged in conspiratorial whispers, to their friends, who packed secrets of their own―nobody seems entirely forthcoming. Not to mention the conspicuous no-show and a tempting visit from the past. What the celebration really needs now is a monsoon to help stir up all the long-held secrets, simmering discontent, and hidden agendas.
All Tiny wanted was to get married, but if she can make it through this squall of a wedding, she might just leave with more than a wife.
In ALL ARE WELCOME, Liz Parker has written a madcap romp that is also a wise, deliciously biting story about status, family, gay culture and true love.
For further information, review or interview requests, please contact Jennifer Richards: Jen@otrpr.com.
ALL ARE WELCOME
by Liz Parker
Lake Union Publishing | August 1, 2021 | LGBTQ Humorous Fiction
Trade Paperback Original | $14.95 | 347 pp | ISBN: 978-1542029889
Kindle eBook | $4.99 | ASIN: B08LMPRK2X
Audiobook | $14.95 | 8 hours | ASIN: B08V7HHX2V
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