About the Novel
Title: If You Must Know
Author: Jamie Beck
Release Date: June 1, 2020
Publisher: Montlake
Summary
Sisters Amanda Foster and Erin Turner have little in common
except the childhood bedroom they once shared and the certainty each feels that
her way of life is best. Amanda follows the rules—at the school where she
works; in her community; and as a picture-perfect daughter, wife, and
mother-to-be. Erin follows her heart—in love and otherwise—living a bohemian
lifestyle on a shoestring budget and honoring her late father’s memory with a
passion for music and her fledgling bath-products business.
The sisters are content leading separate but happy lives in
their hometown of Potomac Point until everything is upended by lies that force
them to confront unsettling truths about their family, themselves, and each
other. For sisters as different as these two, building trust doesn’t come
easily—especially with one secret still between them—but it may be the only way
to save their family.
If You Must Know Excerpt
I
rolled onto my side with a groan, coming face-to-face with one of my favorite
family photos. We’d taken our annual family summer trip to Hilton Head—the one
real splurge my dad had made sure we enjoyed every year. We had a tradition of
having lunch at a little open-air cabana bar and restaurant called Coco’s on
the Beach.
Between
the deck and the volleyball court in the sand stood a tall pole with colorful
arrow-shaped signs pointing in different directions. Each one was painted with
the name of a different city somewhere on the globe, along with the mileage to
get there. We’d dream about all the places we might go, and after high school
I’d had the chance to see many. In this picture, our whole family is standing
around that sign, smiling at the camera. My dad has his hand on my shoulder,
and if you look closely, you can see Amanda holding my hand. I must’ve been
only five or six—young enough that she hadn’t given up trying to be my second
mother. At the time, I’d felt smothered by her attention, but looking back, I’d
also felt loved.
I
grabbed my phone and called my sister, but it went to voice mail. A heaviness
pressed on me, but I couldn’t tell if it was from looking at that picture of
our family that would never again be whole or from the fact that I’d
disappointed my mom and sister today.
They
loved me in their way even if they couldn’t love and accept me as I am.
My dad had, though, and to honor his memory and wishes for our family, I
couldn’t continue to drift out of their lives as I’d been doing.
After
the beep, I said, “Hey, it’s moi. Surprise! My plans have changed and
I’ve got a little time. If you get this message, let me know where you are and
I’ll try to catch up.”
I
hit “End,” my feet restlessly kicking the foot of my bed. The small bedroom
seemed claustrophobic, but I didn’t want to talk to Max. Not that I could avoid
him in here, either, where his dirty laundry, sandals, and other items lay
about. Rather than take a match to it all, I decided to organize some of his
things to help with his packing. Hauling myself off the bed, I then went to the
armoire to get to the vintage albums my dad had left me in his will.
Some
were fairly valuable, like the Beatles collection box set from 1982, valued at
roughly a thousand bucks. Or the Led Zeppelin first pressing with the
turquoise label, which should net around eight hundred or so dollars. U2’s Joshua
Tree collection box set from 1987—maybe worth six or seven hundred. Then
there were others worth less than one hundred dollars. But each one had
infinite sentimental value.
Every
song resurrected a specific memory of time spent with my father playing cards,
washing cars, grilling hot dogs … anything. Whatever he’d wanted to do, I’d
done with him, and he’d always chosen the perfect background soundtrack for
every activity. Those stolen moments had also been a great way to escape my
mom’s endless lectures and demands. She’d never yelled at me for skipping out
on chores or being messy when I’d been spending that time with him. Probably
because he wouldn’t let her.
At
present, my restlessness matched the mood of a typical Bob Seger song, so I
grabbed Beautiful Loser and slipped the record from its sleeve,
resisting the urge to hug it as if it were my dad. I set it on the old
turntable he’d also left me. As the few first drumbeats clangored, my heart
kicked an extra beat or two—partly happy, partly sad. I glanced toward the
bedroom door, picturing Max on the sofa, and then got to work.
It
didn’t matter where life led me next. I had faith because my own personal angel
was looking out for me now.
Que
será, será.
Q&A with Bestselling Author Jamie Beck
How do you describe your newest novel If You Must Know?
This book is a “beach book” in the best sense. It’s not
angsty, yet it has a page-turning plot and a bunch of interesting, relatable
characters. I think it’s entertaining and heartfelt at the same time, which is
exactly what many enjoy reading while on vacation.
What inspired the novel?
The external plot came to me as a result of the influence of
two people in my life. My dear friend’s husband is a forensic accountant, so
some of his stories about how people hide money and flee their families
provided one point of inspiration. The second is my mother’s best friend who,
in her seventies, sold her house and bought a boat, which she and her husband
live on full-time. The impetus for the oil-and-water sisters was to provide
myself an opportunity to explore the sibling-rivalry dynamic.
Tell us about the two main characters in the story—sisters Amanda and Erin.
Amanda is the middle child. She’s diligent, earnest,
hard-working, and generous. She wants the people she loves to be happy and feel
her love. Her weakness is a deep-seated insecurity—a sense that she is not
interesting enough to be lovable. This leads her to overlook when she is being
taken for granted because her need to be pleasing is omnipresent.
Erin is the baby of the family and her late-father’s pet.
She is outgoing, fun-loving, and views her average intelligence as a blessing
(rather than lamenting that her siblings are smarter). She is willful and has
her own way of moving through the world. The big weakness she has is her
impulsiveness, whether with jobs or relationships. As she approaches her 30th
birthday, she’s looking to mature and create a more stable life for herself.
What kind of relationship do the sisters have?
I think they share a typical relationship insofar as their
differences cause many misunderstandings and instill in each a sense of being
judged by the other, and yet they do care about and love each other, too. They
simply do not know how to be true friends and trust the other—at least not at
the outset of this tale.
This book focused on the
main female characters growing and learning about themselves. What prompted
this ‘women’s fiction’ approach to the story?
Partly market forces and partly my own need to stretch. At
53, it was becoming more difficult to write a 20-something woman facing the
challenges of dating. The shift to women’s fiction allows me to write late-30
and early 40-something characters, which comes more naturally to me. I also enjoy
exploring family and friendship dynamics, and absolutely love having endless
options for story arcs (as opposed to having to follow a traditional romance
arc).
What does your new Potomac Point series have in common with your previous books?
All my books to date have focused on critical relationships
and some type of redemption theme. I find damaged people to be very interesting
and believe that there is good in most everyone, so I prefer to populate my
stories with flawed people who must confront their inner demons in order to be
happy. My new books will also focus on relationships and redemption, but the
non-romantic relationships (or even the relationship with one’s self) will be
more central.
Author Biography
Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling
author Jamie Beck’s realistic and heartwarming stories have sold more than two
million copies. She is a two-time Booksellers’ Best Award finalist and a
National Readers’ Choice Award winner, and critics at Kirkus, Publishers
Weekly, and Booklist have respectively called her work “smart,”
“uplifting,” and “entertaining.” In addition to writing novels, she enjoys
hitting the slopes in Vermont and Utah and dancing around the kitchen while
cooking. Above all, she is a grateful wife and mother to a very patient,
supportive family. Fans can get exclusive excerpts, inside scoops, and be
eligible for birthday gift drawings by subscribing to her newsletter at
http://eepurl.com/b7k7G5. She also loves interacting with everyone on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/JamieBeckBooks.
Social Media
Website - https://jamiebeck.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JamieBeckBooks/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/writerjamiebeck
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