Fortune Island
by E.M. Schorb
ISBN: 978-0-9799694-2-3
Trade Paperback 6” x 9”
Publication Date: May 10, 2009
276 pages
$17.95 retail
Distributed by:
Ingram and Baker & Taylor
Fortune Island by international
award-winning author E.M. Schorb is a tale of hope, tragedy, and revival
set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
From Jessie Judas’s birth during World War II U-boat raids to her fame at the dawn of the new Millennium, she endures an isolating life, a life of changes like the shifting shores of Fortune Island. Growing up practically orphaned, with little education, Jessie meets a visiting folklorist. The woman becomes Jessie’s protector and mentor while Jessie’s eccentric traveling-evangelist stepfather sinks into possible psychopathy. Her biological father returns to the island to ensure her wellbeing, but hesitates to reveal himself. A storm of passion and deception threatens to destroy Jessie’s fragile sense of self and trust.
Praise for Fortune Island
“A many-stranded storyline, a cast of colorful personalities, and a pervasive sense of place: These qualities make Fortune Island a good, strong read. Here is a fit companion for the beach umbrella, the front-porch rocking chair, and the mellow bedside lamp. E.M. Schorb creates a world in which much happens—and all of it to the point.”
—Fred Chappell
Recipient of the Thomas Wolfe Prize, Former North Carolina Poet Laureate
“Fortune Island is an exquisite reading adventure. We are
hooked from the start by the poignant situation of William Makespeace
Thackery McQueen, and are compelled forward both by the remarkable story
and by the very human characters whom we love and identify with, not,
despite their flaws, but because of their flaws---Bill McQueen himself,
the beautiful and mysterious Susannah, and the remarkable Jessie Judas,
whose life story is the real centerpiece of this skillfully written book.
The setting of the Outer Banks is vividly detailed and contains the best
description of Hurricane Hazel I have ever read. And finally there is
a wonderfully despicable snake-handling villain, The Rev. Jason Petitt
Cogburn, who makes a magnificent foil to the other characters. This is
a must read.”
—Anthony
S. Abbott
Author of the Novello Award Winner, Leaving Maggie Hope
“I loved Fortune Island! was driven by the suspense, and by the phrases that freeze you in place, mesmerizing you by what has been laid bare. E. M. Schorb isn’t a prize-winning poet for nothing.”
—Joy Calderwood
Reviewers’ Choice Reviews
“A masterpiece in scope, characterization and drama, Fortune Island
captures the imagination and excites the mind. A masterful achievement!”
—Pat Mullan
Author of Childhood Hills
From the Midwest Book Review:
Fortune Island
E. M. Schorb
Cherokee McGhee
9780979969423, $17.95, www.cherokeemcghee.com
Confidence is a fragile thing. "Fortune Island" tells the story of one Jessie Judas as she lives an isolated life on an island in the Atlantic. Her life develops many twists and turns as she is caught between her mentor, her descending-into-madness stepfather, and her biological father. An intriguing novel of the psyche of one woman, "Fortune Island" is a riveting read that can't be put down.
About the Author:
E.M. Schorb’s novels include Paradise Square, winner of the International eBook Award Foundation’s Grand Prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2000, and A Portable Chaos, winner of the Writers Notes Magazine Book Award for Fiction, 2004. His poetry has been widely published and his latest volume, Time and Fevers, was a recipient of the Writer’s Digest 16th Annual International Self-Published Book Award, as well as an Eric Hoffer Award for Books. An earlier collection, Murderer’s Day, was awarded the Verna Emery Poetry Prize and published by Purdue University Press.