The Broken Places

by Frances Peck

When things begin to fall apart, who will you become?

Vancouver. A day like any other. Kyle, a successful cosmetic surgeon, is punishing himself with a sprint up a mountain. Charlotte, wife of a tech tycoon, is combing the farm belt for local cheese and a sense of purpose. Back in the city their families go about their business: landscaping, negotiating deals, skipping school. It’s a day like any other—until suddenly it’s not. When the earthquake hits, the city erupts in chaos and fear. Kyle’s and Charlotte’s families, along with two passersby, are thrown together in an oceanfront mansion. The conflicts that beset these wildly different people expose the fault lines beneath their relationships, as they question everything in an effort to survive and reunite with their loved ones stranded outside the city. Frances Peck’s debut novel examines the unpredictable ways in which disaster can shake up lives and test personal resilience.

Trade Paperback / April 1, 2022 isbn 10: 1-77439-045-0

isbn 13: 978-177439-045-0

BISAC 1: FIC069000 BISAC 2: FIC070000 BISAC 3: FIC029000 400 pp / 6 x 9 / $24.95 cdn $20.95 usd “Frances Peck masterfully brings together a cast of complex characters, each broken in their own way, and weaves a compelling story set against the backdrop of a catastrophic earthquake. It beautifully reminded me that none of us are ever on solid ground, especially when it comes to our human, and fragmented, hearts.”

~ Brian Francis, author of Fruit and Missed Connections

About The Author

Frances Peck, Vancouver, wrote fiction and poetry until the realities of adulthood and rent steered her toward ghostwriting, editing, and teaching. Known for her workshops on the finer points of language, she is the author of Peck’s English Pointers, a collection of essays and quizzes. She is a co-author of the popular HyperGrammar website, and an essayist and blogger whose work has appeared in Language Update, The Editors’ Weekly, West Coast Editor, and Geist. Now she’s rediscovering the magic of making things up. The Broken Places is her debut novel.

ADDITIONAL SALES POINTS

• Part of the Nunatak First Fiction Series, Canada’s longest-running debut fiction series. • For fans of character-based novels dealing with family dynamics in situations of great upheaval.

MARKETING PLAN

• Early ARC and international press release mailout. • Announcement of book’s release by email newsletter and on the NeWest Press Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. • Podcast reading/interview posted on iTunes, RSS feed, social media, and NeWest website. • Press releases and review mailouts to various CBC outlets across the nation, both radio and television. • Submit to all eligible awards. • Ads in Alberta Views (Read Alberta Books Campaign), BC BookWorld, Glass Paper, Library Bound, Prairie Books NOW,

PRISM international, and the ULS Super Forthcoming Catalogue. • In-person launch events in Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, and Toronto, as well as online.

MARKETS

• National trade: literary fiction and general fiction • US and UK trade: literary fiction and general fiction • Vancouver, BC / urban

COMPARISON TITLES

• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (978-1-554684-83-0, Harper Collins Canada, 2010) • Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (978-0-062667-63-2, Harper Collins Canada, 2020) • The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel (978-1-443455-73-2, Harper Collins Canada, 2020)