Grand Haven, MI 9WGHN) – Melanie Hooyenga has always considered Grand Haven home, but her upcoming novel is the first one she’s set in her hometown. “I love my community and have wanted to set a book here,” said Hooyenga. “I’ve been drawn to Lake Michigan for as long as I can remember, so giving the lake the importance of another character was a fun challenge. The reader gets to know the lake’s moods alongside the main character, Eve.”
Launch party Saturday at The Book Cellar. Details here.
Melanie stopped into Good Morning Grand Haven and read an excerpt from the book. Hear the interview below.
The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway follows eighteen-year-old Eve, whose twin sister disappeared as a baby. Eve’s mom had a mental break and rather than get her the help she needed, Eve’s dad raised her as both girls to protect their mother’s fragile mind. Now Eve’s counting the days until she leaves for college, but escaping her double life could shatter her mother’s sanity—and expose the secret she’s desperate to keep.
The book has had a long journey. “Eve’s story came to me in 2016 while I was still writing the Rules series. I knew writing this deeply about mental illness would be challenging, and at the time, I didn’t feel like I was a strong enough writer to do her justice,” said Hooyenga. “I wrote the book in 2019—locals will recognize details like the water levels in Lake Michigan being historically high—then spent several years perfecting the story.”
The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway is already getting buzz. Kirkus Reviews called it “irresistible” and said it’s, “a twin win: It’s hard to put down and stays with you after you finish.” Fellow local author Kellie M. Parker said, “Prepare to lose sleep—Eve’s story will keep you up late into the night as you question both her reliability as a narrator and the people around her.”
While the novel is darker than Hooyenga’s previous books and is considered upper YA for content and language, there are lighter moments. Eve’s mom watches the show Friends on endless repeat and both characters can recite all the lines.
Hooyenga said, “Every character I’ve written has a piece of me in them, but this is the first time I’ve made a character a writer. It was exciting to really stretch my legs with her vocabulary and the way she thinks. Eve’s pretentious and thinks she’s smarter than everyone else, and it shows in the way she speaks.”
The story is told from a single point of view, Eve has “conversations” with her missing sister in her head throughout the book, indicated with italics.
From the back cover:
All Eve Ellaway wants is to escape to college, start a life of her own, and finally sever the connection to her twin sister Gen who disappeared when they were babies. Because while the rest of the world moved on from the kidnapping, Gen’s still very much alive at home.
Most families would grieve their missing child. Some families might create a shrine for their lost daughter. But the Ellaways are not most families.
Every night, Eve pretends to be Gen to protect her mother’s delicate grasp on reality — dividing her life, her stories, and her dreams so there’s enough for two sisters. Eve’s forced to maintain her father’s lie to ease his guilt over Gen’s disappearance, but is she sacrificing the last threads of her identity and any hope for a normal future?
As the lies propping up Eve’s life start to crumble, she no longer knows what she wants. But Gen does, and she’s ready to take it.
The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway will be available February 25, 2015 at all online booksellers. An in-person celebration with signed books and giveaways will take place at The Book Cellar (8 7th Street in Grand Haven) on February 22 from 1-4pm. Copies will be available for purchase.
A native of Grand Haven, Michigan, Hooyenga has been writing young adult novels since 2010. The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway, a psychological suspense set in Grand Haven about a girl who was raised as two girls after her twin disappeared, is her tenth novel.
Her award-winning YA sports romance series, The Rules Series, is about girls from Colorado falling in love and learning to stand up on their own. Her YA time travel trilogy, The Flicker Effect, is about a teen who uses sunlight to travel back to yesterday. The first book, Flicker, won first place for Middle Grade/Young Adult in the Writer’s Digest 2015 Self-Published eBook awards, and The Rules Series has won ten awards, including Finalist for MG/YA in the 2019 BookLife Prize. The first book in The Campfire Series, Chasing the Sun, won gold for young adult general fiction in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards and was named one of the Best Indie eBooks of 2020 by Barnes & Noble Press. Both Chasing the Moon and The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway were Quarterfinalists for MG/YA in the (2023 and 2024) BookLife Prize.
When not writing books, you can find Melanie wrangling her Miniature Schnauzer Gus and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.
Learn more about Hooyenga at melaniehoo.com. The Quiet Unraveling of Eve Ellaway is available at all online booksellers, as well as at The Book Cellar in Grand Haven.
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