Vermont author John Caruso received two coveted awards from the 2013 New York Book Festival, on June 21st in New York City. Caruso’s self-published young adult novel Hard Magic garnered a second-place award while his first novel, Lightbearer, took top honors in the Wild Card category.
Hard Magic, which also received an Honorable Mention at the San Francisco Book Festival earlier this spring, is set in the fictional Vermont town of Twin Gaps. Fourteen-year old protagonist Jude Corgan, whose family inhabits a self-styled junkyard, has lost his brother in a car accident. Chasing clues about a series of mysterious wrecks appearing in the family yard, Jude and his cadre of teen sleuths uncover a depth of connections and mysterious forces at work in their community. Caruso said it was inspired by losses in his own life and the impact of the recent global financial crisis on Vermonters.
It is that combination of poignancy and social consciousness woven into a page turning blend of magical fantasy and mystery that makes this book a rich and satisfying read. Caruso told the audience at New York's Grolier Club that Hard Magic sat unfinished for nearly five years, but, when he returned to it, the events in his own life and the economic times in which it was born “gave the book a heart and a soul, as well as an intriguing plot.”
Lightbearer, described by David Ely, author of Seconds, as an “electrifying interpretation of some of the foundation myths of human history,” is a courageous and ground-breaking re-assessment of masculine Western culture. Lucifer--the misunderstood artist and, in Caruso’s novel, rejected lover of his creator, the arch-angel Michael--is a dissident genius who questions the premise of creation.
Caruso said, “I always said Lightbearer was not the kind of novel that wins awards, but I’m glad the New York Book Festival proved me wrong.” With its controversial retelling of Biblical cosmology and an ending that is not for the faint of heart, Caruso came up against strong reactions to his novel during the various stages of its completion. He met with years of rejections too before Bold Strokes Books was brave enough to publish it. Now, against the odds, it is a winner.
Hard Magic is available on Createspace.com, print and Kindle from Amazon, Ingrams, Baker and Taylor, and through Vermont bookshops.
Lightbearer, is available at Bold Strokes Books, Bella Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and through Vermont bookshops.