My Sunshine Away Audiobook By M.O. Walsh cover art

My Sunshine Away

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My Sunshine Away

By: M.O. Walsh
Narrated by: Kirby Heybourne
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The instant New York Times best seller.

In the summer of 1989, a Baton Rouge neighborhood best known for cookouts on sweltering summer afternoons, cauldrons of spicy crawfish, and passionate football fandom, is rocked by a violent crime when 15-year-old Lindy Simpson - free spirit, track star, and belle of the block - is attacked late one evening near her home. As the dark side of this idyllic stretch of Southern suburbia is revealed, the close-knit neighborhood is irreversibly transformed.

In My Sunshine Away, M.O. Walsh brilliantly juxtaposes the enchantment of a charmed childhood with the gripping story of a violent crime, unraveling families, and consuming adolescent love. Acutely wise and deeply honest, it is an astonishing and pause-resisting debut about the meaning of family, the power of memory, and our ability to forgive.

©2015 M.O. Walsh (P)2015 Penguin Audio Coming of Age Crime Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

Editorial reviews

Editors Select, February 2015 - Set in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the late eighties and early nineties, this rich atmospheric novel unfolds like a mystery. Gripping from the opening line, My Sunshine Away blends beautifully descriptive writing with thrilling suspense. The story comes together through the adolescent memories of the narrator, a neighborhood boy infatuated with Lindy Simpson – the athletic and popular teen that lives down just down his suburban street. Lindy is brutally raped one summer evening, and the narrator happens to be one of the four suspects in the unspeakable crime. With glowing praise from best-selling authors Katheryn Stockett and Anne Rice, this debut novel is not to be missed. Regina, Audible Editor

Critic reviews

Named A Book of the Year by NPR, The Dallas Morning News, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist.

An Entertainment Weekly "must list" pick.

"A tantalizing mystery and a tender coming-of-age story...Unputdownable." (Oprah.com)

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All stars
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Is there anything you would change about this book?

A bit tedious in the middle.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Ending was satisfying.

Which scene was your favorite?

The descriptions of the neighborhoods in Baton Rouge were enjoyable because I'm from BR and obvously the author is either from or has spent time in BR. The scenes, the traditions, the streets and the stores were identifiable and familiar. The neighborhood is home for me.

Do you think My Sunshine Away needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I do not. I think the characters are complete.

Probably more interesting to Baton Rougeans.

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This is a story of my city....my school....my friends....with all the little deep dark secrets I never knew. This book may be about a boy growing up and his perfect world changing before his eyes....but to me it was a story that touched my heart and soul and brought back memories of black smoke rising from my school, milk crates, parties after dances, friends I haven't seen since graduation....memories of a childhood.

The narrator does a good job. He is not perfect but he is still very good.

This book is a mystery...and a coming of age....a little dark....but it's honest. I can't wait for more from M.O. Walsh.

Worth a credit for sure!

Truthful journey to manhood...raw...very real

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I'm not sure how I feel about it but I kept listening all the same.

it's a good listen

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This book was kind of all over the place for me. I might even rate it 2.5. I felt like it was trying to be like "Devil in The White City" by going back and forth between stories and descriptions about the city/country and Lindy's story. But it felt too jumpy. I also thought some of the prose was long-winded and I found myself having to go back and re-read sections because I started thinking about something else. I did enjoy the end of the book.

Not that great

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never took off as a story :( just went on all different directions had potential but just not for me

eh...

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Unbelievably compelling debut novel. Read it with my book club and we were all blown away and ended up having a great meeting. My only criticism, and it is small, is that the narrator should have had a southern accent.

Amazing

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Definitely more coming of age than mystery, which is fine, and there are some moments that are nostalgic and lovely, but overwhelmingly this did nothing for me. I would read other things of this author, as he’s clearly working his way into his craft, but I would not do so in a hurry. I wanted to stop reading this book about a third in, but I kept waiting for more which never came. It all feels very surface, and the main character was not really likable. I also can see how this might connect with a younger reader, more YA than adult. The narration performance was excellent.

I wanted to love this

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Really good reading
I recommend this novel it's truly an original and the story has so many of life's truths.

Great read

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This was One of the strongest and touching books I've read in a while. I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Great story

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Incredible insight into adolescent boy growing up and understanding his goodness as he processes the wide effects of a childhood friend's rape on his life and entire neighborhood. It also speaks to the very real trauma our children in foster care may endure when those who prey on children become the foster parent.

Rape- Understanding

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